India, July 6 -- For a large process-manufacturing business, ERP modernization is not just about replacing an old system with a new one. It has to standardize processes across plants, improve maintenance discipline, strengthen data visibility, and do all of this without disrupting 24/7 operations. Grasim Chemicals, which operates eight caustic soda manufacturing units across India, recently went live with SAP S/4HANA at its Nagda unit, marking the first step in a broader effort to build a more standardized and digitally connected operating model.

In this interview with Dataquest, Ramesh Rajagopalakrishnan, CIO, Grasim Chemicals, talks about why the company chose a greenfield SAP S/4HANA implementation after nearly two decades on SAP, how...