Blessey

Blessey Streamlines Finance and Reporting Through SAP Modernization

Blessey – a leading U.S. marine transportation company serving the oil, gas and chemical industries – recognized that the approaching end of support for SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) created an opportunity to modernize more than just its enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform. The company sought to streamline manual accounting processes, improve inventory visibility, enhance reporting capabilities and establish a foundation for future operational automation. To achieve these goals, Blessey selected SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud and SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC), partnering with Answerthink^®, to execute a brownfield transformation that balanced business continuity with targeted innovation.

“Answerthink^® has been a great partner throughout our SAP modernization efforts. Our migration from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA was about as smooth as we could have hoped for, and their team helped us successfully implement SAP Fiori and SAP Analytics Cloud. The result has been improved efficiency, better reporting and a strong foundation for integrating additional systems as we continue modernizing our technology infrastructure.”

— David Butler, Jr., Accounting Manager, Blessey

Impact

By modernizing its ERP landscape with SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud and SAP Business Data Cloud, Blessey established a more efficient and scalable foundation for growth. The transformation addressed long-standing process inefficiencies while providing enhanced visibility into financial and operational performance.

• Modernized ERP platform through a brownfield migration from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud
• Enhanced finance operations with improvements to general ledger processes, reporting and analytics
• Improved inventory visibility and control across the organization
• Modern SAP Fiori user experience providing more intuitive access to business processes and information
• Reduced reliance on manual and paper-based accounting activities
• SAP BDC foundation enabling faster access to business insights and reporting
• Established a roadmap for future operational integration and order-to-cash automation

Why SAP and Answerthink^®

Blessey selected SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud to preserve its existing SAP investment while gaining access to modern capabilities in automation, analytics, reporting and user experience.

• Low-risk modernization approach: A brownfield migration enabled Blessey to maintain business continuity while transitioning to a modern ERP platform with minimal disruption.
• Migration expertise: Recommended by SAP, Answerthink^® provided deep modernization experience and a structured approach to evaluating migration options and business requirements.
• Data-driven planning: Answerthink’s readiness assessment methodology delivered actionable insights and recommendations that helped shape the transformation strategy.
• Accelerated innovation: Proven accelerators for finance, SAP BDC, maintenance, and environmental health and safety (EHS) processes helped reduce project risk and accelerate time-to-value.
• Trusted partnership: Blessey’s decision was influenced by Answerthink’s collaborative approach, strong analytics capabilities and commitment to long-term customer success.

Implementation highlights

Answerthink^® delivered a seven-month SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud transformation that combined a brownfield migration with targeted business process enhancements.

• Brownfield migration approach, preserving existing data, configurations and critical business processes while modernizing the underlying platform
• Deployment completed in approximately seven months from project kickoff through go-live
• Solution supporting approximately 200 users across a complex organizational structure
• Functional enhancements spanning:
  • General ledger and financial reporting
  • Inventory management
  • SAP Fiori user experiences
  • Analytics and data access through SAP BDC
• Addressed highly complex organizational and reporting requirements resulting from a unique ownership structure
• Enhanced support for EHS processes, including claims management and incident tracking
• Adobe forms integration supporting operational and compliance-related workflows
• Extensive use of Answerthink^® conversion factory accelerators and ECC-to-S/4HANA migration tools to streamline delivery
• Future-state architecture designed to support integration with operational systems and end-to-end, order-to-cash automation

Outcomes

Blessey realized measurable benefits shortly after go-live, particularly in financial reporting, operational visibility and process efficiency. In addition to achieving its modernization objectives, the project was completed on time and under budget, creating a strong foundation for future innovation.

• Reduced month-end financial close cycles
• Approximately 90% reduction in report generation effort through improved analytics and reporting capabilities
• Greater inventory visibility and operational insight
• Expecting 15% reduced accounts payable invoice processing effort through increased automation
• Significant improvements in accounting and EHS reporting
• A modern, fully supported ERP platform replacing an aging system approaching end of maintenance
• On-time, under-budget project delivery
• A scalable foundation for future enhancements in accounting, claims management, operations and AP automation
• Clear roadmap for future integration initiatives that will improve operational visibility and automate order-to-cash processes further

With a modern SAP foundation in place, Blessey is well positioned to continue its digital transformation journey, expanding automation, improving operational visibility, and integrating additional systems to support future growth.