Success story – Piller: Migration to SAP S/4HANA

simus systems has advised Piller Blowers & Compressors GmbH in setting up a classification and prepared master data for a migration of the ERP system to SAP S/4HANA for approximately two years.

In this process, all of the master data was revised and significantly reduced. simus classmate was introduced for the purpose of classification and master data maintenance: User-friendly tools synchronize the data directly with the ERP system.

As a family business, PILLER develops and manufactures high-performance blowers for the process industry. The customized solutions achieve high technological requirements for refineries, chemical plants, in power plant and general plant construction. When the technology leader decided to replace the existing ERP system by SAP S/4HANA in 2016, master data was examined for its migratability. “About 360,000 material masters were searched and found by using short texts”, says Thomas Henzler, CIO. “As these texts are limited to 32 characters in SAP S/4HANA, a complete refocus was required”.

In the first quarter of 2017, a new project with two objectives was initiated: The setup of a specific classification for improved retrievability and the improvement of data quality for migration to S4HANA.  simus systems was chosen as a service provider:

“On the one hand, what impressed us was the advanced technological understanding and the treasure trove of experience in the mechanical engineers at simus. On the other hand, they brought an ideal tool for the direct use in an SAP environment – simus classmate”,

Thomas Henzler explains. In two years, a customized classification including characteristics was developed in cooperation with all departments. The database was tested as long as it took to achieve an optimum master. In doing so, the number of master data records could be reduced by almost half.

With the support of simus systems, the data migration was finalized in time for the go live date on February 2nd, 2020.

“simus knows the SAP data structure in detail and could support us very well as a new user. With this experience, among other things, we mastered the data migration”,

Henzler rejoices. An automated material master creation process and makes sure that in the ideal case only complete and accurate master records enter the new ERP system. During the project period, the decision was made to introduce some tools from simus systems to the business:

“Solutions such as classmate FINDER work super fast, are transparent and user-friendly”,

the CIO adds. “After we looked at the same processes in the ERP system, we had made our decision”. All users of the new ERP systems benefit from the data quality gained.

“The results from the graphic analytical tools by S/4HANA always represent the underlying data quality.Trends in orders by merchandise categories only provide meaningful insights if the merchandise categories are maintained properly”,

reports Thomas Henzler.

More informations:

Data Cleansing: Optimize your data basis with simus classmate

simus classmate: Easy synchronization with SAP

Supplier Selection for Purchasing Technical Equipment

Photo credits: Piller Blowers & Compressors GmbH