SAP and TechniData Release Market's Most Comprehensive Solution for Achieving EU Chemical Regulation Compliance

26 May 2008 • by Natalie Aster

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. -- SAP AG and TechniData AG, the SAP development partner for environmental compliance solutions, have announced the availability of SAP® REACH Compliance, the market's most comprehensive software application for addressing complex tasks required by the European Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) legislation. The first REACH compliance deadline is pre- registration, which runs from June 1, 2008 to November 30, 2008. The remaining three REACH deadlines will occur in 2010, 2013 and 2018, respectively.

During the first several years under REACH, the average chemical company is estimated to handle 15,000 compliance projects, each involving substance registration, usage and management, supply chain, financial and legal processes. REACH places the burden of proving the safety of chemical substances, products and consumer use on the manufacturer and importer. Chemical, consumer product, mill, oil and gas, pharmaceutical and other process manufactures will be denied the right to trade non-compliant substances within the European Union (EU).

Clariant, a global leader in the field of specialty chemicals, aggressively implemented of SAP REACH Compliance months before the first legislative deadline.

"From day one, Clariant will enjoy a competitive advantage under compliance, with the unique ability to manage all aspects of mandated data via a single software application," said Dr. Uwe Wolfmeier, Head of Corporate Product Safety, Clariant. "The level of enterprise-wide execution demanded by REACH is simply too complex to trust to disparate point applications, let alone ones that don't integrate with a company's existing core business processes."

Despite the potential for significant business disruptions and revenue losses related to non-compliance, a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers survey indicates that many chemical companies are expected to miss the 2008 REACH deadline. Companies are underestimating the level of enterprise-wide coordination, and remain uncertain about the type of technology commitment required to achieve compliance.

"Companies have recognized the importance and the necessity of IT support for REACH" said Jurgen Schwab, CEO, TechniData. "Reach will be an ongoing task, not only an activity for 2008. Companies that set up the right REACH IT infrastructure today will avoid an ongoing struggle with insufficient tools in the future."

SAP REACH Compliance integrates with companies' existing enterprise resource planning, supply chain management and SAP® Environment, Health & Safety applications. The solution from SAP and TechniData also supports third- party software for authoring chemical-safety assessments, chemical-safety reports and standard EU REACH exchange formats, such as the IUCLID 5 solution.

Key functionalities of SAP REACH Compliance include:

Substance and Usage Management

• Manage data and track chemicals used in particular preparations, products and requisite documents, including chemical-safety assessments, chemical-safety reports and enhanced material-safety data sheets.
• Evaluate current REACH status, track quantities of single substances for a single legal entity or monitor substances on a corporate level covering multiple legal entities, and identify and rectify any compliance gaps.

Supply Chain Collaboration

• Electronic information exchange of processes involved in REACH-related supply chain communication, supported by material-safety data sheets and questionnaire-based communication for use and exposure scenarios.
• Supplier and customer communication data tracking, including how customers use a product in order to draw up exposure scenarios for substances, and initiate follow-up activities based on deadlines and business-partner responses.

Legal Process Management for REACH

• Organize and monitor all authority-related processes, including registration, notification and authorization.
• Collaborate document management between internal and external groups to expedite registration management, keeping business processes transparent, reliable and viewable in real-time.
• Plan on detailed substance and full substance-portfolio management levels to control costs, coordinate activities and successfully register substances and receive authorization with REACH authorities.

"Providing a single integrated solution for all REACH regulatory needs significantly reduces companies' compliance costs and implementation times," said Franz Hero, vice president, Chemicals, SAP AG. "With global competition and economic pressures increasing exponentially, companies cannot afford to slow down for regulatory business disruptions. SAP REACH Compliance enables companies to forge ahead at full throttle, without having to make pit stops to change regulatory tires."

About SAPPHIRE® 2008 Orlando and SAPPHIRE® 2008 Berlin

More than 15,000 customers, partners and technical experts are convening at SAPPHIRE 2008 to discover how SAP and its thriving partner ecosystem are delivering IT solutions that create value beyond the four walls of the enterprise, to create "business beyond boundaries." SAP's premier educational and networking event, SAPPHIRE is the one occasion where senior executives, business managers, and decision-makers can come together every year to explore how innovative business solutions foster long-term, profitable growth. SAPPHIRE® 2008 was held in Orlando, Florida, May 4-7, and in Berlin, Germany, May 19-21, 2008.

About SAP

SAP is the world's leading provider of business software, offering applications and services that enable companies of all sizes and in more than 25 industries to become best-run businesses. With more than 47,800 customers (excludes customers from the acquisition of Business Objects) in over 120 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE, under the symbol "SAP."

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

Source: SAP AG