Get more out of SAP with data-driven, intelligent process optimization

Particularly in the course of an S/4HANA migration, those responsible face the challenge of not only understanding their processes, but also making them more efficient in order to complete the project with a positive ROI. But a fragmented IT system landscape, which usually consists of more than just ERP systems, makes this task more difficult.

The Celonis Execution Management System, which complements classic transaction systems such as ERP, SCM and CRM as an additional intelligent layer, delivers enormous added value that goes far beyond that of classic process mining.

This is also demonstrated by the example of the world's leading brewery Anheuser-Busch InBev, which is using Celonis to prepare for its S/4HANA migration, among other things. Vini Cardoso, Global Tech Director in Finance at AB InBev, is enthusiastic: "We see the use of this technology as a turning point for our entire company." 

Creating added value from complex processes

Efficient business processes are central to digital transformation. But even processes in accounts payable or accounts receivable, purchasing or order management pass through highly distributed landscapes of different technologies, systems, and applications during their execution.

Process mining has proven itself to thousands of companies over the last few years as a kind of "X-ray machine" to make complex processes visible, identify problems and improve them. Based on this, an Execution Management System (EMS) can help companies continuously optimize their business in a data-driven and intelligent way. The EMS includes technologies for process analysis, for planning and simulation, and for automating process flows.

Process mining, simulation and automation from a single source

Practice shows that processes are rarely clearly separable and isolated from each other, but interact strongly with each other. For example, purchasing, ordering and invoicing are closely interrelated. Only by processing multi-event logs as part of a comprehensive process mining solution can overarching insights be obtained and appropriate optimization measures be taken.

With the help of process planning and simulation, an EMS also lets companies look into the future. This allows them to analyze how changes in processes will impact business goals - whether for S/4HANA transformation or for general business optimization. 

An EMS also enables process automation across all source systems. For example, orders can be prioritized automatically without the need to laboriously gather data from disparate systems. The combination of real-time data analysis, intelligence and automation enables smooth process flow and overall business optimization. 

The use of this technology is also elementary in the S/4HANA transformation in order to identify and ultimately generate the real added value of these complex projects. Celonis helps companies gain a comprehensive understanding of the data basis and underlying processes already in the planning phase.

In the context of migration, these data-based insights provide the basis for elementary decisions, such as whether a greenfield or brownfield transformation is the right choice. This has also been the experience of the world's leading brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev).

Driving Change at Anheuser-Busch InBev

With more than 170,000 employees and well-known brands such as Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona, the company knows the challenges of rapid growth. Over time, AB InBev had acquired or developed dozens of IT systems itself in the course of acquisitions and organic growth, and set itself the goal of unifying this complex IT landscape.

In ERP alone, there were more than 30 different systems that needed to be consolidated as part of the SAP S/4HANA project - a multi-year and complex process that presented many challenges. In 2018, Anheuser-Busch InBev turned to Celonis to ensure a successful migration and rebuild its global business processes from the ground up. 

Supporting the S/4HANA migration with Celonis

The company launched the use of Celonis technology in purchase-to-pay, order-to-cash and auditing in Brazil. "There were many surprises in the workshops, as our employees could now see the processes as they really were - and not as they had expected them to be" says Vini Cardoso, Global Tech Director in Finance at AB InBev.

Celonis' AI-powered software was able to identify not only the discrepancies, but also the root causes. Employees then developed and tested more than 60 hypotheses.

This resulted in about 100 process changes that were included in the migration and new process design of the SAP S/4HANA landscape. These related, for example, to automation, changes in system configuration or employee practices that had previously caused additional manual effort.

"Today, we can continuously see the status of our key performance indicators on different dashboards, and check how changes in processes affect our business performance", says Damián Terenzi, Global Tech Director of Process Efficiency at AB InBev.

Global rollout of the technology

Convinced by the experience in Brazil, AB InBev began analyzing the same processes in Europe, the U.S. and Mexico. Managers quickly identified cost-saving potential in the millions, and that's just "scratching the surface," says Cardoso.

Inspired by the results to date, AB InBev has established a Center of Excellence (CoE) to identify and drive further improvement opportunities in process efficiency and compliance across the $47 billion group.

In the CoE, all process mining knowledge and resources are bundled in a central point of contact in the company, thus ensuring successful implementation across the various departments and regions.

Whether it's AB InBev, Hager Group, or Endress + Hauser, there are countless examples of how companies looking at their process landscape, whether as part of an S/4HANA migration or general digitization, can achieve a tremendous amount with the help of Celonis' Execution Management System - from fact-based transparency to billions of dollars in savings.