suki, a leading European supplier to hardware stores, has reached an important milestone in its digitization strategy with the transition to SAP S/4HANA. XEPTUM made an important contribution to the success of the project, providing a customized roadmap and expert support with implementation.
For more than 60 years, the suki Group has offered complex and individual product solutions, presentations, ranges, and services in hardware and specialty retail stores. The Group operates in more than 40 countries and employs over 650 people. The product range includes proprietary brands such as suki, fix-o-moll, and Magnodur, as well as integrated manufacturer brands and private labels.
suki had been using SAP ECC systems for finance and accounting and logistics for many years. The aim of the transition to S/4HANA was to enable both areas to benefit from a modern, digitized process environment. The integrated data model of the new SAP Business Suite creates greater transparency, for instance, while access to real-time data enables faster, up-to-date analyses, and shorter close periods. The new SAP Fiori interface improves user satisfaction, productivity, and data quality.
To ensure a successful transition, a careful analysis of suki’s requirements and detailed project planning were required; for every SAP customer has a different starting point and destination. As the group’s long-standing SAP consulting partner, XEPTUM was responsible for all these tasks. In addition to the project design, XEPTUM also managed the entire conversion to S/4HANA.
In the summer of 2021, a preliminary project to convert all the business partners was launched and completed in the same year. At the start of 2022, XEPTUM, working closely with the responsible project managers at suki, defined a roadmap and a detailed project plan for the S/4HANA transition. To minimize data cleansing effort and retain as many existing processes and value chains as possible, a Brownfield approach was chosen. suki’s SAP ECC system landscape and several company codes were then gradually migrated over to S/4HANA. The interfaces and add-ons, data cleansing, and archiving presented a particular challenge.
The transition comprised multiple different phases:
The suki managers are delighted with how the project went and the outcome. The Brownfield approach chosen proved ideally suited to the company’s requirements. Following the go-live of the new SAP S/4HANA system, the annual report was produced on time without any major issues.
The good cooperation with suki’s long-standing partner, the SAP consulting company XEPTUM, also received special praise. Markus Komes, Head of IT Application Development and Support at suki: “The project demonstrated once again that, in XEPTUM, we have a highly experienced team of consultants at our side, on whom we can rely in every phase. XEPTUM’s extensive S/4HANA and transformation expertise was reflected in an excellent roadmap and support throughout the project.”
Following this success, suki immediately brought the XEPTUM consultants on board for another SAP transformation project. The team is currently implementing classic SAP SD Rebate Processing through Condition Contract Management (CCM) in SAP S/4HANA with additional functions.