The family-owned company HAUSER, based in Linz, has spent two years preparing its master data for the international deployment of SAP S/4HANA. With software and services from simus systems, the Master Data Management (MDM) team was able to set up a Golden Client that ensures secure migration as well as further automation and digitalization.
As a partner for customized fresh food solutions, HAUSER plans and produces turnkey refrigeration systems for the international market. Founded in Linz in 1946, the family-owned company generated a turnover of 370 million euros in 2022 with around 1,300 employees in 15 countries. The cold rooms, cells, counters and refrigeration units of various technologies can be found in the food trade, in commercial operations such as dairies and in industry. The company operates several production plants in Austria and the Czech Republic, distribution centers in Europe and a location in Australia. Business is conducted using an ERP system whose maintenance has been discontinued. From 2025, the company plans to work with S/4HANA from SAP worldwide. Since this decision was made in 2021, preparations for the migration have been progressing everywhere and financial accounting has already been converted.
HAUSER optimizes its master data in order to produce refrigeration technology and refrigerated cabinets in a solution-oriented and efficient manner.
Quick retrieval of components should avoid duplicates and lengthy searches in future.
It was already clear at the time that the master data, which had previously been maintained decentrally and in different forms and qualities, would have to be fundamentally cleaned up, supplemented and prepared for new automation and digitization requirements before the migration. Until then, the master data had been maintained decentrally by many authorized persons – poor retrievability and reuse as well as numerous duplicates were the result. Added to this were the requirements of the new ERP system, which the database was unable to meet anyway. “We were looking for support from a master data specialist with in-depth SAP expertise,” reports Paul Lung, who is responsible for the material master and business partner data as SAP master data management team leader. simus systems was selected from five providers. The main reasons were the method of individual but standardized classification offered by simus, the simus classmate software tested in a preliminary project and the technical possibility of migrating the finished database directly into SAP. “Although we were not aware of many of the pitfalls of our project at the time, we wanted to tap into simus systems’ SAP expertise”, says Paul Lung. “In hindsight, this was certainly a good decision.”
During the decision-making phase, simus systems had already demonstrated its proven approach and effective software in a preliminary project: With simus classmate, extracted data from any source is automatically analyzed. Using the initially neutral rules for processing and optimization, the data is sorted, enriched and stored in a SQL database.
The results are then filtered using the classmate FINDER search engine and examined to identify any errors, duplicates or inaccuracies. The data records found then do not have to be processed individually. Instead, the basic rules are adapted to the individual customer so that the next optimization cycle delivers better results.
The classification project began at the start of 2022. A standard classification specified by simus systems was continuously adapted in workshops and consultations with the specialist departments. Paul Lung reports: “This was an iterative process with changes to take many dependencies into account. Sometimes the standard fitted immediately – sometimes we had to adapt the classification to our specifications. In any case, it was good to be able to start from a base that we brought with us.”
Today, the individual classification is 99 percent complete. “All departments are satisfied,” says Paul Lung. “We were able to take many dependencies into account now that we would otherwise have had to change later in S/4HANA.”
“This was an iterative process with changes to take many dependencies into account. Sometimes the standard fitted immediately – sometimes we had to adapt the classification to our specifications. In any case, it was good to be able to start from a base that we brought with us.”
Paul Lung, Team Leader Master Data Management SAP at HAUSER
With simus classmate, large amounts of data can be processed based on rules.
Defining the characteristics that describe the materials in the classes is much more complex. The short texts, which should provide an initial, concise description of the material, depend on these characteristics. “Much of the necessary information was not contained in the master data. Finding the missing data was a major challenge, especially for the specialist departments,” says Paul Lung. For the example of screws, not only details such as DIN, cylinder and dimensions are required, but also the material and surface finish. How are high-strength screws 10.9, 8.8 or normal-strength screws 5.6 described? “Stainless steel screws are often prescribed in the food sector,” says Paul Lung. “The production staff know that. But that’s not enough for automated warehouse management.” Efficient and automated processes in the warehouse area are just as much a part of the company’s objectives as the configuration of products. To achieve this, the interfaces require considerably more data than was previously maintained.
In the meantime, the MDM team, together with the specialist departments, prepares the data largely independently using simus systems software. The employees in design, purchasing, production and product management have 50 licenses of classmate FINDER with read rights. “It is important to keep motivating people and to communicate the benefits of well-maintained data. Sometimes you have to compromise, sometimes you have to be pushy – the key lies in communication”, says Paul Lung.
The SQL database from simus systems becomes the Golden Client, whose data is repeatedly transferred to the S/4HANA test system via the simus systems interface. simus classmate provides the transfer features for this. “Without the software, this would be much more time-consuming, namely difficult manual work,” says Paul Lung. If data is not available for a mandatory field in S/4HANA, the transfer would simply be aborted without the error being recognized. If you fill in other fields that are not mandatory fields, you would have to fill in all dependent fields to prevent an abort. In this way, errors and gaps in the data that still need to be closed are detected again and again. Of around 600,000 material master records in the old system, only around 15 percent are refined and migrated. The data in S/4HANA is also checked and kept synchronized with Windchill PLM, the design department’s product lifecycle management system, via an interface.
“It is important to keep motivating people and to communicate the benefits of well-maintained data. Sometimes you have to compromise, sometimes you have to be pushy – the key lies in communication.”
“You have to invest a lot of time and thought in master data management, but it pays off immediately. The excellent cooperation with the competent and friendly consultants from simus systems contributed a lot to the successful course of the project.”
In the meantime, 80 percent of the material short texts, which can only contain 40 characters in S/4HANA, have been defined. Some key users are working with the new data on a trial basis and have found that the required components and information can now be found very quickly and efficiently. The MDM team has set up new processes for material creation, in which all relevant departments are involved in order to ensure the quality of the data. HAUSER now has a treasure trove of data that saves time-consuming searches, duplicates and errors. In terms of quality and scope, it corresponds to the automation and digitalization tasks that the company intends to tackle in the coming years. Paul Lung says: “You have to invest a lot of time and thought in master data management, but it pays off immediately. The excellent cooperation with the competent and friendly consultants from simus systems contributed a lot to the successful course of the project.” The simus systems software will continue to be used for modification and maintenance work. Next, the MDM team will process the approximately 3,000 business partner data with a new module from simus systems. “By the autumn, we will have a solid database for the go-live with S/4HANA and were able to solve many challenges in the run-up to the migration that would otherwise have jeopardized a successful start.”
