SAP and partners unveils energy management solution to reduce power consumption

A new solution developed out of SAP's Value Network for chemicals enables companies to better measure and consume energy by combining the SAP Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence (MII) application with the PI solution from OSIsoft and the Environmental Compliance application developed for SAP by TechniData.

Value Network for chemicals is one of several clusters of partners and customers that SAP formed to address industry-specific problems and solutions.

The energy management solution in particular gathers information on the use of energy, in all its forms, throughout the enterprise. It also identifies areas for energy reduction, and monitors energy excellence projects to make the results available throughout the enterprise.

SAP says the energy management solution takes advantage of enterprise service-oriented architecture and the SAP NetWeaver technology platform to integrate the OSIsoft Real-time Performance Management solution with the SAP Environmental Compliance application. The solution is available as enhanced functionality in the SAP Environmental Compliance application.

“Energy costs demand that electricity, gas, and other utilities must be considered as part of the cost of the product,” says Dr. Patrick Kennedy, CEO and founder, OSIsoft. “Our customers are combining real-time event data from our PI product with business data from SAP to determine where they stand and then, interactively, how to lower the usage of these resources. In the current economy, the only projects that can affect the bottom line in the near term are those where information drives the savings. This energy management offering will lead to substantial reductions in the cost of products, as well as CO2 emissions.”

Business solutions that tap into existing technology to enable improved energy consumption and rapid compliance with regulatory requirements are becoming much more important. Globally, legislation now places requirements on the reduction of emissions.

In California, for example, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to below-1990 levels by 2010. In New York City, carbon emissions must be reduced by 30 percent by 2030, and the European Union has a common target to reduce emissions by 2010 to 6 percent below the emissions levels of 1990.

SAP's energy management solution can, in fact, be used across industries.

“We are delighted to see innovative use of the Industry Value Network in addressing our customers' needs with respect to energy management and the environment,” says Franz Hero, VP, chemistry industry business unit, SAP.