As world leaders continue discussions on sustainability in Copenhagen this week, Germany-based SAP added its name to the conversation with a new application said to help manufacturers and others define and enforce sustainability initiatives throughout their organizations.
The SAP BusinessObjects Sustainability Performance Management Application relies heavily on the data collection and analysis capabilities of the BusinessObjects software. In a statement today, the company said the Sustainability Performance Management offering can free workers from the tedium of manually collecting data and compiling sustainability reports.
Deployed in conjunction with other SAP applications or as a stand-alone product, the software uses a simplified interface to streamline internal and external reporting, and helps companies distribute the insight gleaned throughout the organization. In concert with BusinessObjects’ theme of using analytics to steer performance improvements, SAP said the new software not only delivers business intelligence, but also helps guide companies toward improving their sustainability performance.
A screenshot of the product that SAP released as part of a demo today shows a dashboard view of a company’s material usage. A manufacturer, for example, can view a general rating of its progress toward goals, its actual material use against its target — with a gap analysis and a drill-down view of the various components of material usage, such as recycled materials, renewable raw materials, and non-renewable raw materials. Small icons representing status dials show the manufacturer’s performance on each of the material-based components.
Depending on a company’s method of defining sustainability, the BusinessObjects Sustainability Performance Management Application can be configured to automatically retrieve data from a variety of enterprise software systems and compile key performance indicators based on that information. And since a company may need to tailor a KPI for various reporting requirements — industry requirements or specific business contexts — SAP has included a central KPI library as part of the software. The storehouse allows users to share, reuse, search, and filter KPIs.
“Customers can select from a central KPI library that includes a variety of metrics, including those based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework,” SAP said in a statement today. The BusinessObjects offering is the first to be certified by the GRI-Certified Software and Tools Program, according to SAP.
GRI is an independent, global organization that works in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme to establish guidelines for sustainability reporting worldwide.
Printer manufacturer Lexmark, a partner in developing the application, said it will help simplify the often-difficult task of tracking sustainability performance across a dispersed company.
The application will help us streamline how we monitor and manage our sustainability performance and reduce the cost and complexity of our many sustainability disclosure obligations,” said John Gagel, manager of sustainable practices in Lexmark’s Environmental, Health and Safety division. “Most importantly, it will enable us to move beyond measuring and reporting to incorporating sustainability in a more strategic way within our business.”