Wärtsilä

Data-driven people enablement secured the success of a major ERP transformation

Wärtsilä implemented one of the largest and most business-critical ERP transformations in its history by globally transitioning to the SAP S/4HANA Cloud platform. In a change of this magnitude, success required not only technology but also carefully managed, data-driven change management for the people involved.

Objective

Ensuring the success of a global ERP transformation

How do you successfully lead an ERP transformation that affects all processes of a global corporation?

At Wärtsilä, the implementation of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud platform marked a transition from a heavily customised ERP solution to a modern cloud-based system. At the same time, it reshaped the company’s role structure and affected the work of more than 10,000 employees.

“People drive change forward. In the ERP transformation, the go-live needed to succeed simultaneously across all businesses in 77 countries. It was essential for us to continuously have a reliable and up-to-date view of how the change was progressing across the organisation and where resources should be focused during different phases of the transformation,” says Juho Kosola, Global Change Management Lead at Wärtsilä.

The goal was to ensure the success of the ERP transformation by systematically managing not only the technology but also the people behind the change. Wärtsilä needed a reliable way to measure employees’ readiness for change, identify risks early and target change management actions based on data.

In the ERP transformation, the go-live needed to succeed simultaneously across all businesses in 77 countries. It was essential for us to continuously have a reliable and up-to-date view of how the change was progressing across the organisation and where resources should be focused during different phases of the transformation.

Juho Kosola, Global Change Management Lead at Wärtsilä

SOLUTION

Reliable insights through change measurement

Gofore was involved in the ERP programme from the very beginning and was responsible for measuring and analysing the progress of the change. The change measurement service was designed to support the entire programme lifecycle and was carried out in phases for different target groups, allowing change readiness to be assessed at the right time across different roles and business areas.

With the Celkee Insight change measurement solution, Wärtsilä gained real-time and targeted insights into employees’ readiness for change across different countries, units and roles. After each measurement round, Gofore’s change management experts analysed the results together with the transformation team and highlighted critical findings, risks and recommended actions.

“The sparring and analysis provided by Gofore’s team were particularly valuable for us. Thanks to their experience, the measurement data could be interpreted in relation to other similar ERP and large-scale transformations. This helped us identify critical areas and also reassured us in situations where lower scores were completely normal. It gave us confidence and supported better decision-making,” Kosola explains.

The measurement results were used as part of a broader situational overview, enabling Wärtsilä to form a clear picture of different units’ readiness to transition to the new operating model and to target support where it was most needed.

“As a tool, change measurement supported the management of the entire transformation and helped us understand where the organisation truly needed support. Employee insights highlighted many needs related to the change process and supported our observations regarding communication, training and resource planning for the technological rollout,” Kosola says.

Change measurement was a key tool in ensuring the success of the ERP transformation. It increased transparency, supported decision-making and helped us target actions effectively. We gained confidence that the organisation was ready to move to the new operating model, and this was clearly reflected in the final outcome.

Juho Kosola, Global Change Management Lead at Wärtsilä

OUTCOME

Data-driven change management supported a successful go-live

Through change measurement, Wärtsilä was able to manage the large-scale ERP transformation in a controlled and proactive way. Leadership gained a real-time view of employees’ readiness across the organisation, enabling change management actions to be targeted where they would have the greatest impact.

As a result of the successful ERP transformation, Wärtsilä gained a new digital backbone that enables data-driven decision-making, the utilisation of artificial intelligence and improved competitiveness on a global scale. A people-centred and data-driven approach ensured that the benefits of the technology could also be realised in practice.

“Change measurement was a key tool in ensuring the success of the ERP transformation. It increased transparency, supported decision-making and helped us target actions effectively. We gained confidence that the organisation was ready to move to the new operating model, and this was clearly reflected in the final outcome,” Kosola concludes.

Project highlights

Objective

To ensure the success of the largest and most business-critical ERP transformation in Wärtsilä’s history. The goal was to lead the people-centric change of the global SAP S/4HANA Cloud implementation through data, identify risks early and target change management actions effectively throughout the programme.

Solution

Gofore was responsible for change measurement and analysis throughout the ERP transformation. Using the Celkee Insight change measurement tool and expert analysis, Wärtsilä gained real-time and targeted insights into employee readiness for change across roles, units and countries, enabling the company to guide communications, training and rollout support based on data.

Outcome

Data-driven change management supported the controlled and successful implementation of the ERP transformation. Leadership gained a reliable view of organisational readiness, allowing actions to be targeted where they had the greatest impact. A people-centred approach ensured that the benefits of the new digital backbone were realised across the organisation.

Important figures

10000+ employees impacted by the ERP transformation
77 countries involved in the global rollout
1 unified ERP system
7 measurement rounds before, during and after go-live
96 % of business leadership considered the transformation successfully delivered