How Signode Industrial Group Modernized Close, Reporting, and Forecasting

For many global organizations, HFM’s limitations are becoming harder to ignore, especially as Oracle’s roadmap signals stability without meaningful innovation.

Signode Industrial Group, a $2.5B global manufacturing organization, reached this exact crossroads. With dozens of ERP systems, a highly complex close, and an aging HFM environment, the finance team needed more than an upgrade. They needed a modern CPM platform built for scale, visibility, and agility.

Here’s how Signode (now a Division of Crown Holdings) successfully migrated from HFM to OneStream, with Nova Advisory guiding the transformation.

The Reality of Life on HFM

Before migrating, Signode relied on Oracle HFM, FDM, Essbase, and Excel to manage consolidation, reporting, and analysis across more than 100 business units. With over 50 ERPs feeding financial data, the environment had become difficult to maintain and even harder to scale.

Their HFM version was outdated, performance was slow, and dimensionality was underutilized. Local teams could not manage their own mappings, forcing changes to be centralized and creating delays during close. On top of that, data had to be manually extracted from HFM and loaded into Essbase, introducing latency and increasing reconciliation risk.

This is a scenario many HFM customers recognize today. As Oracle continues to de-emphasize innovation for on premises HFM, finance teams are left managing complexity rather than eliminating it.

Evaluating the Next Move

Signode initially explored staying within the Oracle ecosystem, including upgrading HFM or moving to FCCS. However, the projected cost, timeline, and limited functional upside made it clear that this would only preserve the status quo.

The team evaluated alternative CPM platforms before selecting OneStream, driven by several key factors:

• A single, unified CPM platform instead of multiple tools

• Flexibility to support both Signode and its parent company, Crown Holdings

• Strong customer references from former HFM customers

• A future proof architecture that reduced long term technical debt

Rather than replacing HFM with another fragmented solution, Signode chose to modernize.

Migrating with Nova Advisory

Signode partnered with Nova Advisory to guide the HFM to OneStream migration. Nova worked closely with Signode’s finance and FP&A teams to design a solution that aligned with real world close and reporting requirements, not just system architecture.

The migration followed a phased approach:

Phase 1: Financial Consolidation and Reporting
Signode went live with OneStream for consolidation in April 2020, replacing HFM and related legacy tools.

Phase 2: Planning and Advanced Reporting
Completed in Q1 2021, this phase introduced budgeting, forecasting, and a custom Product P&L cube that allocates costs across more than 40 product lines, enabling profitability analysis that was not feasible in HFM 

Today, approximately 180 users across Accounting, Finance, Tax, Internal Audit, Treasury, and Corporate Development rely on OneStream as their system of record.

What Changed After Leaving HFM Behind

With OneStream in place, Signode transformed its monthly close and reporting process.

Local controllers now submit trial balances and supplemental data through structured workflows. Critically, they can manage their own transformation rules during close, eliminating a major bottleneck that existed in HFM.

OneStream’s ability to lock and unlock specific data sets by entity allowed Signode to maintain strong controls while improving speed and flexibility. The results were measurable:

• Elimination of one full time equivalent role tied to system administration

• A 30 percent reduction in time spent by business unit controllers on monthly submissions

• Faster system performance and more frequent data refreshes

• Improved drill back to trial balance and mapped reporting visibility

Planning and Forecasting Without the Workarounds

Signode also migrated budgeting and forecasting off Excel and Essbase into OneStream. The finance team now runs multiple official forecasts and pre forecast scenarios throughout the year in a single platform.

By unifying actuals, forecasts, and drivers in one model, Signode reduced its forecasting cycle by approximately two days while improving confidence in the numbers. Moving to the cloud further eliminated VPN dependencies and access challenges that existed in the HFM environment.

Thinking about what comes after HFM?

Signode’s journey reflects what many HFM customers are experiencing today. Staying on HFM may keep the lights on, but it limits visibility, agility, and long term value.

By migrating to OneStream with Nova Advisory, Signode established a scalable CPM foundation that supports consolidation, reporting, planning, and future enhancements without the complexity of legacy systems.

Nova Advisory helps finance teams assess, design, and execute HFM to OneStream migrations with a proven, phased approach. Schedule a meeting with us