Life sciences · Inventory management & write-off

Inventory Workflows Through the S/4HANA Transition

A global inventory workflow must remain dependable while its underlying ERP changes. Since 2023, PROVADIT has enhanced a life-sciences group’s inventory and write-off application while supporting its transition from SAP ECC to S/4HANA, site by site.

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Industry
Life sciences · Inventory management & write-off
Our role
Functional enhancement and global SAP migration support
Focus & technology
SAP BW · SAP ECC · SAP S/4HANA · Workflow Integration
Scope
Ongoing since 2023 · Global workflow application

Client anonymized.

The starting point

How can a critical inventory workflow evolve while its ERP foundation changes?

A global life-sciences group had consolidated inventory scrapping and slow-moving or critical-stock management from a fragmented legacy application landscape into one globally deployed workflow tool. The previous landscape included Lotus Notes databases, spreadsheets, email approvals, SharePoint workspaces and separate BW queries. The established application runs on SAP Business Warehouse and connects ERP postings, electronic signatures, LDAP-based access and a central document archive.

The process governs batch-level inventory risks and financial consequences. Approval chains come from centrally maintained rules, and authorized actions lead to ERP postings. During a global migration, that chain has to work across sites on different ERP versions while keeping the audit trail complete.

Our contribution

PROVADIT’s contribution

PROVADIT took on functional enhancements and migration support as two connected workstreams. A senior solution designer worked directly with functional leads and site specialists, moving from scope review and concept design through implementation, user acceptance testing, live walkthroughs and training. The migration work followed the client’s readiness assessments, pre-production validation and site transition test cycles.

  1. Extend the business workflows

    PROVADIT scoped, designed and delivered electronic scrapping requests at storage-location level, batch-split handling with workflow information carried forward, and a dedicated risk-mitigation workflow. Further enhancements tightened ERP posting integration and expanded notifications and reporting.

  2. Qualify the move from ECC to S/4HANA

    The work examined ECC-specific interfaces, posting sequences, financial document structures and movement-type logic. PROVADIT validated and adapted posting and workflow-status synchronization for S/4HANA, including the transition period when some sites still used ECC and others had already migrated.

  3. Keep the connected process intact

    Validation covered the chain from inventory reporting and approval to ERP posting and retained evidence. Electronic signatures, LDAP authorization and archive interfaces were checked across the migration window, alongside the application’s workflow behavior.

  4. Support each site’s transition

    PROVADIT supported readiness reviews, pre-production interface testing, user acceptance and per-site go-live planning. Hands-on walkthroughs and training helped local teams use the enhanced process. The aim was to preserve workflow availability throughout each site’s ERP transition.

Inside the work

From an inventory risk to a traceable action.

Four connected steps define the workflow. Enhancements and migration testing have to preserve the relationships between them.

  1. Identify and request

    Users identify slow-moving or financially at-risk batches and initiate the relevant request. The enhanced process supports storage-location-level scrapping and carries workflow information into batch splits.

  2. Route and authorize approval

    Central control rules determine the approval chain for the relevant business. Requesters do not select their approvers manually. Role-based access and the electronic-signature service support authorized approval.

  3. Post and synchronize

    Following approval, physical destruction or financial write-off is reflected in SAP ERP. The integration connects posting sequences and document information with the workflow status, including the coexistence of ECC and S/4HANA sites.

  4. Retain the evidence

    The application retains an exportable audit trail for batches, approvals and destruction actions. Its archiving approach supports substantial document volumes and the client’s defined retention requirements.

Deliverables

The work delivered. The decisions it supports.

The engagement combines delivered functional improvements with ongoing support for the ERP transition. It treats availability, controlled approvals, correct postings and retained evidence as connected requirements of one operating process.

  • Delivered enhancements for scrapping requests, batch splits, risk mitigation, notifications and reporting.
  • Qualified and adapted ERP posting and workflow-status interfaces for the ECC-to-S/4HANA transition.
  • Validation of reporting, signature, authorization and archive integration across the migration scope.
  • Site readiness and go-live support, with user acceptance, walkthroughs and hands-on training.

Engagement context

The global workflow application and its original consolidation predated this mandate. PROVADIT’s engagement covers the enhancements and workflow-related migration support described here. The client leads the overall ERP program and site cutovers.

What this illustrates

An ERP migration affects the full business process around a posting. Approval authority, application status and evidence must continue to agree as systems change. Close coordination between business owners, sites and technical teams makes it possible to enhance a critical application while maintaining that continuity.

Palletized goods on tall storage racks in a distribution warehouse, with a clear aisle and a forklift in the distance.

A related engagement

Global Inventory Projection in Quantity and Value

The workflow turns inventory risks into controlled actions. A separate case shows how PROVADIT supports the forward-looking inventory information that informs planning and financial decisions.

Read case study: Global Inventory Projection in Quantity and Value

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