How Kimberly-Clark Accelerated Its SAP S/4HANA Transformation with Basis Technologies

For enterprises modernizing core systems, the challenge is clear: drive innovation without disrupting the business. Kimberly-Clark, the global personal care giant behind brands like Huggies, Kleenex, and Cottonelle, faced exactly that dilemma when it embarked on a multi-year SAP S/4HANA transformation. 

Tasked with upgrading a legacy SAP ECC system that had been in place for more than 20 years, Kimberly-Clark launched its transformation in North America with plans to scale globally by the 2027 support deadline. Achieving this goal meant tackling deeply entrenched technical debt, reducing operational risk, and accelerating development cycles—without compromising uptime. 

Meeting the Challenge of Complexity and Downtime 

One of the biggest hurdles was managing the perceived risk of downtime during the system cutover. Business operations demanded minimal interruption, with a strict limit of just 48 hours for the upgrade window—a tall order for a project of this scale. SAP’s own estimates, based on standard tools and practices, predicted up to 18 hours of downtime alone. 

But complexity didn’t end there. After two decades on ECC, Kimberly-Clark had accumulated tens of thousands of custom transports and configurations, introducing serious risks around transport sequencing and errors. Standard SAP tools offered basic functionality for managing these transports, but they lacked the automation, intelligence, and agility needed to support a modern DevSecOps approach. 

A Smarter Path Forward with Basis Technologies 

To overcome these challenges, Kimberly-Clark turned to Basis Technologies and its ActiveControl solution—a purpose-built platform designed to optimize change and transport management within SAP environments. Unlike conventional tools, ActiveControl brings DevOps principles to SAP, offering rule-based automation, intelligent sequencing, and end-to-end orchestration across development landscapes. 

By integrating ActiveControl into its upgrade strategy, Kimberly-Clark was able to significantly streamline and partially automate the movement and approval of transports. The result: less human intervention, fewer errors, and greater speed. 

Results: Faster Cutover, Faster Transports, Lower Risk 

The impact was immediate and measurable. During the North America cutover, Kimberly-Clark was able to reduce technical downtime from an estimated 18 hours to just five to six hours, thanks to workflow simulation and refined algorithms enabled by ActiveControl. That cutover time—a reduction of more than 60%—was critical in meeting business continuity requirements. 

Transport packaging and deployment also became significantly more efficient. What previously took 6 to 8 hours per cycle manually was reduced to 2 to 4 hours with ActiveControl’s automation capabilities. 

Looking ahead, Kimberly-Clark is exploring additional solutions from Basis Technologies, including ActiveDiscover, to support its broader CI/CD and DevSecOps initiatives. The company’s goal is to build a more agile, scalable SAP environment where continuous innovation can happen with less friction and risk. 

Kimberly-Clark’s SAP transformation highlights how automation, intelligent tooling, and DevOps practices can radically improve the speed and success of complex ERP upgrades. For IT leaders navigating S/4HANA migrations or managing large SAP landscapes, tools like ActiveControl offer a proven path to reduce downtime, increase agility, and deliver measurable business value. 

What This Means for SAPinsiders 

Prioritize automation to reduce risk and accelerate complex SAP transformations. Kimberly-Clark’s experience shows that automation is no longer a nice-to-have in large-scale ERP upgrades—it’s essential. By deploying ActiveControl from Basis Technologies, the company significantly reduced cutover downtime—from an estimated 18 hours to just 5–6 hours. For IT leaders planning an SAP S/4HANA migration, this underscores the importance of adopting intelligent automation tools early in the planning phase. Automating transport sequencing, approvals, and deployments can dramatically lower operational risk and help avoid costly business interruptions. 

Rethink legacy transport management approaches to support agility. After decades on SAP ECC, Kimberly-Clark faced transport management bottlenecks that standard tools couldn’t efficiently handle. ActiveControl enabled the organization to reduce manual packaging time from 6–8 hours to 2–4 hours. This result highlights a strategic imperative: enterprise IT leaders must evaluate their existing change management processes and consider tools that support DevOps principles. Replacing outdated, manual workflows with smarter, rule-based orchestration is key to unlocking speed and consistency in SAP change delivery. 

Adopt a DevSecOps mindset to future-proof SAP landscapes. Kimberly-Clark’s ongoing exploration of Basis Technologies’ broader portfolio, including ActiveDiscover, signals a commitment to embedding DevSecOps across its SAP environment. For decision-makers, this is a critical insight—modern SAP landscapes require continuous delivery, built-in compliance, and reduced reliance on manual oversight. Organizations that proactively adopt DevSecOps-aligned platforms position themselves to respond faster to change, drive innovation, and stay compliant in highly regulated industries.