A Scalable SAP Testing Approach Supports Reliable Delivery Throughout the Multi-Year ERP Consolidation

Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) is in the midst of one of the most ambitious technology transformations in its history: a multi-year program to replace 12 inherited ERP systems with a single global SAP S/4HANA platform. As STG expanded through acquisitions, each acquired company—and the regions they operated in—brought its own systems, processes, and ways of working. To unify these fragmented environments and establish a single global source of truth, STG launched ONEProcess—the company’s ERP implementation initiative.

An initiative of this scale requires SAP testing that is reliable and consistent across countries, functions, and deployment waves. Manual testing wasn’t designed for the volume of system integration testing (SIT) cycles, the growing regression suite, or the need to validate scenarios uniformly across regions and business units. STG needed a structured, scalable approach to ensure each S/4HANA rollout met the same high standard.

To support this, STG implemented Worksoft’s Connective Automation Platform to build a repeatable, enterprise-wide testing framework. Automating more than 200 end-to-end scenarios and achieving 70% regression automation, testing has become faster and more predictable. Worksoft is now integral to how STG delivers stable releases, enabling successful S/4HANA go-lives across Europe, the UK, and Asia as ONEProcess continues to advance.

THE COMPANY

Copenhagen-based Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) is a multinational producer of cigars, pipe tobacco, and fine-cut tobacco products, serving consumers in more than 100 markets. As one of the world’s largest manufacturers of handmade and machine-rolled cigars, the company produces more than four billion cigars each year. With 10,000 employees and operations spanning Europe, Asia, and the Americas, STG manages a portfolio of roughly 200 brands and generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue.

CHALLENGES

STG’s rapid growth—including eight major acquisitions in just six years—left the company operating several ERP systems, each with its own processes and data structures. As Rasmus Vienberg, Head of Data & Analytics at STG, explains, “It has been a natural evolution that as Scandinavian Tobacco Group has expanded, we have ended up with multiple IT systems that harmonized across our company.” This fragmentation made it difficult to standardize operations, leading STG to launch ONEProcess—an initiative to replace its legacy ERPs with a single unified SAP S/4HANA platform.

As ONEProcess moved into execution, the testing workload increased dramatically. Each deployment wave introduced changes across finance, production, supply chain, and commercial operations—and every update required multiple rounds of system integration testing (SIT) and user acceptance testing (UAT). Hundreds of cross-functional scenarios needed to be tested, often across several countries at once.

STG also had to ensure SAP worked correctly with connected systems like its procurement platform (Ivalua) and multiple third-party logistics (3PL) platforms. These integrations required full end-to-end validation, not just functional checks within SAP. And because SIT and UAT cycles often ran in parallel, teams needed stable, repeatable test data to prevent false failures and unnecessary rework.

With multiple go-lives planned each year, STG needed a test automation platform capable of handling the scale and complexity of its multinational S/4HANA rollout.

THE SOLUTION

STG implemented the Worksoft Connective Automation Platform to bring structure and repeatability to SAP testing across its ongoing S/4HANA deployment waves. Instead of relying on manual execution or rebuilding tests for each rollout, the team began using Worksoft to capture how business processes run in SAP and convert those steps into automated tests.

From there, STG built out a library of codeless, end-to-end test scenarios in Certify that reflect how work actually happens across functions. These automated scenarios now serve as reusable assets that can be adapted from wave to wave, giving the testing team reliable coverage without having to start over each time. And because Certify can automate steps across integrated systems—such as Ivalua and 3PL platforms—STG can validate entire business processes, not just actions inside SAP.

To run testing at scale, STG uses Continuous Testing Manager (CTM) to automatically schedule and execute large regression suites. CTM enables overnight and parallel runs, keeping testing on track even when multiple cycles are active at the same time. This has reduced the coordination effort required from testing teams and improved consistency across regions.

With Worksoft, STG has a testing approach that can keep up with the pace and complexity of ONEProcess. Each deployment wave adds new automated scenarios to STG’s test library, expanding regression coverage and giving teams earlier visibility into potential issues. With stronger coverage and fewer surprises, S/4HANA deployments run smoothly across STG’s global footprint.

IMPACT

Worksoft has helped STG bring more speed and consistency to each S/4HANA go-live. With 70% of regression tests automated in the latest deployment wave and a library of more than 200 automated scenarios, the team can move through testing cycles with far less manual effort.

One of the most meaningful efficiency gains has come from scenario reuse. With roughly 65% of test scenarios reused across deployments, teams don’t have to rebuild tests for every rollout, saving significant time and helping keep timelines on track.

SIT quality has improved as well, with cycles running faster and producing more consistent, higher-quality results. Automation helps teams spot defects earlier and cuts down on manual effort, giving them a clearer picture of system readiness before UAT begins. As a result, each deployment now moves forward with fewer blockers and more confidence in release stability.