Ahlstrom, a global leader in fiber-based specialty materials, together with its digital business partner Vincit, set and achieved an ambitious goal: to implement a fully operational ERP system, SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud, at one of their factories within a month. With over 6,000 customers Ahlstrom runs 36 factories in 13 countries. Each factory's operations are supported by an ERP system ensuring production runs smoothly without interruptions.

A New Era for ERP Implementations: From Months to Weeks

Ahlstrom was seeking a cost-effective, fast, and scalable way to implement Cloud ERP in one of its smaller production units, while also creating a replicable operating model that could be used for similar projects at other company factories.

The extremely tight schedule made the rollout historic. Traditionally, ERP renewals take months or even years, but Ahlstrom wanted to find out how quickly and cost-effectively a modern SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud implementation could be done. Vincit's team accepted the challenge, and together with Ahlstrom, they succeeded in completing the entire rollout in less than a month.

"We didn't just implement a new system but proved that a project that used to take months and massive resources can be done in four weeks. Vincit succeeded with a truly ambitious schedule and gave us a scalable, modern foundation that will define our future SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud rollouts. This would not have been possible without their exceptional expertise in both S/4HANA implementations and manufacturing industry processes," says Kari Halmela, Head of Shared IT Platforms, Ahlstrom.

Success Factors for a Rapid Rollout

At the core of the SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud system is the clean core philosophy: the ERP system is kept standardized, and necessary customizations are done through integrations and application extentions on the SAP Business Technology Platform. Compared to traditional ERP projects, a four-week cloud rollout requires each SAP consultant to have very broad and versatile expertise, rather than deep specialization. Consultants must manage the entire supply chain and be able to lead change so that end users commit to the new solution. When the team is built on multi-skilled experts, the team size remains small, time use is efficient, and overall productivity increases.

Vincit had previously productized the Public Cloud implementation, which significantly accelerated the project. Ahlstrom's strong commitment, and Vincit's SAP expertise and knowledge of manufacturing industry processes from procurement to distribution were also significant success factors for the rapid rollout.

"This is possibly the most significant change in ERP implementations since SAP was founded in 1972," says Suvi Albert, Vincit's Business Area Lead. "ERP projects have traditionally been seen as slow and expensive, but cloud-based ERP systems have permanently changed the game. Fast rollouts also motivate SAP consultants: value can be delivered to the customer faster and with smaller teams than ever before."

Significant Business Impact

A scalable system delivers added value immediately. The Ahlstrom factory in question now has a modern ERP system that improves operational efficiency right from the start. The clean core approach enables new extensions and functionalities to be added more quickly and cost-effectively in the future.

Ahlstrom can reuse the SAP S/4HANA Cloud project model in its other factories. The cloud transition gives the company access to SAP's latest innovations, including SAP Joule's AI capabilities. At the same time, long-term maintenance costs are significantly reduced.