Transforming a critical business process in weeks
Responsible for handling an average of 100 requests and moving more than 55,000 units of finished goods per month, Apsen’s materials transfer process was slow, manual and unreliable, relying on emails, spreadsheets and disconnected steps.
Working alongside the Rimini Street team, Apsen implemented a solution that layered the ServiceNow low-code/no-code and AI features over its ECC environment. In weeks, the company automated the full materials transfer process, once a labor-intensive, manual workflow into an integrated, intelligent system that reduced human error, delivered real-time traceability from request through delivery and boosted operational efficiency – all without altering its core SAP system. What once took extensive manual coordination is now handled within a unified, digital workflow.
“We were looking for an agile solution that would deliver value quickly and avoid the costs, complexity and risks inherent in any large software migration project, and Rimini Street’s innovative solution with ServiceNow was the fastest and surest path to achieving our transformation vision.” The entire end-to-end solution was up and running in half the time of Apsen’s standard development timeframes.
The Rimini Smart Path™ advantage
The Rimini Smart Path is a guided methodology that helps organizations self-fund and accelerate transformation while increasing returns on existing software and protecting future software investments. For organizations like Apsen, it allows IT teams to break free from vendor support models, reduce support costs, avoid unneeded upgrades and achieve Transformation Without Disruption™. Using this methodology helped align goals with tactics to deliver meaningful and immediate benefits to Apsen.
Had Apsen taken the path to S/4HANA, it could have created a long, expensive and risky migration project, likely stretching timelines for any meaningful automation. Their ability to integrate low-code/no-code innovations would have been limited, and much-needed IT resources potentially diverted away from transformation.
On the Rimini Smart Path, Apsen achieved faster results, preserved its stable ECC 6 system and laid the groundwork for future innovation. The company also reduced its total ERP support costs significantly and secured a minimum of 15 years of support availability for its existing SAP software and releases, eliminating end-of-support deadline pressure. This freed up budget and IT resources to invest in broader innovation efforts.
Apsen expands its innovation journey
Unified visibility across operations through modern interfaces, connected data, embedded AI and real-time analytics are now driving smarter decisions, while intelligent automation is reducing manual workloads and improving productivity at scale. “We have assembled a strong internal team, which now has the capacity to rethink processes, suppliers and architecture in a strategic way. What began as a next-generation vision and a pilot has become a model for the entire company,” said Santos.
The use of low code/no code tools provides more autonomy across the organization for non-developers to create solutions around business needs without the involvement of valuable developer resources. With the successful pilot of the materials transfer process, Apsen can reduce development cycles for future workflow automation projects.
On the heels of this success, Apsen plans to extend automation across more SAP-anchored workflows and further enhance its materials transfer process by embedding AI agents. Additionally, Apsen is exploring new ServiceNow capabilities, including virtual agents and ERP customization mining tools, to unlock even deeper operational insights.
Apsen proves that modernization doesn’t require migration. With Rimini Street and ServiceNow, Santos and his team are not only avoiding unnecessary ERP upgrades – they are also transforming their existing SAP platform into a true innovation engine and redefining what modernization looks like in pharma manufacturing.
Watch Rimini Street’s Product Marketing Director, Managed Services and SaaS, Andrew Harsch, and EVP & Chief Product Officer and Chief Marketing Officer, David Rowe, discuss how organizations can use ServiceNow and Rimini Street to bring ERP into the AI era.