Project Insight
Product Compliance and Dangerous Goods in SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud.
Lessons Learned from a Specialty Chemicals Project
In the chemical industry, the move to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition (now SAP Cloud ERP) has so far been relatively uncommon, particularly due to the specific requirements in areas such as product compliance and dangerous goods management. The deliberately restrictive standardization of the Public Cloud confronts many companies with the question of whether these scenarios can be implemented in a cloud compliant way.
For an internationally operating specialty chemicals company, we were able to realize these scenarios in the Public Cloud for the first time. This article highlights the key challenges, architectural decisions, and lessons learned from the implementation.
The challenge. Complex requirements of the chemical industry meet a tightly defined cloud standard
From a project perspective, the following aspects were particularly in focus:
Standardization vs. individuality:
SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud provides clearly defined processes and data structures, but offers little room for customer specific customizing or additional fields compared to on premise systems. This represents a particular challenge for chemical specific data models.
Integration of external software:
Dangerous goods and compliance data were to continue being sourced from an external system (ChemGes) until SAP closes the current gaps in Product Compliance (e.g., creation of safety data sheets).
Update and release capability:
All extensions had to be fully update-safe in order to enable regular SAP releases without rework.
International scalability:
The solution was intended to serve as a template for further country rollouts.
The solution. Fit-to-Standard with targeted extensions
Instead of bypassing the SAP standard, a deliberately Public Cloud compliant approach was chosen that consistently retains the SAP standard while selectively extending it:
- Side-by-side extension: Development of a customer specific SAP Fiori app to automate transfer of data from ChemGes.
- Rule based processing of the data, including creation of “unpackaged products” and assignment of “packaged products.” The system independently identifies variants as well as dangerous goods triggers.
- Pragmatic use of existing SAP structures: Mapping of chemical specific attributes (e.g., VOC values, solids content) via existing unused standard fields where the SAP Cloud standard currently provides no dedicated structures.
- Automated Reports: Development of an additional Fiori app for the automated creation of reports for Poison Centre Notification.
The implementation was carried out in a hybrid onsite/offshore setup and was completed within four months.
“This project demonstrates that SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition can also be used in highly regulated industrial environments such as the chemical industry: if the standard is respected and supplemented in a targeted manner with intelligent enhancements.“
Dr. Florian Seufert, Team Lead Regulatory Compliance
Lessons Learned and insights
The experience from this project shows that SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition (now SAP Cloud ERP) is also a realistic option for demanding product compliance and dangerous goods processes in the chemical industry, provided that architecture, standardization, and extensions are cleanly aligned. Instead of aiming for maximum individualization, the key lies in the conscious use of the cloud standard and the clean core principles. A pinch of pragmatism is necessary as long as certain functions (e.g., SDS creation) are not yet available in the standard.
With the go live of the first site, the foundation was laid for further international rollouts. The early decision to migrate to S/4HANA Cloud significantly reduces risks with regard to the end of mainstream maintenance for ECC 6.0 in 2027.
