Issue

The Conceptual Design phase included endorsement of a Future Neptune based solution for essential Syensqo logistics and warehousing operations via mobile handheld scanners. This is to provide online functionality but also ensuring that users can continue to perform daily tasks during any network dropouts. 

The SyWay design intent is to provide the business with unified mobile applications that support the different business scenarios. e.g. The app for processing Inbound Deliveries should support IM-NonHU, IM-HU and EWM scenarios, to avoid the need for users to select from separate apps depending on the scenario.

There are two potential approaches to implementing this solution: 

Option A. HRC solution with customized developments.

Option B. Full In-house development.

This KDD seeks to compare these approaches and evaluate the most effective option for Syensqo.

Recommendation

Option B: Full In-house Development

This approach ensures a solution tailored exactly to Syensqo operational processes. This brings the following advantages:

• Gives Syensqo full control over the features, roadmap and security
• Provides the ability to seamlessly integrate custom processes in the SyWay solution. 
• Allows faster adjustments when the business needs corrections or changes. 
• Removes constraints related to changing existing apps from third parties.

Although full in-house development will mean a longer initial development time, requiring dedicated in-house resources, Syensqo can leverage the existing standard EWM mobile functionality, the existing Neptune apps used by Syensqo and the existing SyWay team members that have experience of building similar in-house developed global solutions for handheld scanners. 

Background & Context

Neptune is a Norwegian company whose Neptune platform is designed to create and deploy mobile applications that interface seamlessly with SAP applications. As a SAP-native solution, Neptune enables efficient integration while minimizing the need for middleware. The platform integrates multiple data sources and environments into a single launchpad or view.

Syensqo has rolled out the Nereid project to selected plants and warehouses. The Nereid solution is a Neptune-based mobility solution, which sits on Neptune DX Platform SAP Edition, including a set of business tailored applications which support and manage the site logistics and warehouse operations.  

During the Conceptual Design phase, a decision was made to continue using the Neptune platform with the Future Neptune Solution, which will provide warehouse users with an unified view of both logistics and warehouse management functionalities within the SAP S/4HANA environment. It will not only offer online capabilities, while supporting network dropouts to ensure operational continuity, but also minimize change management impacts, facilitating a smooth transition to SAP S/4HANA. More details are described in KDD025 - Mobility Solutions in Logistics and Warehouse Management Processes.

Depending on the future process design, the decision will be made in the Detailed Design phase, whether to develop highly customized applications in-house or utilize third-party vendor pre-built applications with reasonable enhancements.

Assumptions

1. The scope of this KDD excludes the mobility solution for Plant Maintenance (PM).
2. Current handheld functionality will be harmonized to align with the SyWay program principles. However, the future mobility solution must continue to meet all relevant business needs. 
3. This KDD includes an assessment of the potential vendors offering pre-built Neptune solutions. 
4. Engagement with Neptune or any potential pre-built solution provider will be handled separately from this KDD.  
5. A separate assessment will be carried out to determine the scale of hardware and infrastructure required for sites planned to roll out the future mobility solution. 
6. A review of existing hardware and infrastructure will be conducted separately for sites have already implemented the currently mobility solution.  
7. The third-party Neptune partner solution will be augmented, via configuration and enhancements, to meet all Syensqo specific business requirements. 

Constraints

While choosing full in-house development for the Neptune-based mobility solution is strategically sound, it may present certain constraints and challenges. These challenges are not necessarily unique to the in-house approach; but could also arise with off-the-shelf partner solutions, although in different forms and degrees.

• Scalability and Maintainability Constraints

Although Neptune applies the latest Fiori UI5 versions and is fully mobile Fiori UX compliant, full in-house development may not scale well or be maintainable over time without a proper governance model. It is important to create a development governance board to prioritize features, establish the design principles and version control for app development and testing, such as using modular and loosely coupled architecture, follow the clean coding principles and SAP's recommended extensibility practices. This will ensure the in-house development code quality and build a robust mobility solution.

• Project Timeline Constraints

The SyWay program involves both the core S/4HANA transition and end-to-end process reengineering. In parallel, the development of the Neptune-based mobile applications will proceed as a separate but closely linked workstream. This parallel execution increases the complexity of coordination, particularly in areas such as integration testing, user training, and change management. Additionally, any design changes within the core S/4HANA program may have downstream impacts on the handheld application design. 

To mitigate these risks, it is essential to establish an integrated project plan that clearly defines interdependencies and coordination points between workstreams. This includes aligning on shared milestones such as test cycles, integration checkpoints, and readiness gates to ensure consistency and alignment throughout the program lifecycle.

• Resource & Skills Constraints

In-house development requires the project team to have the necessary skills and resources. Without proper planning and prioritization, key teams such as development, QA, and SAP functional resources may become overstretched during the transition. To mitigate this risk, it is essential to establish a dedicated sub-team focused on the mobility solution, prioritize high-impact use cases, and phase the delivery accordingly. Additionally, creating a centralized repository for shared design documents will promote alignment across teams. Cross-training SAP and mobile application developers on basic integration principles can also help reduce reliance on a small group of specialists and foster stronger cross-functional collaboration. 

Impacts

Going with full in-house mobile developments as part of SAP S/4HANA transition doesn’t only affect the mobility solution itself, but may have broader cross-cutting impacts on other areas of the project, such as the process, integration among different modules and IT landscape etc.

• Process Alignment & Optimization

Heavy involvement are needed from process owners to define/refine logic within Neptune apps, as well as the greater alignment between business and development. The custom apps may preserve existing, non-standard processes rather than adopting S/4HANA best practices.

• Integration with Other SAP Modules

The mobile apps will need to not only be able to handle warehouse related activities, such as goods receipt, goods issue etc. The solution also needs to cater for different warehouse structures, such as IM based with and without handling unit management or EWM based warehouses, and being able to interact with other function modules such as production material staging, goods issue and goods receipt and Transportation Management. General support is also needed batch management, label printing and item serial numbers.

• Custom Development Governance

An in-house approach increases the custom footprint, which adds to future maintenance effort, and could also mean more regression testing is required. In-house developments need strict development standards, code reviews, and versioning standards across Neptune and SAP ABAP. When there are multiple teams involved, this could bring the risk of inconsistency among different teams. 

• Functionality constraints

A pre-built solution would result in a significant dependency on a third-party vendor, likely limiting or hindering the ability to fully tailor the application to Syensqo’s specific business requirements, and increasing both implementation costs and ongoing maintenance expenses. Syensqo change requirements to existing third party apps could be restricted or blocked based on the design.

• Interfaces and External Systems

The Syensqo mobile solution needs to also ensure the in-house mobile logic doesn’t conflict with external system flows, or avoid duplication of functionality such as in 3PL warehouses or MES systems.

Business Rules

• The selected future solution should be implemented at sites where the current mobility solution is already in place and to all other plants that will benefit from the functionality.
• To roll out the solution to other relevant Syensqo plants, the cost-benefit should be evaluated while considering site-specific conditions/hardware regulations such as explosion and flammability risks. 
• Handling Unit Management will be recommended to all Syensqo plants to provide traceability of products and to facilitate the inventory and warehouse operations. All plants using handling units will need to use the mobility solution for handheld scanners.
• Plants using the mobility solution will need to ensure sufficient mobile devices to support the execution of the daily operations and exceptions.
• To rollout a single device, to be used globally at all locations that do not have an ATEX safety requirement and a single device to be used globally at all locations that have an ATEX safety requirement. Ideally the ATEX compliant device would be an intrinsically safe version of the standard global device. Limiting the number of models used globally facilitates the mobility solution build regarding the scanner interface, device operating system version and software and a standard device staging process. This approach also facilitates device support.

Options considered

Business Requirements

A study has been conducted on the functionalities of the current Neptune solution. Due to the presence of two SAP instances, there are duplications, overlaps or inconsistencies in some functions. While the existing functionalities serve as the foundation for the business requirements, they will be harmonized to align with the principles of the SyWay program and adapted to meet the evolving business needs. For a detailed overview of current mobile functionalities, refer to the attachments on this KDD.

Based on the analysis of current Neptune functionalities, the SyWay scope and workshops, to effectively support the logistics and warehouse operations, the Future Neptune-Based Solution should address the cross process business requirements, user experience and technical dimensions, as outlined in the table below.

Option A: HRC Solution with Customized Developments

Solution Overview

With this option, Syensqo will select the pre-built solution from HRC, and incorporate targeted customized developments to fulfill the specific business requirements in Syensqo.

HRC provides a suite of ready-to-deploy Neptune mobile applications that cover key logistics and warehousing operations, backend integration with SAP S/4HANA, and run Fiori-style Apps optimized on Android-based industrial handheld devices. 

To fully support the above business requirements, the HRC solution will need to be enhanced and augmented to be tailored to Syensqo specific needs. The customizations would include:

• Enhancements to pre-built apps (e.g. additional validation or operation logics)

• UI/UX adjustments for improved usability on handheld devices

• Custom development of apps to meet requirements not supported by HRC.

• Localization or language support if applicable

Vendor/Partner Engagement

To identify a potential pre-built solution, a partner search was conducted using information on the Neptune Software website. The Config Team and HRC were the two official Neptune partners selected for further analysis as they both provided pre-built solutions. The matrix below presents an overview assessment and the summary findings based on a series of demonstration and discussion meetings. The full list of vendor partners initially assessed is attached: Neptune - Partner Study.xlsx.

The Config Team's heavy reliance on RF Framework configuration (Both standard EWM, Custom EWM and custom IM) would add a burdensome overhead, especially for customizations to standard PreBilt applications and to in-house built applications. With this approach we would be reducing the benefits already provided by the decision to use Neptune, where this config is unnecessary.

The user interface of PreBilt was also basic compared to the impressive user interface from HRC.

For these reasons it was decided to only consider the HRC solution for this KDD.

 Option B: Full In-house Developments

Solution Overview

With this option, a Neptune-based mobility solution will be developed as part of the SyWay program. It will integrate seamlessly with SAP S/4HANA to support logistics and warehouse operations, fulfilling key functional and technical requirements:

• Align with SyWay program principles and requirements
• Enable real-time data capture, validation and postings via mobile devices
• Support core logistics and warehouse operations
• Provide unified applications for end users, based on process, such as Processing Inbound Deliveries or Processing Outbound Deliveries, rather than having a technical based split of applications. e.g. Separate apps to process Inbound Deliveries based on IM and EWM.
• Utilize new handheld devices that have an up to date operating system, an up to date system specification and are supported for an acceptable period post go-live. e.g. For at least 4 years post go-live.
• Leverage the latest technologies, including the latest version of Neptune DXP, SAP Fiori-based UI for frontend, OData services or RFCs to connect the mobile UI with the SAP backend, and user authorization via SSO.
• Support SAP S/4HANA integration with components such as Embedded EWM and TM
• Multilingual support
• Fiori-like responsive UI via Neptune
• Mobile transactions monitoring report

Implementation Team

By choosing the full in-house developments option, the implementation team must be carefully structured and resourced to handle both technical and functional complexities, while aligning with the overall program.

• Skill & Expertise Requirements

Both SAP functional and technical expertise will be required, for example, the functional expertise on SAP IM/EWM/Handling Unit/Serial Number Management etc, the Neptune platform expertise on App design with SAPUI5/Fiori principles and backend integration via ABAP and OData etc., the integration / middleware expertise on SAP gateway, OData publishing, and interfacing mobile apps with printers and scanners, as well as mobility & UX expertise on UX design following Fiori guidelines etc.

 Here is a role and responsibilities matrix to consider.

Evaluation

	Option A  HRC Solution with Customized Developments	Option B Full In-house Developments
Function Fit & Customization	Based on a high level requirements review, the HRC solution provides coverage of around 65% of the listed requirement items.   This does not include any requirement weighting however. e.g. HRC does not currently provide LE-HUM functionality which will be a significant effort to build in-house. Not clear how additional Syensqo scenarios can be embedded in existing pre-built apps to align to the unified applications design. Changes to standard HRC apps could be constrained or blocked by the HRC design or roadmap.	High degree of customization, as Syensqo can design the solution to fit the specific business requirements.
Scalability	Generally scalable, as HRC apps will be designed for a wide range of use cases. Could have limitations in extreme scaling scenarios. Requires careful design and ongoing monitoring.	Scalability can be tailored to business needs Easier and quicker to resolve any performance issues since Syensqo will have complete control of both front and back end.
User Experience (UX)	Impressive User Interface. Best seen to date for Neptune apps.	Syensqo will have full control over the design and user experience. User Interface can be inspired by HRC approach Achieving a high-quality, intuitive UX may take more time and effort.
Integration with SAP S/4HANA	Out-of-the-box integration with SAP S/4HANA, leveraging standard APIs and predefined processes. Custom changes to HRC apps may require vendor involvement, potentially leading to increased timelines and costs.	Can be tailored for specific integration needs but may require more development effort and testing to ensure seamless integration with SAP S/4HANA.
Time to Implement	Estimate of x man days to build additional functionality required by Syensqo and test existing HRC apps. This does not include changes to standard HRC apps.	Estimate of x man days to build and test Syensqo solution. Time to implement is not significantly greater than the time to build the additional functionality required for the HRC approach. SyCom team can leverage from experience and lessons learned from other builds of global Neptune logistics and warehouse solutions.
Maintenance and Support  (** Country Base, Language etc.)	HRC released 4 updates per year. Although HRC advised that these updates were not mandatory Syensqo would need to regularly update. HRC Consulting is the current partner for the support of Neptune apps Vendor updates require full regression testing.	Syensqo will have full control over updates and maintenance but must allocate own resources to manage it.
Security	Need to rely on the HRC solution security control capability.	Better control over security policies and internal access protocols compared to vendor-hosted apps.
Innovation and Future-Proofing	HRC solution is currently continuously updated. Vendor updates may not always align will Syensqo requirements.	Flexibility to incorporate new features and innovative technologies.
Cost Considerations	Initial Investment Licensing and subscription costs. Lower initial cost. On-going Costs Maintenance, updates, support costs. Ongoing fees.	Initial Investment Development costs (including resources and training). Higher initial cost. On-going Costs Maintenance, bug fixing, future upgrades, and resource requirements for ongoing support. Potentially lower long-term maintenance.

See also

Overview of Current Handheld Functionalities.xlsx

Change log

Workflow history