Fiori UX · Design Thinking · SAP BTP on S/4HANA
Energy and Utilities SAP BTP SAP Fiori SAP Integration Suite Featured
Nebraska Public Power District: 72 apps launched in 5 weeks, turning 8 months of build into a live Finance deployment
Delivered 2025
After NPPD's S/4HANA upgrade left 100+ Fiori apps sitting unused, Mindset launched 72 apps in 5 weeks, compressed roughly 8 months of build into a single go-live, and built the design case for replacing a third-party inventory tool with SAP's own MRP.
By the numbers
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72 apps
Launched in 5 weeks (AP Fiori optimization)
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5 weeks
To deliver ~8 months of build scope
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5–20%
Estimated productivity gain from Fiori adoption
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16 stakeholders
Interviewed across 8 plants in the inventory advisory
Before
A Fiori estate that sat unused
- 100+ Fiori apps deployed after a technical S/4HANA upgrade, with employees still working in SAP GUI.
- Inventory planning split between MROIO (one facility only) and standard MRP, producing slow and error-prone results across 8 plants.
- Purchase requisitions, timesheets, and SAP access requests each carrying their own workflow pain and redundant manual steps.
After
Fiori in production and a clear SAP-native path
- 72 apps live after a 5-week AP optimization, with the APAY team trained and an estimated 5–20% productivity gain.
- A validated high-fidelity inventory prototype and prioritized backlog showing NPPD can retire the third-party tool and run on SAP MRP alone.
- Simplified procurement, mobile-friendly ESS, Signavio process visibility, and Integration Suite on Cloud Foundry rounding out the BTP estate.
Why this matters
Most S/4HANA upgrades declare victory at go-live and move on. NPPD had 100+ Fiori apps and nobody using them. Mindset's design-first approach turned that gap into a 5-week sprint that delivered 72 apps and proved what fast, adoption-focused delivery actually looks like.
The challenge
Nebraska Public Power District went live on S/4HANA 2020 through a technical upgrade and rolled out roughly 100 Fiori apps. But adoption stalled. Long-tenured employees kept working in SAP GUI, the launchpad sat unused, and the utility risked losing in-house knowledge as those employees moved toward retirement.
Inventory planning had its own problem. The MROIO tool ran in only one facility and was not real-time. Combined with standard SAP MRP, the result was slow, error-prone planning across eight plants. Business users spent time on manual workarounds instead of actual planning work.
NPPD also carried a backlog of workflow pain points: cumbersome purchase requisition creation, a timesheet experience that didn't work on mobile, and an SAP access request process tangled with ambiguity and duplicate work. The utility wanted real value from its S/4HANA investment, not just a technical upgrade on paper.
What we did
Mindset ran a Fiori Optimization program starting with Finance and Accounts Payable as the first focus area. The team upskilled the NPPD staff, cleaned up roles, and rebuilt the experience from the ground up. Delivery included 15 UAT and training sessions plus 2 technical training sessions for the enterprise technology team, followed by 2 weeks of post-go-live hypercare.
For inventory, Mindset ran an 8-week Design Thinking Strategic Advisory. The team interviewed 16 users and stakeholders, conducted a market and fit-gap analysis of MROIO versus SAP, ran a Design Thinking workshop, and built lo-fi through hi-fi prototypes with a prioritized backlog and a full development project plan. The recommendation was direct: NPPD only needs SAP S/4HANA MRP for its current needs. Optimize stocking-level recommendations with a PP solution architect, move inventory planning onto Fiori, and run organizational change management alongside the rollout.
Beyond Finance and inventory, Mindset delivered Employee Self-Service leave-balance and timesheet apps, a simplified Fiori-based procurement experience designed so inexperienced employees can complete purchase requisitions without procurement training, SAP Signavio enablement, and an Integration Suite (Cloud Foundry) migration. NPPD co-presented the Fiori and AI transformation story with Mindset and Border States at SAP Fiori Innovation Day in Chicago in August 2024.
The outcomes
The Accounts Payable Fiori optimization launched 72 apps in 5 weeks: 35 Fiori, 33 GUI, and 4 URLs. That pace compressed approximately 8 months of typical build time into a single delivery window, with the APAY team ramped and trained in the same sprint.
Estimated productivity gains came in at 5 to 20 percent, driven by fewer errors, cleaner wayfinding, and analytical insight that had previously been buried in GUI transactions. The system cleanup and revised roles left NPPD with a Fiori estate that people actually use.
The inventory advisory produced a validated high-fidelity prototype, a prioritized backlog, and a clear MVP and rollout sequence. The work gave NPPD a credible path to standardize planning across all eight plants on SAP, retiring the third-party tool and consolidating onto a single platform.
If we built this today
Concept · not delivered scopeJoule becomes the front door.
This is a forward-looking concept, not the scope we delivered on this engagement. It is the build we would reach for now, grounded in SAP that ships today.
The reason all those Fiori apps risk sitting unused is menu hunting, so the 2026 move is to put a Joule copilot in front of the work and start where this engagement did, in Finance and Accounts Payable.
The data product
Working Capital Insights
An intelligent app on SAP Business Data Cloud that grounds the agent in real payables and cash signals, so its proposals reflect what is actually due and where the money is. It also gives the AP team the analytical view their old GUI screens never showed.
Intelligent Application on SAP Business Data Cloud
The Joule agent
Invoice Discrepancy Reconciler
Reads supplier invoices, purchase orders, and goods receipts to spot the three-way-match breaks that stall AP. It drafts the correction and routes it for an approver, so a long-tenured clerk asks Joule instead of learning a launchpad.
SAP S/4HANA, SAP BTP, SAP Integration Suite · PROPOSE · Invoice exception cycle time and touchless invoice rate
The Fiori app
Supplier Invoice apps with embedded Joule
The standard S/4HANA supplier-invoice and AP apps now answer questions and take guided actions through Joule, so the task comes to the user instead of the user hunting for the right tile. The Joule copilot is the front door that makes 72 apps feel like one place to ask.
Embedded in the Fiori launchpad
We would mine the real AP process in SAP Signavio first, map the app and role landscape in SAP LeanIX, and let our MIND accelerators carry the old way of working into the new one.
What we built
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72 apps launched in 5 weeks (35 Fiori, 33 GUI, 4 URLs)
AP Fiori Optimization
Full Fiori launchpad buildout for Accounts Payable, including system cleanup, role restructuring, and end-user upskilling from the ground up.
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~8 months of build in 5 weeks
Accelerated delivery
Compressed approximately 8 months of standard build scope into a 5-week go-live, with the APAY team trained and ramped in the same window.
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17 sessions total + 2 weeks hypercare
UAT and training program
15 user acceptance testing and training sessions plus 2 technical training sessions for the enterprise technology team, followed by 2 weeks of post-go-live hypercare.
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16 users and stakeholders interviewed across 8 plants
Inventory Optimization Strategic Advisory
An 8-week Design Thinking engagement covering 8 plants: stakeholder interviews, MROIO vs. SAP fit-gap analysis, a workshop, and a lo-fi to hi-fi prototype with a prioritized backlog and rollout plan.
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Redundant data entry steps removed from the PR workflow
Procurement UX redesign
Simplified Fiori-based purchase requisition experience built on persona-driven design so inexperienced employees can complete PRs without procurement training.
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Mobile-friendly ESS with automatic holiday population
Employee Self-Service apps
Leave-balance and timesheet Fiori apps with mobile-friendly design, replacing a click-intensive legacy ESS portal.
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Process visibility layer on the S/4HANA estate
SAP Signavio enablement
Process intelligence enablement using SAP Signavio to give NPPD visibility into its SAP process landscape.
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Integrations moved to SAP BTP Cloud Foundry
Integration Suite migration
Migrated integrations from the legacy platform to SAP Integration Suite on Cloud Foundry as part of the broader BTP modernization.
A look at the work
