Baan LN → SAP (HANA) migration, daily/weekly deltas, warehouse integrity controls



Note: This case study reflects our delivery experience as part of the ThoughtFocus program and uses public context only. No confidential information is disclosed.

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Summary

As part of the ThoughtFocus Technologies LLC (USA) program, our team engineered the Baan LN → SAP (HANA) data migration for Bucyrus International during its acquisition by Caterpillar (completion July 8, 2011). We built repeatable ETL pipelines and APIs, maintained daily/weekly delta refreshes across global warehouses, and safeguarded data integrity until SAP go‑live.

The Companies (public background)

  • Bucyrus International — U.S. mining equipment OEM; 2010 sales (turnover): US$3.65 billion (audited).
  • Caterpillar × Bucyrus — acquisition completed July 8, 2011; announced value ~$8.6–$8.8 billion including net debt.
  • ThoughtFocus Technologies LLC — U.S.-based IT consulting and digital engineering firm; SAP/HANA services with global delivery.

Business Context

  • Consolidation into Caterpillar’s SAP landscape while preserving operational continuity across plants, depots, and multi‑warehouse distribution.
  • Source ERP: Baan LN (Infor LN lineage). Target: SAP on HANA.
  • Reconciliation of organization‑system data with physical stock for internal/external controls.

Key Challenges

  • Heterogeneous data structures in Baan LN (items, BOMs, routings, open orders, serial/lot histories, warehouse balances).
  • Time‑boxed migration windows tied to cutover and quarter‑end closes.
  • High data freshness: daily/weekly delta replenishment until SAP go‑live.
  • Multi‑warehouse integrity: match warehouse‑level balances and movements to physical counts.
  • Parallel run constraints: certain features temporarily remained in Baan, requiring controlled coexistence.

Our Role (within the ThoughtFocus program)

  • Baan extraction & canonicalization — repeatable ETL jobs for masters, open items, and historical movements to a SAP‑readable staging schema.
  • APIs & handshakes — REST/flat‑file packages with checksum/row‑count reconciliations for SAP load programs.
  • Delta refresh cadence — daily/weekly refresh cycles from Baan → staging → SAP to maintain cutover freshness.
  • Warehouse integrity — control reports (stock by plant/warehouse/bin, movement mismatches, negatives) reconciled to physical counts.
  • Governance — data sign‑off with business, DQ KPIs (completeness, accuracy, validity), and audit trails for migration sign‑offs.

Solution Design (high level)

    Scope:
  • Masters: Material, Plant/Warehouse, Vendor, Customer, BOM, Routing, GL mappings.
  • Open/transactional: Open POs/SOs, production orders, reservations, open deliveries, on‑hand balances by warehouse/bin, serial/lot master/history.
    • Pipelines:
  • Extract (Baan LN): view/program exports with change‑capture keys; timezone‑aware timestamps.
  • Transform: field mapping to SAP; UoM normalization; valuation/batch flags; referential integrity enforcement.
  • Load (SAP): IDoc/BAPI/LSMW/HANA loaders; post‑load validation scripts.
  • Controls & Reconciliation:
  • Row‑count and hash checks; trial loads → performance tuning → refreshed mocks.
  • Warehouse balance tie‑outs to physical stock; exception workflow for variances.
  • Cutover checklist: freeze window, last‑good extract, final delta, post‑load reconciliation, business sign‑off.
    • Coexistence:
  • Where selected features remained in Baan during transition, implemented synchronization fences/read‑only snapshots to prevent drift.

Returns & Damaged Goods (RMA)

  • RMA number tied to customer return; reason codes, photos, and quarantine location assignment.
  • Maker‑checker approvals for any status change from quarantine.
  • Disposition workflows: Scrap / Salvage / RTV with mandatory evidence and GL‑mapped reason codes.
  • Hard blocks prevent quarantined stock from being picked/allocated as saleable.

Outcomes

  • SAP‑ready data across plants and warehouses with traceable lineage from Baan extracts to SAP load IDs.
  • Operational continuity via daily/weekly deltas until go‑live, minimizing dual entry and rework.
  • Audit readiness: reconciliation packs (row counts, hash totals, exception logs, sign‑offs).
  • Warehouse integrity: organization system data aligned to physical stock during and after cutover.
  • Reusable patterns for future Infor LN → SAP migrations.

Association & Credits

  • Client: Bucyrus International (acquired by Caterpillar).
  • Prime partner: ThoughtFocus Technologies LLC (USA).
  • Our role: Data migration engineering and warehouse integrity controls within the ThoughtFocus delivery team.

Public References (context only)

Bucyrus 2010 sales results (press/filings); Caterpillar acquisition completion release (July 8, 2011); ThoughtFocus website (SAP/HANA services).

Disclaimer

This case study is based on our team’s delivery experience supporting ThoughtFocus. Public financials and acquisition facts are cited; client‑confidential details are not disclosed. Names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.