Case Study: Roche achieves 2‑hour predictive R&D financial forecasts and 70% automation with SAP HANA

Roche Optimizing the Financial Forecast Process with Predictive Planning

F. Hoffmann‑La Roche AG (Roche), a global leader in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics, set out to transform its R&D finance operations as part of a 10‑year plan to deliver more medical advances at lower cost. The decentralized R&D finance teams faced a costly, reactive and time‑consuming bottom‑up forecasting process that tied up planners in manual data entry and delayed decision‑making.

Roche implemented SAP Analytics Cloud’s predictive planning, natively integrated with its SAP Business Warehouse on HANA, to automate and harmonize forecasting across R&D. The solution automated about 70% of forecast data entry (14,000 of 20,000 points), cut a US$4.2 billion forecast cycle from weeks to two hours, improved accuracy by ~7%, and freed finance teams to deliver insights and support faster, cross‑functional decision‑making.

Roche

David Dubowsky

Head of R&D Finance