LP: Building a new path for process professionals to accelerate business transformation and roll out change
Building materials manufacturer Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP) tapped SAP Signavio Process Transformation Suite to scale business process transformation innovation to achieve continuous improvement goals. And to structure its future transition to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, the suite provides advanced tools to accelerate large-scale transformation.
“SAP Signavio solutions do such a good job of accelerating the cycle of data into information, into knowledge, into wisdom, and into actionable insights.”
- Tyler Hawkins,Senior Analyst, Digital Process Automation, Louisiana-Pacific Corporation
Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP) is a leading manufacturer of engineered wood products that meet the demands of builders, remodelers, and homeowners worldwide. Operating 22 plants across the United States, Canada, Chile, and Brazil, the company is known for innovation, quality, reliability, and sustainability.
Since its founding in 1972, LP has been committed to delivering on its purpose of “Building a Better World.” This purpose guides the company in everything from the way it responsibly sources and manufactures products to the way it treats team members and supports its communities.
As a manufacturing company, continuous improvement plays a big part in LP’s success story, but the company lacked a tool that allowed it to map processes consistently. Tyler Hawkins, senior analyst for digital process automation at LP, explains, “We’re a manufacturing company, so Lean Six Sigma is part of our DNA. We’re always looking for continuous improvement and then process governance and documentation. But we needed a repository of our ‘as-is’ processes and a tool to identify where process improvements could be made and guide the rollout of change.”
To support continuous improvement and make data-driven business process transformation a reality, LP adopted the accelerated process discovery service with SAP Signavio Process Transformation Suite. The suite combines functionality to help understand, improve, and transform business processes, at speed and at scale, and includes the SAP Signavio Process Insights, SAP Signavio Process Intelligence, and SAP Signavio Process Manager solutions. SAP Signavio Process Collaboration Hub is also part of the portfolio.
Reflecting on LP’s experience with the suite, Hawkins says that the company saw immediate value: “We didn’t have to spend three to four weeks digging through data to validate an issue. SAP Signavio Process Insights allowed us to quickly pinpoint bottlenecks and inefficiencies, helping us identify and prioritize what to improve.”
As a process professional, Hawkins highlights the importance of focusing on the human element and change management processes in business process transformation projects. He says, “It’s crucial to communicate that these insights are not about criticizing individual performance but about empowering people to do their jobs more effectively. Equally important is giving them ownership of the process. Success comes from having empowered and excited individuals who take responsibility for their process, actively improving it and making it the best it can be.”
“It’s hard to see inefficiencies when so much is happening at speed and you’re focused on getting transactions done. SAP Signavio can quickly highlight those inefficiencies, but it’s very important to manage the human element.”
- Tyler Hawkins, Senior Analyst, Digital Process Automation, Louisiana-Pacific Corporation
By investing in SAP Signavio solutions, LP has access to tangible and realistic process improvement numbers for the business. Potential opportunities were identified, qualified, and prioritized using the value methodology, accounting for an estimated US$24 million in value potential across more than 15 use cases in source-to-pay and order-to-cash processes.
Using SAP Signavio allows LP to jump on opportunities faster by finding process gaps, with the company identifying significant potential upsides in using SAP Signavio for a future large-scale transformation to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition.
As Hawkins explains, “We can spend more time focused on the ‘to-be’ state rather than trying to figure out what we are actually doing today. In the past, so much time was spent on blueprinting and documenting what we didn’t know, because there were so many variations in the actual process. So, the quicker we can focus on the ‘to-be’ state is a huge win. We can also create a single consistent repository of our process documentation and turn raw data into information and knowledge. The faster we can execute that cycle, the better off we are.”
In terms of next steps, LP is looking at maximizing value from SAP Signavio by empowering process owners to mine process insights themselves. With coaching and workshops, more users will have the tools needed to identify and fix process gaps and efficiencies, multiplying the value of the solution across the business.
As Hawkins comments, “In our journey today, there’s value potential that’s currently hidden in the data. I think that’s already a huge win for us by being able to provide that insight into the business. From this point in our journey today, I see SAP Signavio as a small match that lights a really big fire.”