Kuok Group Singapore: An SAP BTP Adoption Journey with Migration of Workforce Mgmt Application

This article narrates an adoption journey of SAP BTP, marking the collaboration between SAP and Kuok Group. The SAP team has been collaborating with Kuok Singapore to facilitate their transition of their applications and adoption towards SAP BTP. This includes demonstrating the potential of SAP BTP through enablement and proof of concept, with SAP BTP serving as the platforms for extensions for SAP S/4HANA Business Processes.

Use Case Scenario:

Currently Kuok Singapore uses a non-SAP application for workforce management in which HR personnel allocate projects for staffs based on their IN and OUT time. This process requires two tiers of approval before it initiates postings to SAP, generating project accounting P/L reports. This application was one of the selected use-cases to start their innovation and adoption journey on SAP BTP.

Solution:

Key considerations for building the proof of concept.

Kuok Singapore wanted to assess the user experience of application that are developed using SAP Build Apps and SAP CAP.Evaluate SAP Build Process Automation for automating workflows and validations within the application.Options for seamless integration with SAP S/4HANA.Keep SAP BTP as the extension and integration platform for processes including SAP ERP business processes.

SAP’s Platform Architecture & Adoption team, part of the Office of the CTO, worked on accelerating the BTP adoption journey and developed a proof-of-concept for this business process utilising SAP Cloud Application Programming Model and SAP Build Process Automation to highlight the ease of development, user experience in line with SAP’s User Experience guidelines and seamless integration capabilities with SAP S/4HANA.

The SAP BTP Guidance Framework provides a central access point to build and run enterprise grade solutions on SAP BTP. The technical architecture has been developed based on this framework and this will be the guiding document for all future SAP BTP development in Kuok Singapore.

A high-level technical architecture of this scenario was as below:

Feedback from customer on the POC and way forward for SAP BTP Adoption:

In the recent SAP contract renewal from HEC to RISE, Kuok Singapore has purchased the SAP BTP cloud solution with CPEA Credits. This serves as the primary catalyst for quick innovations based on potential business use cases that enables us to fail fast and succeed faster. As at the time of writing this, we have already explored 3 business use cases on SAP BTP within a short span of 6-months, namely:

Jobsheet Entry SheetMaterial Reservation FormPR Request/Approval

With no skilled in-house technical resource, SAP CSP, Surya Lee worked with SAP BTP CSP, Rai Kamal Saha to collaborate with us to leverage on SAP`s BTP technical team expertise to build our first PoC on SAP BTP – Job Sheet Entry. Uma Anbazhagan, the Platform Architecture and Adoption Lead worked quickly to assemble the technical team and shared with us the PoC project timeline and the architecture landscape.

The development team was agile and able to build and deliver the prototype based on our prototype requirements within 4 months timelines with a development effort of 8 weeks.

A sleek, modernized and user-friendly UI via custom build application2 layers of workflow approval via process build automationSeamless integration of Jobsheet entry posting in SAP S/4HANA

The prototype was indeed an eye-opener to what SAP BTP solution is capable of. It has proven to open the door of opportunities to explore potential business cases using SAP BTP technology.

SAP BTP’s seamless integration with SAP S/4HANA is a major advantage. The ability to build, extend, and innovate on top of SAP S/4HANA processes is simplified with prebuilt connectors, data models, and APIs. Most importantly, it ensures that business data remains stored exclusively in SAP S/4HANA (without being stored in the BTP layer), maintaining SAP S/4HANA as the single source of truth while preserving data integrity and security, says Jacqueline Beh from Kuok Singapore.

Next Steps and Plan Ahead

With the successful build of the Jobsheet prototype, the KGSg-SAP team gained confidence to propose to our fast-growing BU, K2 Data Centre to digitize their hardcopy PR/PO form request by leveraging on SAP BTP Solution. With the help of a new start-up company, Mark9, we managed to work with the Service Partner to build a prototype within 6 weeks to seek the successful buy-in of the BU. User was impressed with the modern and sleek but yet user friendly user interface.

Driven by business requirements, the project team works with business users and Service Partner to continuously fine tune the design solution. The integration capability of the BTP Cloud Connectivity enables the retrieval of PO Financial Authority Limit maintained in SAP S/4HANA and routing of PR/PO form for approval in BTP. Finally, the PR/PO form is integrated back as PO document creation/updates in SAP S/4HANA, as single source of truth for all POs.

With continuous support from SAP BTP expertise and our Service Partner, Mark9, Kuok looks ahead to digitize, automate and innovate in its next wave of SAP BTP adoption journey, says Jacqueline Beh from Kuok Singapore.

Credits

We would like to thank Kuok Singapore colleagues Jacqueline Beh, Siew Siew Toh, Prasanna Venkatesh Elumalai and Mohammed Vaseem. Their close collaboration in developing this proof of concept and subsequent steps on the SAP BTP Adoption Journey with SAP Build tools and services. On the SAP side, Many thanks to Rai Kamal Saha, Surya Lee for facilitating collaboration with all the stakeholders in this engagement, Mahesh Palavalli, Ajit Kumar Panda and Swati Maste for supporting the POC development and finally PVN Pavan Kumar, Anirban Majumdar for their leadership support.

Summary

Post the POC, the implementation will include integrations with the new HR system, integrations with SAP S/4HANA system and build additional approval scenarios with other validations and authorizations in place.

SAP Business Technology Platform offer the essential tools required to create, operate, and expand digital products. They also provide access to solutions and accelerators developed by their ecosystem, enabling businesses to easily innovate or source specific novel ideas to maintain agility. The SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) embodies this vision, serving its customers, partners, and SAP itself.

For an organization, who is getting started with SAP BTP Journey, this serves as a useful example which demonstrates how to leverage the platform to digitalize business operations, create straightforward automation scenarios, and integrate the SAP S/4HANA using the SAP BTP as an extension platform.

To learn more about SAP BTP, see the learning journey on SAP Learning called Discover SAP Business Technology Platform, a great introduction to BTP and the Intelligent Enterprise strategy to see what it’s all about for free or check out Develop Advanced Extensions with SAP Cloud SDK plus much more free learning at SAP Learning site.

To initiate your own adoption journey with us, please contact us on paa_india@sap.com.

Kouk Group, one of Asia’s most dynamic multinational conglomerates, is a leader in properties, logistics, hospitality, food, agribusiness and maritime. Kuok Group Singapore (the “Group”) is a conglomerate with diverse and global operations in maritime, real estate and digital infrastructure sectors.This article narrates an adoption journey of SAP BTP, marking the collaboration between SAP and Kuok Group. The SAP team has been collaborating with Kuok Singapore to facilitate their transition of their applications and adoption towards SAP BTP. This includes demonstrating the potential of SAP BTP through enablement and proof of concept, with SAP BTP serving as the platforms for extensions for SAP S/4HANA Business Processes.Use Case Scenario:Currently Kuok Singapore uses a non-SAP application for workforce management in which HR personnel allocate projects for staffs based on their IN and OUT time. This process requires two tiers of approval before it initiates postings to SAP, generating project accounting P/L reports. This application was one of the selected use-cases to start their innovation and adoption journey on SAP BTP.Solution:Key considerations for building the proof of concept.Kuok Singapore wanted to assess the user experience of application that are developed using SAP Build Apps and SAP CAP.Evaluate SAP Build Process Automation for automating workflows and validations within the application.Options for seamless integration with SAP S/4HANA.Keep SAP BTP as the extension and integration platform for processes including SAP ERP business processes.SAP’s Platform Architecture & Adoption team, part of the Office of the CTO, worked on accelerating the BTP adoption journey and developed a proof-of-concept for this business process utilising SAP Cloud Application Programming Model and SAP Build Process Automation to highlight the ease of development, user experience in line with SAP’s User Experience guidelines and seamless integration capabilities with SAP S/4HANA.The SAP BTP Guidance Framework provides a central access point to build and run enterprise grade solutions on SAP BTP. The technical architecture has been developed based on this framework and this will be the guiding document for all future SAP BTP development in Kuok Singapore.A high-level technical architecture of this scenario was as below: Feedback from customer on the POC and way forward for SAP BTP Adoption: In the recent SAP contract renewal from HEC to RISE, Kuok Singapore has purchased the SAP BTP cloud solution with CPEA Credits. This serves as the primary catalyst for quick innovations based on potential business use cases that enables us to fail fast and succeed faster. As at the time of writing this, we have already explored 3 business use cases on SAP BTP within a short span of 6-months, namely:Jobsheet Entry SheetMaterial Reservation FormPR Request/ApprovalWith no skilled in-house technical resource, SAP CSP, Surya Lee worked with SAP BTP CSP, Rai Kamal Saha to collaborate with us to leverage on SAP`s BTP technical team expertise to build our first PoC on SAP BTP – Job Sheet Entry. Uma Anbazhagan, the Platform Architecture and Adoption Lead worked quickly to assemble the technical team and shared with us the PoC project timeline and the architecture landscape.The development team was agile and able to build and deliver the prototype based on our prototype requirements within 4 months timelines with a development effort of 8 weeks.A sleek, modernized and user-friendly UI via custom build application2 layers of workflow approval via process build automationSeamless integration of Jobsheet entry posting in SAP S/4HANAThe prototype was indeed an eye-opener to what SAP BTP solution is capable of. It has proven to open the door of opportunities to explore potential business cases using SAP BTP technology.SAP BTP’s seamless integration with SAP S/4HANA is a major advantage. The ability to build, extend, and innovate on top of SAP S/4HANA processes is simplified with prebuilt connectors, data models, and APIs. Most importantly, it ensures that business data remains stored exclusively in SAP S/4HANA (without being stored in the BTP layer), maintaining SAP S/4HANA as the single source of truth while preserving data integrity and security, says Jacqueline Beh from Kuok Singapore.Next Steps and Plan AheadWith the successful build of the Jobsheet prototype, the KGSg-SAP team gained confidence to propose to our fast-growing BU, K2 Data Centre to digitize their hardcopy PR/PO form request by leveraging on SAP BTP Solution. With the help of a new start-up company, Mark9, we managed to work with the Service Partner to build a prototype within 6 weeks to seek the successful buy-in of the BU. User was impressed with the modern and sleek but yet user friendly user interface.Driven by business requirements, the project team works with business users and Service Partner to continuously fine tune the design solution. The integration capability of the BTP Cloud Connectivity enables the retrieval of PO Financial Authority Limit maintained in SAP S/4HANA and routing of PR/PO form for approval in BTP. Finally, the PR/PO form is integrated back as PO document creation/updates in SAP S/4HANA, as single source of truth for all POs.With continuous support from SAP BTP expertise and our Service Partner, Mark9, Kuok looks ahead to digitize, automate and innovate in its next wave of SAP BTP adoption journey, says Jacqueline Beh from Kuok Singapore.CreditsWe would like to thank Kuok Singapore colleagues Jacqueline Beh, Siew Siew Toh, Prasanna Venkatesh Elumalai and Mohammed Vaseem. Their close collaboration in developing this proof of concept and subsequent steps on the SAP BTP Adoption Journey with SAP Build tools and services. On the SAP side, Many thanks to Rai Kamal Saha, Surya Lee for facilitating collaboration with all the stakeholders in this engagement, Mahesh Palavalli, Ajit Kumar Panda and Swati Maste for supporting the POC development and finally PVN Pavan Kumar, Anirban Majumdar for their leadership support.SummaryPost the POC, the implementation will include integrations with the new HR system, integrations with SAP S/4HANA system and build additional approval scenarios with other validations and authorizations in place.SAP Business Technology Platform offer the essential tools required to create, operate, and expand digital products. They also provide access to solutions and accelerators developed by their ecosystem, enabling businesses to easily innovate or source specific novel ideas to maintain agility. The SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) embodies this vision, serving its customers, partners, and SAP itself.For an organization, who is getting started with SAP BTP Journey, this serves as a useful example which demonstrates how to leverage the platform to digitalize business operations, create straightforward automation scenarios, and integrate the SAP S/4HANA using the SAP BTP as an extension platform.To learn more about SAP BTP, see the learning journey on SAP Learning called Discover SAP Business Technology Platform, a great introduction to BTP and the Intelligent Enterprise strategy to see what it’s all about for free or check out Develop Advanced Extensions with SAP Cloud SDK plus much more free learning at SAP Learning site.To initiate your own adoption journey with us, please contact us on paa_india@sap.com. Read More Technology Blogs by SAP articles

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