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Customer Stories

Nipro: Easing cloud migration by bridging the gap between new and old systems and data

Explore Nipro’s journey with SAP

When embarking on its journey to the cloud, it was imperative for Nipro Europe Group Companies to maintain business continuity. To keep reporting consistent for users and continue leveraging its existing data warehouse environment, it chose SAB BW bridge for SAP Data Warehouse Cloud.

<1 minute
for hourly data uploads that used to take 20 minutes.

3 months
to deploy SAP BW bridge.

Real-time
financial insights.

SAP BW bridge for SAP Data Warehouse Cloud is a complete game changer. The cloud architecture allows us to simplify our landscape. We are also seeing significant improvements in our performance.

Iaroslav Korzh
SAP Technology Manager, Nipro Europe Group Companies

The Challenge

Maintaining business continuity while moving to the cloud

As a longtime SAP customer, Nipro Europe’s IT landscape has grown over the decades, resulting in a complex patchwork of legacy systems spread across the globe. These include multiple instances of the SAP ERP application – some with SAP Business Warehouse (SAP BW) applications and some without – as well as a number of third-party ERP systems. The result was a disparate IT landscape that was not conducive to in-the-moment decision-making and flexible growth.

 

It also was hard for IT to deliver the best data management solutions to the business, which meant that users ended up doing a lot of manual work in spreadsheets.

 

Nipro’s IT team knew it was time for a move to the cloud – a large-scale project that could take as long as five years. During this endeavor, the company needed to ensure business continuity as well as consistent reporting and analytics for users. So, it was imperative to find a solution that worked with its existing technology landscape.

A migration journey of this scale doesn’t happen overnight. It can take anywhere from four to five years. In the meantime, we needed to ensure business continuity, so users keep getting the reporting and insights they are used to.

Iaroslav Korzh
SAP Technology Manager, Nipro Europe Group Companies

The Solution

Building a bridge between old and new systems and data

Given Nipro’s extensive SAP software investments and the long and trusted relationship between the two companies, a migration to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition, was the clear path forward. It was also decided to replace a QlikView reporting environment with the SAP Data Warehouse Cloud and SAP Analytics Cloud solutions.

 

SAP gold partner Flexso supported the implementation. But the team had to reload the data daily from SAP ERP to SAP Data Warehouse for the entire fiscal period – requiring at least 20 minutes per session per system, causing high workloads on the source system, and resulting in at least a 24-hour delay for the business.

 

The solution to decreasing pressure and improving performance was SAP BW bridge for SAP Data Warehouse Cloud.

 

By facilitating the delta mechanism of existing extractors, SAP BW bridge made it possible to map data from the source systems into SAP Data Warehouse Cloud so it was ready to go for financial consolidation in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition.

 

And the implementation only took three short months.

The Result

Improving performance and load times with a consistent user experience

With SAP BW bridge in place, Nipro can now load data in a native way, reusing existing SAP BW extractors on the SAP ERP side. Working in a no-code environment also means a huge increase in speed and efficiency.

 

Now, hourly uploads take less than one minute instead of almost 20 minutes and don’t overburden source systems. Plus, because SAP BW bridge uses all the same tools that local support teams are used to, there is minimal ramp up.

 

The end result is better performance – making it possible to deliver financial insights in real time.

 

SAP BW bridge is also facilitating the simplification of Nipro’s IT landscape by allowing it to connect existing technology assets to newer cloud-based solutions, maximize on earlier investments, accelerate time to value, and maintain a familiar user experience.

With SAP BW bridge, we have the ease of use and flexibility to get business users the reporting and analytics they need much faster. Now, finance gets their insights in real time.

Iaroslav Korzh
SAP Technology Manager, Nipro Europe Group Companies

Future Plans

Supporting current data flows and exploring new use cases

For the time being, SAP BW bridge supports data flows from SAP ERP applications until all of Nipro Europe runs on SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition. Eventually, it will also be used for transfers from SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition, to a data warehouse. SAP Data Warehouse Cloud will consolidate SAP system data with third-party systems so that users across regions can leverage self-service capabilities, start new analytics projects, and explore more precise business insights.

SAP helps Nipro run better

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Key business outcomes and benefits

  • Ability to load data in a native way, reusing existing SAP BW data models and SAP ERP extractors
  • No-code environment that greatly increases time and efficiency
  • Same tools that local IT teams are used to, thus requiring minimal ramp up to support users
  • Significant performance improvements, including hourly delta uploads that take less than a minute
  • Real-time finance insights with a familiar experience for business users

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Featured solutions and services

  • SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition, is a tailored cloud ERP service that adapts to your organization’s unique transformation.
  • SAP Data Warehouse Cloud unifies and harmonizes data across global operations.
  • SAP Analytics Cloud provides user-friendly planning tools, reporting, and predictive analytics.

About Nipro

A leading global healthcare company, Japan-based Nipro Corporation develops, manufactures, and distributes medical devices, medicines, and primary packaging pharmaceuticals to hospitals, the pharmaceutical sector, and their suppliers. Its European operations fall under Belgium-based Nipro Europe Group Companies, which accounts for more than 15 production sites, 30 sales offices, and 3,400 employees.

Industry Region Company Size Partner
Life sciences Mechelen, Belgium >3,400 employees Flexso
Featured partner

Flexso is an SAP gold partner with headquarters in Belgium. With an extensive know-how of SAP enterprise software and as an early adopter of new SAP technology, Flexso builds smart SAP solutions that put organizations one step ahead. From a full suite of SAP applications to additional extensions, integrations, and managed services, Flexso strives for the ultimate peace of mind of its customers.

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