S/4 Lighthouse Project

For some time now, Stadtwerke Pforzheim (SWP) has been engaged in a strategy process to determine how it can remain fit for the future as a regional utility. A central component of this strategy process is to establish a future-proof IT landscape, which is an important component for implementing the corporate strategy.

"With the IT realignment, we are aligning the company for the future".

says Roger Heidt, Chairman of the SWP Management Board. SWP has budgeted just one year for the implementation of the S/4 Hana rollout. Significantly more time is planned for the IT realignment.

Important success factors are very good and lengthy preparation on the part of the customer and the industry expertise of the IT partner Gisa. The project is currently entering the home stretch.

S/4 Hana will then be available as the new ERP system at the municipal utilities at the beginning of 2019. The hardware-side conversion of the IT with servers, storage, network components and operating systems, including the company's own redundant data center, was already implemented in 2014.

Before deciding on a new ERP system, SWP had created a comprehensive IT and process map and defined requirements for the IT application landscape for the next few years.

"We want our employees to work efficiently in a process landscape that is optimally aligned with the value chain and integrated as far as possible on the systems side."

is how Brita Kroslid, program manager at SWP, sums up the benefits.

S/4 consulting system instead of PowerPoint

Stadtwerke Pforzheim was optimally prepared. With a major business consultant at their side, a preliminary project was carried out to screen all process-related necessities.

The result was a comprehensive IT and process map that defined the requirements for the IT application landscape for the next few years. The tender was very detailed in the specialist topics.

So Gisa was able to show her solutions for the required technical topics already at the first appointments. Gisa was also well prepared. For the demonstration of possible solutions, they were able to draw on a prepared S/4 consulting system.

With this template approach for S/4 migrations for energy suppliers, Gisa ultimately convinced SWP. For example, with regard to the unbundling issue, which is very important for the industry.

The customer asked Gisa at the time:

"Let's see how you're going to build your SAP solution in S/4 Hana, please."

For this purpose, the SAP service provider was able to use its EVU template immediately.

Organizational project S/4 implementation

Michael Räbiger, Senior Solution Architect at Gisa, adds:

"Only one ERP was put out to tender. The decision for S/4 Hana was ultimately made jointly. Our goal of integrated processes entailed a redefinition of the process organization and value flows for many core processes. After all, any transformation is not just an IT project, but a process-oriented organizational project."

The focus was on all financial, controlling and logistics processes. In the area of accounting, Gisa was able to use the S/4 functions New General Ledger and Online Document Split to create complete partial balance sheets/P&L for each area of activity without having to technically divide the company into several company codes.

Whether merchandise management, maintenance or investment process - in each case the Gisa solution takes into account the high regulatory requirements for network operators. The possibility of S/4 for specialized reporting could also be used. In the end, the decision was made in favor of an individual on-premise solution that is supported at Gisa.

Integrated system for utilities

Michael Räbiger of Gisa praises the openness of the SAP model:

"The goal of greater efficiency also required the use of specialized solutions. In addition to the new core, we used ClickSchedule software for workforce management, for example. On the other hand, iMAM from Wessendorf was used for mobile processing of maintenance orders."

New for the user: Unlike before, the process now runs through all departments. Everything is mapped consistently in SAP: from the investment program to the individual work order, everything is networked. Michael Räbiger sees the effective integration of S/4 Hana as the major advantage for the energy provider industry.