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Clarity, Agility, Scalability—Delivered Through the Cloud
The leading cement manufacturer has long stood as the backbone of East Africa’s construction landscape. As part of the global Holcim Group, the company operates in Kenya through five dynamic entities, each contributing to the region’s most ambitious infrastructure projects. Yet behind this remarkable scale was an aging digital core struggling to keep pace with the company’s growing vision.
For years, the Leading Cement Manufacturer relied on its SAP ECC 6.0 environment—a system once dependable but now strained by fragmented data, layers of custom code, and an increasingly complex web of integrations. Every new initiative required more effort. Every upgrade became harder. And the promise of agility felt increasingly out of reach.
It became clear: to lead the next decade of East African growth, the Leading Cement Manufacturer needed a digital leap, not another patchwork fix.
This realization sparked the beginning of a bold transformation.
The Turning Point
The firm sought an ERP landscape that was independent, cloud-ready, innovation-friendly, and future-proof—one that could integrate seamlessly with Kenyan banks, M-Pesa, Ariba, Concur, ABB systems, and other systems. They sought speed, accuracy, compliance, and a significantly lower cost of ownership.
And so, the search began for the right transformation partner.
The Leading Cement Manufacturer chose Birlasoft (CKA Birla Group)—a team already known for its success in Grow with SAP, Public Cloud ERP, and complex manufacturing transformations. With deep roots in the cement industry and a proven Clean Core approach, Birlasoft delivered the perfect blend of domain knowledge, cloud expertise, and on-the-ground commitment through its hybrid Kenya–India delivery model.
Together, they architected a roadmap that would not just modernize manufacturers’ systems but redefine how the company operated.
A Transformation in Two Waves
Wave 1: Preparing the Ground
The first phase was all about building a clean, compliant foundation:
- Cloning production instances of SAP ECC 6.0 and HCM.
- Removing all non-Kenya data to create a fully independent ERP environment.
- Rehosting the cleansed system on AWS Private Cloud, ensuring stability and flexibility.
This step untangled decades of legacy complexity—setting the stage for a leap into the cloud.
Wave 2: The Leap to SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud (Premium Edition)
With the foundation in place, the fundamental transformation began.
Birlasoft implemented SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud (Grow with SAP – Premium Edition) across all five legal entities, migrating master data, open transactions, and business processes into a modern, intelligent core.
- More than 15 critical systems were integrated—from local banks and M-Pesa to Ariba, Concur, SuccessFactors, SAP CX, and ABB TIS.
- Governance and quality were driven through SAP Cloud ALM, while analytics and business insights were unified through SAP Analytics Cloud.
- Six months of structured hyper care ensured that every user, every workflow, and every process adapted smoothly to the new future-ready environment.
What Made This Transformation Special
This was not just an ERP upgrade—it was the rebirth of the firm’s digital backbone.
- A Clean Core strategy eliminated technical debt and complexity.
- Leveraging SAP Cloud ALM for User Acceptance Testing & Status reporting.
- Fit-to-Standard enabled 30% faster execution.
- Cloud adoption delivered 25% TCO reduction.
- Integration modernization brought real-time visibility across finance, sales, and operations.
- SAC unlocked unified analytics and reporting.
- Data was migrated with 99.98% accuracy—a flawless transition.
This transformation empowered the leading cement manufacturer with the agility, transparency, and intelligence needed to lead the next era of East African industrial growth.
A Project That Redefined Possibilities
| Project Snapshot | Details |
| Timeline | August 2025 – Dec 2025 (6 Months |
| Scope | ECC Carve-Out + S/4HANA Public Cloud |
| Modules | FICO, MM, SD, PP, QM, PM, EHS, Ariba, SF, Concur, CX |
| Delivery Model | Kenya Onsite + India Offshore |
| Governance | SAP Cloud ALM |
A New Chapter for The Leading Cement Manufacturer
The transformation is more than a technology story—it represents a vision fulfilled. From a fragmented legacy system to a unified, intelligent cloud ERP, the firm now operates with the agility, clarity, and scalability demanded by modern manufacturing and the evolving African marketplace.
Armed with SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud (Premium Edition) and guided by Birlasoft’s expertise, the leading cement manufacturer has stepped confidently into the future—ready to innovate, accelerate, and lead.
