When Zeon Chemicals evaluated its ERP path forward, the end of SAP ECC support was only part of the equation. For the specialty elastomers manufacturer, the transition to SAP S/4HANA—via RISE with SAP—represented a larger opportunity to modernize operations, align with best practices, and enable continuous innovation across the business.
Zeon, a leading producer of specialty elastomers, polymers, and chemicals, supports a broad range of industries, from automotive and medical devices to smartphones and construction materials. With research and development facilities and manufacturing operations spanning the Americas and Asia, the organization’s processes are tightly integrated not only across departments, but also with its parent and sister companies. That made the ERP decision all the more consequential.
“This is not only a technical conversion project to S/4,” said Sudha Srinivasan, ERP Leader, “but also an investment for the overall transformation process at Zeon with our ERP.”
By aligning with S/4HANA’s best practices and industry standards, the company aimed to modernize its processes to improve efficiency, agility, and long-term scalability.
Leveraging RISE with SAP
Zeon’s parent company, Zeon Corporation, as well as its sister companies in Europe, were already running on SAP systems, and the organizations relied on frequent intercompany data exchange to support daily operations. Introducing a different ERP platform would have risked operational disruption across the corporate ecosystem.
As Srinivasan noted, doing so would “negatively impact the broader ecosystem,” which depends on seamless interoperability between entities. “Many of our core processes, controls, and daily operations are built around SAP capabilities,” she said. Switching platforms would have introduced significant disruption and risk across our organizational ecosystem. The so-called “lock-in” concern commonly raised about cloud solutions didn’t apply.
The company was already deeply committed to SAP, from its internal workflows to its external business relationships, so remaining within the SAP ecosystem wasn’t a constraint; it was a strategic advantage.
SAP’s recommendation of RISE provided a solution tailored to these dynamics. Srinivasan described RISE as a “highly compelling option,” especially given that shifting their hosting and BASIS support costs toward the subscription model resulted in a financial impact “close to net-zero.”
To preserve operational stability during the transition, the company chose a brownfield implementation strategy. The goal was to decouple the technical upgrade from longer-term process transformation and keep day-to-day operations running smoothly.
“This strategy enabled us to efficiently upgrade to the latest SAP technology without halting or significantly impacting ongoing operations,” said Srinivasan. “It also provided a stable and modern platform upon which we can now build future innovations through follow-up projects.”
Challenges and Lessons Learned
The implementation wasn’t without its challenges. One issue arose from SAP security changes that conflicted with Zeon’s existing role structures, which weren’t title-specific. Another stemmed from gaps in user acceptance testing (UAT) that only became apparent after the system was live. An untested SAP-to-business intelligence integration also surfaced as a hurdle post-go-live.
A strong change management strategy helped underpin the transition. Zeon’s IT team worked to ensure competent technical resources were in place across SAP and connected systems, mapped infrastructure dependencies, completed essential prerequisites like the Business Partner conversion, and executed a holistic testing approach. Training delivery and adoption were prioritized, along with role clarity and executive sponsorship.
Reflecting on the project, Srinivasan shared several key takeaways for peers who are embarking on similar digital transformation initiatives:
- “Strategic alignment with management” should happen early and remain consistent throughout the journey.
- Teams should “spend time updating test scripts to include all business processes,” not just core workflows.
- Security changes should be reviewed proactively.
- Training sessions should include the “ability to record and post to others” to support broader adoption and continuous learning.
Results and Future Vision
Roughly one year after going live, Zeon began seeing measurable improvements. BASIS support hours dropped by 66%, and internal control reporting efforts were reduced by 60%. “These efficiencies not only reflect cost and time savings,” Srinivasan noted, “but also free up resources for more value-added activities.”
The ERP upgrade, Srinivasan said, is serving as a “catalyst for continuous business transformation.” That transformation is already underway. The company is advancing several high-priority follow-up initiatives to further streamline business processes, increase data visibility, and embed digital intelligence more deeply into day-to-day operations.
For Zeon Chemicals, the shift to S/4HANA through RISE was never about checking a box. It was about aligning ERP capabilities with the realities of a complex, global operation—and creating a foundation that could evolve with the business.
Jim Lichtenwalter contributed to this report.