SAP and Pelican Products Team Up to Manage Risks

By Gerard Longo, Assistant Editor
SAP has entered into a partnership with Pelican Products, Inc., a manufacturer of lighting case systems, to provide risk management solutions like its Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Management application that is expected to optimize safety management and communication between company personnel, from management to workers on the shop floor.

The SAP EHS Management 2.0 mobile app allows workers to report safety issues and problems with their mobile devices, which can then be viewed company-wide to assess and eliminate risks.

Pelican feels that the SAP application will allow its employees to not only better report incidents, but to better understand what qualifies as a risky situation in order to prevent such incidents from occurring in the first place.

"SAP is the platform that ties all our business systems together and allows us to create a consistent safety culture across all entities," said Ellenmary Michel, Vice President of Worldwide Human Resources at Pelican Products. "The new SAP EHS Management deployment will provide us with real transparency. If there’s an incident or a near miss, our executive officers are notified automatically so we can act quickly and proactively. That’s important to us."

To aid this effort of Pelican Products and other companies, SAP has integrated its EHS Management app with its Business Suite software to allow for a more comprehensive view and control over any risk that might occur company-wide.

"Risk transcends departments, which is why SAP offers companies a way to manage operational risk not via point solutions but with a comprehensive, integrated approach that safeguards people, the environment and profits," said Peter Graf, Chief Sustainability Officer of SAP. "In this way, we link sustainability to all aspects of business operations and help companies enact a pre-emptive risk management strategy that’s embedded in day-to-day business processes."

Only the Beginning?

In addition to its EHS Management application, SAP has developed an EHS Safety Issue app that allows workers to record issues and safety hazards by using voice recordings, photos and video. Workers then submit the collected data to their managers, who are able to step in and fix the situation almost immediately.

In an official press release dated July 18, 2012, it was indicated that Pelican Products is considering adopting this additional technology to give the company another layer of risk protection. Additionally, Pelican is considering tracking its environmental initiatives and compliance with UK regulations such as the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), the Waste Electrical and Electrionic Equipment (WEEE) and the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) directives using SAP technology.