SAP S/4HANA.

Digital transformation with Westernacher.

SAP S/4HANA is the basis for the digital transformation of your company. SAP’s Business Suite provides so many improvements that have the potential to fundamentally transform your business and prepare it for the future. These include a real-time in-memory database for all data and the ability to analyze it in real time. Through 25 years of guiding our customers in their SAP implementations, we have gained the experience and expertise to make your move to SAP S/4HANA a success.

Which implementation approach is best suited to your company? A greenfield or hybrid approach (combination of brownfield and greenfield) allows you to realize the full potential. Focus on your core processes that differentiate you from the competition and build on them. A brownfield, i.e., technical changeover, is only the strategically correct solution in a few cases.

With our SAP S/4HANA Assessment Starter Packages – a Westernacher Time-to-Value Solution – we work with you in the shortest possible time to develop the right strategy for your transition to SAP S/4HANA. Within only 2-4 weeks – based on a package of consulting and tools from SAP Signavio and SNP – we show you which processes can be optimized, which in-house developments are obsolete, which projects can be combined (e.g., Enhancement Package Upgrades, Business Partner, New General Ledger, System Consolidation), how such a project can look concretely and much more. For this purpose, we offer different packages, from Small to Large and a special version for customers working with RISE with SAP.

SAP S/4HANA Assessment Starter Packages.

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SAP S/4HANA can impact all critical business functions, from finance and supply chain to customer service and marketing. With SAP S/4HANA, companies are able to analyze data in real time and respond directly.

General

Finance

Supply Chain

Sales & Service

The most important questions about getting started with SAP S/4HANA.

The Why, What and How to ensure the best possible approach.

1

Why?

The strategic imperative.

Why digital transformation not a choice but a necessity.
How disruption comes from different directions and how it affects the way we do business.
How to take full advantage of modern technology, which is a key to future success in any industry.
How this offers new business models and tremendous opportunities.

2

What?

Overview of SAP answers.

SAP’s application strategy and ERP of tomorrow.
How SAP S/4HANA’s next-gen capabilities give you the “unfair advantage”.
The importance of the cloud and the right deployment option.
How the new architecture will change the way we work forever.

3

How?

Digitization is not an on/off switch. The right approach determines success.

The best practices of the best-in-class SAP S/4HANA beginners.
The right approach to SAP S/4HANA.
How the transition option (Greenfield, Brownfield, Selective) determines your success.
How to get both efficiency and effectiveness out of your processes.

1993

start of our SAP journey with SAP ERP

6

years of experience in SAP S/4HANA

>160

ERP & Finance engagements

SAP S/4HANA: You'll get there with us.

SAP S/4HANA Highlights.

VW joint venture ICS drives fast value with SAP S/4HANA.

New gen beauty giant Harmay adopts SAP S/4HANA for their omni-channel operations.

Showcasing a smooth migration to S/4HANA at Windmöller & Hölscher.

White paper

Innovation meets inspiration.

Simplification and differentiation with SAP S/4HANA in 3 steps.

The value of migrating to SAP S/4HANA.

SAP S/4HANA in mechanical and plant engineering.

Your path to SAP S/4HANA.

We see switching to SAP’s new Business Suite SAP S/4HANA not as an option but as a necessity. It’s not a question of “if” but of “when” and “how” to carry out the migration. Ideally plan as soon as possible for 2027 and the end of SAP ECC 6. The appropriate implementation strategy is crucial for a successful migration. Should it be a local implementation with a modified infrastructure to handle exponential growth and still enable fast innovation cycles? Or a proven and flexible private or public cloud solution with two innovation cycles per year? Perhaps you are planning to deploy an on-premises version at a hyperscaler instead of on your self-managed infrastructure? We are here for you as the right partner.

1

Conversion of your SAP system (Brownfield)

Complete conversion of an existing SAP Business suite system to SAP S/4HANA. If your current SAP landscape is only modified to a limited extent and your core processes have been optimally structured in the SAP system, you can convert to SAP S/4HANA in just a few steps. It is worth taking a look at the as-is state of your system and your other projects with one of our SAP S/4HANA assessments.

2

Simplification as the basis for fast added value (Hybrid)

Ideal for large enterprises with SAP and non-SAP ERP systems. Consolidation into a global SAP S/4HANA system or selective data migration. Quickly achieve enterprise-level value, such as a soft close at any time, budget simulations, and inventory forecasting. For this we cooperate closely with our partner SNP and use the SNP Crystal Bridge. In our Assessment Packages L and the version for RISE with SAP, an optimal start into planning is possible here.

3

New entry into the SAP world (Greenfield)

Is the design of your current SAP landscape still from the 1990s? Then it’s probably time to take a big step into the future with a fresh start or a fundamental overhaul. Use a central digital core, without modifications or workarounds from the past.

Instant Innovation Tools.

SAP solutions such as S/4HANA, TM or EWM offer extensive functionality for a wide range of business processes. If you have some special need that SAP does not provide as standard, then our Instant Innovation Tools are exactly the right choice.

One of our S/4HANA Tools. We sync/GS1.

The tool Westernacher We sync | GS1 offers master data management for SAP ECC and S/4HANA. It features automatic importation of GS1 data and maintenance of master data in the usual SAP environment enabling you to work faster and safer. Westernacher We sync | GS1 offers the fastest and most convenient way to integrate GS1 into your SAP system.

S/4HANA ERP & Finance 1

SAP Fiori. It’s more than just a slick design.

SAP Fiori is the new user interface that redefines the way users work and provides a consistent and end-to-end experience. It is simple, role-based and responsive. SAP Fiori is part of SAP S/4HANA and other SAP products such as EWM and TM. Westernacher is a true pioneer when it comes to adapting SAP Fiori for the benefit of its customers. With a dedicated Fiori developer team, we can support you in shaping and adapting S/4 functionalities tailored to the specific needs of your company.

Workshops with impact.

We know what we are talking about and are leading the way – we also use SAP S/4HANA on our own systems, which are regularly updated with the latest SAP upgrades. We would be happy to guide you on the implementation and hosting of your SAP S/4HANA solution. Benefit from the important advantages of real-time decision support and increased productivity of each user. Based on many years of experience and distinctive expertise, we will answer all your questions regarding your current planning status.

How can you improve business performance, innovate and speed up processes, increase usability, data quality and flexibility with S/4HANA, Analytics and Fiori Mobile Solutions? What is the advantage and the right time to implement SAP S/4HANA or convert an established ECC system to SAP S/4HANA? We offer various interview and workshop based packages – tailored to your requirements. Learn more about SAP S/4HANA and Westernacher and book a meeting and a personal assessment package with us.

SAP S/4HANA Assessment Starter Packages.

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SAP S/4HANA Insights.

Brochures

6 steps to your digital transformation with SAP S/4HANA.

Articles

The road to SAP S/4HANA seems long and winding – for many existing systems it is not.

White paper

One supply chain in SAP S/4HANA.

Higher value, faster at lower cost. S/4HANA as your platform for innovation.

Work

VW joint venture ICS drives fast value with SAP S/4HANA.

New gen beauty giant Harmay adopts SAP S/4HANA for their omni-channel operations.

A successful change for Westernacher Consulting as it makes the move to S/4HANA.

Showcasing a smooth migration to S/4HANA at Windmöller & Hölscher.

Webinars

The right time to make the right move to SAP S/4HANA.

Series – Level up service parts planning with SAP eSPP.

Digitize HR processes with SAP cloud technologies.

Optimize your warehouse processes with Westernacher and Miebach.

Discover the full potential of DMC for process industry.

The best practices of best-in-class SAP S/4HANA adopters.

RISE with SAP – Become a digital champion powered by Westernacher.

SAP TM goes S/4. What does that mean for your TM?

Discover the new S/4 EWM system release from SAP.

Let's work together.

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Table of Content

SAP S/4HANA ERP & Finance

General changes.

Moving you closer to business success.

Business
partner

User
interface

Activate
implementation methodology

Business partner

A major change in S/4HANA, which can be anticipated in ECC, is the Business Partner Concept, known already from SAP CRM. All customer and vendor master data have to be migrated as Business Partner. SAP aligns the concept of Business Partner as other Supply Chain Management (SCM) applications like Advanced Planning & Optimization (APO), Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) or Transportation Management (TM) will be integrated to the Digital Core of S/4HANA.

User interface

Fiori is a new User Experience based on web technology. With Fiori you can have good, modern and intuitive user interfaces to operate with your SAP systems. There are plenty of apps available and ready to use. And there are tools and technology to modify existing apps or even create new apps tailored to your needs. The Fiori ecosystem is growing rapidly and offers many options for various use cases and scenarios.

Activate implementation methodology

There is no concept of blueprinting in S/4HANA implementation. S/4HANA has introduced the new ‘Activate’ methodology. SAP offers a prebuilt demo system with SAP’s best practices for specific business processes. Business users can now test a demo system to see whether it meets their business requirements or not. Fit-gap analysis can be done after the initial trial period.

SAP S/4HANA ERP & Finance

Finance.

Your accounting, simplified.

Single source of truth

New General
Ledger

Integration of Finance and
Controlling

Profibility Analysis

Credit
management

Revenue recognition

Single source of truth

S/4HANA simplifies the data structures of Finance and Controlling (Finance FI, Asset Accounting AA, Controlling CO, Profitability Analysis CO-PA and Material Ledger) into the Universal Journal with its centerpiece, the single line item table ACDOCA. This reduces aggregate and index tables and therefore reduces the data volume drastically and speeds up transactions and reporting.

Integration of Finance and Controlling

In S/4HANA, only one field of Universal Journal is used to store both General Ledger account and cost element posting. Reconciliation as in ECC is not needed anymore. Period-end closing and reporting will be several times faster.

Revenue recognition

Revenue Recognition is being replaced by SAP Revenue Accounting and Reporting (RAR) due to the new accounting standard jointly released by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and meeting the requirements of parallel accounting and cost recognition.

Profitability analysis

Account-based Profitability Analysis CO-PA is now the default option, and costing-based CO-PA is optional. Both options can be run simultaneously.

New general ledger

S/4HANA is based on the New General Ledger (GL) of ECC, and the migration is done automatically when converting from ECC with Old General Ledger to S/4HANA. Customers do not need to use the features of New General Ledger as Document Split or Parallel Ledger, but can implement during conversion or at a later stage. The New General Ledger’s functionality is a prerequisite for the new Asset accounting.

Credit management

Credit Management of ECC (FI-AR-CR ) is replaced by that of Financial Supply Chain Management (FSCM-CR), which is based on a distributed architecture and allows interfaces with external credit rating agencies. Traditional FI-AR-CR credit control setting requires a high degree of manual work. FSCM-CR has advanced features such as:

Credit rule engine for automatic risk scoring & credit limit calculations
Automatic update to master data on approval of credit limit
Workflow for credit events

SAP S/4HANA ERP & Finance

Supply chain.

Giving you control over your products.

aATP

Warehouse
Management

Foreign
trade

Material
ledger

Material
requirements planning

Material
number

Transportation
Management

aATP

The new advanced ATP check (aATP) is optimized for the HANA database. The logic to read the planning elements has been fully redesigned to improve the performance and is benefiting from the newly introduced inventory data model.

New confirmation strategy in backorder processing.

Predefined confirmation strategies: Win, Gain, Redistribute, Fill and Lose

Product allocation process

Newly developed
Neither ECC process, nor APO process
Reduced customizing effort in Fiori Apps

Release for Delivery

New Fiori app to review shortage situations and the result
Easy control of assigning critical sales order requirements

The newly developed aATP is neither a replacement for gATP, nor delivering all features of gATP in the near future. gATP can be called from S/4HANA for very complex ATP scenarios. gATP on APO has unique features like rule-based ATP (for substitution of location plant or material), multi-level ATP check, advanced check for product allocation with ATP or advanced backorder processing.

Warehouse Management

Existing Warehouse Management modules will be replaced by SAP’s new application for Extended Warehouse Management (EWM). There will be two options:

Native integration inbuilt in S/4HANA
Sidecar approach for decentralized deployment

There are several advantages like complex warehouse processing through Process Oriented Storage Control (POSC), improved and easily customizable RF functionality, value-added services like kitting, enhanced wave & replenishment processes and labor management.

Foreign trade

Foreign trade functionality has been replaced by Global Trade Services (SAP GTS). Advanced features are Sanctioned Party List Screening (SPL), automated embargo check, automatic and simplified license check and automatic import/export declaration.

Material ledger

Activation of Material Ledger (ML) is mandatory. ML valuates inventory in multiple currencies. Traditionally inventory is mainly valuated with a single currency in SAP ERP. ML allows valuation in two additional currencies. Today’s global organizations operating in different countries need to valuate inventory in multiple currencies. For example, a company in Norway dealing with oil needs to maintain their books in Norwegian currency (NOK); they would also like to evaluate their inventory in USD as oil is traded on the international market in USD.

Material requirements planning

Material Requirements Planning (MRP) in ECC is run through batch jobs during off-peak hours. As there is no need for batch jobs in S/4HANA, MRP can now be run in real-time. MRP can be run on plant and MRP area level, but not on storage location level. In ECC, Storage location can either be excluded from MRP or planned separately. SAP recommends using MRP area with MRP type (ND in case of exclusion or VB for re-order point planning) for those scenarios at storage location level. MRP with subcontracting has also been simplified.

Material number

The Material Number can now be 40 characters, as opposed to the existing 18. The impact of this extension on custom coding, interfaces and other SAP applications needs to be evaluated before switching to 40 characters.

Transportation Management

Since the release of S/4HANA 1709, S/4HANA Supply Chain for Transportation Management (TM) is finally fully embedded in the S/4HANA environment. Of course, LE-TRA can still be used in S/4, but it is part of the Compatibility Scope, which means that it can be used during migration phases, but it is not part of the target architecture. There are several possible scenarios to run TM in S/4HANA, which starts with basic shipping, and ends with the complete scope of the inbuilt TM solution. The functional scope of S/4HANA Supply Chain for TM is the baseline for full automation, Control Tower and Management by Exception scenarios.

SAP S/4HANA ERP & Finance

Sales & Service.

Intelligent, quick, effective support.

Rebate
management

Backorder
processing

Lead &
opportunity
management

Service
contracts

Pricing

Rebate management

The Settlement Management Solution is the functional equivalent of SD Rebate processing on S/4HANA. The Condition Contract Settlement Solution allows you to set up different rebate scenarios and settlement processes to fulfill the business requirements.

Key features:

Flexible data sources
Business selection criteria
Settlement calendar
Streamlined contract entry and contract processing

Backorder processing

The new Backorder Processing (BOP) introduced with S/4HANA is a new approach to rescheduling and redistributing order quantities depending on the Advanced Available-to-Promise (aATP) confirmation strategies: “Win, Gain, Redistribute, Fill, Lose”.

The backorder rules follow a custom segmentation of ATP requirements. To fulfill your company’s strategy of backorder processing, you can trigger rescheduling and redistribution based on specific selection criteria and prioritization.

Key features:

Maintain and reuse existing BOP variants
Assign confirmation strategies
Define new requirement categories
Define global filters
Simulate and schedule backorder processing runs in one step

Lead & opportunity management

With the introduction of S/4HANA for Customer Management, the Lead and Opportunity Management of SAP Business Suite CRM is available on S/4HANA. It is now possible to plan the sales pipeline without the need for an additional CRM server, which has a positive impact on the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). This feature is accompanied by the Activity and Task Manager.

Service contracts

With the introduction of S/4HANA for Customer Management, the Service Contract Management of SAP Business Suite CRM is available on S/4HANA. Service contracts represent long-term service agreements with customers in relation to the content and scope of services guaranteed within a predefined timeframe.

In general, the “S/4HANA for Customer Management – Service Core Option” is the successor solution for the Customer Service (CS) solution that is currently running in “compatibility mode” on S/4HANA.

Pricing

The Pricing Data Model has been optimized for the SAP HANA database.
Some database tables and structures have been replaced and data elements have been changed in their length. As an example, the number of customer condition tables has doubled and the number of access steps in an access sequence has increased to 999. Migration reports are rolled out to update the existing condition records.

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SAP S/4HANA ERP & Finance

Basic workshop.

Reinvent yourself. See what is possible with S/4HANA.

This workshop is designed for decision-makers from business and IT who want to get a first basic overview of fundamental innovations, functions and technology of SAP S/4HANA.

SAP S/4HANA is currently intensely under discussion, there are lots of sometimes confusing information about S/4HANA. It is difficult to find out what S/4HANA really means for current and future SAP customers. Find the right answer for your company in our individual expert discussions and get the information you need to define your companies IT-strategy.

Goals. Expectations. Lessons.

Your individual workshop program.

What is S/4HANA?
What does it mean for your company?
What innovations does S/4HANA really have, what significance do they have for your company, processes and IT?
What is the best way to implement S/4HANA
On Premise or Cloud – which model fits your strategy?
How are S/4HANA projects planned and implemented successfully?

Your workshop details.

Get more information about your workshop and register now for free.

Date

We will contact you directly to find the most suitable date for your workshop day.

Place

We are happy to conduct the workshop on your premises or in our training rooms.

Time

Please contact us for your individual workshop offer.