When Outokumpu was looking to migrate to SAP S/4HANA, they wanted a test automation partner to smooth their digital transformation, increasing efficiency and reducing risk. They chose Worksoft. Recently, Outokumpu’s IT Services Lead, Pia Hirvonen, shared the benefits of the Worksoft platform for their migration at an SAPinsider 2021 virtual event. 

Outokumpu is the largest producer of stainless steel in Europe and the second-largest producer in the Americas. They operate in over 30 countries, with production units in Finland, Sweden, Germany, the UK, the US, and Mexico. With almost 10,000 employees and 5.6 billion in net sales, Outokumpu needed an automation partner they could trust to help them achieve a seamless global transition.

They chose the Worksoft Connective Automation Platform for its test automation capabilities. Utilizing Worksoft, Outokumpu was able to speed up test script creation, increase overall quality in production, and support their migration. 

SAP S/4HANA Migration Motivation

Realizing the need for global control over the whole company with one system, Outokumpu sought a way to migrate to S/4HANA as quickly and efficiently as possible. Their primary motivations included a desire to speak the same language by harmonizing their definitions and data, as well as a desire to implement a global process that would enable worldwide employees to accomplish goals and tasks the same way. 

“We wanted to implement a global process and move to one platform and cloud to have lean processes, continuous improvement, use fewer resources, and to be able to make decisions based on data…. We decided to select a testing partner who could provide us testing resources as well as take us to the next level with test automation and test processes.” 

Choosing the Worksoft Platform

To begin their search for a test automation partner, Outokumpu created a list of criteria they would need in a platform. Their first priority was to find a solution with proven SAP test automation capabilities as well as the ability to integrate with other tools and applications such as SAP Solution Manager and other ALM tools. 

They also wanted a tool that was easy to use, with automation test script creation and maintenance using little to no coding or scripting skills. Additionally, they wanted a tool they could scale to an Enterprise level, with recommendations and references from their peers. As the world’s most trusted platform for SAP testing with codeless capabilities and functionality with other enterprise applications, Worksoft was able to meet these needs and more. 

Global Testing for a Smooth Transition

With Worksoft’s automated, continuous testing, Outokumpu was able to implement testing and test data creation across a wide variety of activities. They performed authorization testing on 126 user roles and corresponding t-codes, while also testing their transportation management system, quality management, and master data governance. 

“This was one of the areas where we saw that automation testing was bringing a lot of benefits. We were also using test automation for performance testing and test data creation. With the scrips and with the help of execution manager, [we created] data for our transportation management system, performance testing our quality management system and master data governance system.” 

Automation for Authorization Testing

Authorization testing checks the user roles (or user IDs) and their access to the corresponding transaction codes. As a manual process, this can be tedious as the volume of data is vast. This data was also used in a quality environment, meaning risk reduction was a top priority. With automated testing, Outokumpu was able to increase the efficiency of this testing, analyzing the data and identifying issues so they could resolve them before the next round of testing. 

“We were able to complete six rounds and test 126 user IDs and roles with almost 13,000 t-codes and total efforts, saving towards 173 hours calculated, compared to manual effort.” 

Test Data Creation for Performance Testing

In addition to automation for authorization testing, Outokumpu also utilized Worksoft to create test data for performance testing. This enabled them to automate what was once a time-consuming and more error-prone manual effort for their quality management and master data governance systems. 

“We were able to create 3,000 sales orders and deliveries and corresponding 6,000 QM certificates for the master data governance [and] 800 materials and 400 customers and their corresponding change requests.” 

The Benefits of Automated Testing at Outokumpu

Looking back, Outokumpu has been able to identify several key lessons and benefits from implementing test automation from Worksoft. They increased the overall quality in production, as fixes and change requests are properly tested, and they utilized existing E2E test scenarios to speed up testing for a cross-functional change. 

Next, Outokumpu is preparing to start regular regression testing cycles using test cases from their program – both manual and automated – and they plan to expand authorization testing by testing the functional standalone t-codes that have already been automated.