SAP's Sustainability Solutions are designed to integrate seamlessly with end-to-end business processes, enabling companies to embed sustainability into their core operations. This lesson will explore how these solutions connect to various business processes, enhancing both operational efficiency and sustainability outcomes.
SAP calls this ERP Centric or Business Process Centric Sustainability. Each sustainability solution has a unique role in capturing and feeding back sustainability data to SAP Business Suite. For example Carbon Footprint Data via SAP Sustainability Footprint Management. Each SAP Business Process has dedicated Executive Stakeholders as is depicted in below example.
SAP offers a suite of sustainability solutions that are deeply integrated with its cloud ERP systems, particularly SAP S/4HANA. These solutions include the Sustainability Control Tower (SCT), Responsible Design and Production (RDP), and Sustainability Footprint Management (SFM), which are designed to provide comprehensive insights and management capabilities for sustainability initiatives.
Integration of Sustainability within each Business Processes – ERP Centric Examples
| Integrated Finance | (Record to Report - against ESG KPIs, aligned to Financials) Integration between Sustainability Control Tower and S/4HANA enables the rapid deployment of out-of-the-box ESG KPIs aligned to the new S/4 Finance data model, connected to relevant SAP data sources, the Business Network, and non-SAP data sources (open API). Combining and aligning financial and ESG reporting, ready for existing and future reporting standards and auditability. |
| Procurement | (Source to Pay - Procure ethically with transparency) Save Scope 3 Product Footprint to S/4HANA, enabling Procurement to consider emissions alongside Price/ Deliver/ Quality. Integration between S/4HANA and SAP Ariba allows for proactive sharing of data with suppliers, evaluating suppliers based on diversity parameters. External workforce transparency allows for improved worker safety and training, as well as diversity and inclusion. |
| Sustainable Design | (Idea to Market - Design more sustainable products) Bi-directional data exchange between S/4HANA and SAP Responsible Design & Production as well as Sustainability Footprint Management allows for the assessment and optimization of product plastics and carbon environmental impact, taxes, and costs. Soon, feed sustainability learning back to PLM systems to enable Design for Sustainability. |
| Supply Chain Planning | (Plan to Fullfill - Plan at board level & act at operational level) Integration between S/4HANA, SAP Sustainability portfolio, Integrated Business Planning, and SAP Analytics Cloud allows for aligned financial and sustainability planning and execution at aggregate and granular levels. S/4HANA can save carbon output from SFM to the Material Master, enabling Supply Chain Planning and Transportation Management to consider Scope 3 Emissions against other factors |
| Captial Asset Management | (Acquire to Decommission – track ESG KPIs across manufacturing) Maintain assets to drive efficiency, prolong life, and lower energy use and emissions. Measure plant-level emissions to comply with global regulations. Lower Carbon Liability (Carbon Taxes on Scope 1,2) through asset-level tracking with plant connectivity. Knowing accurate Scope 3.2 (capital equipment emissions) helps in acquiring assets that will reduce future Scope 1,2 emissions. |
| Marketing & Sales | Lead to Cash - Market and sell more sustainable products) Track sustainable characteristics of products (Scope 3 emissions, Product Compliance, anti-deforestation, anti-slavery) in S/4HANA. Market and Sell products with confidence in the ability to prove their sustainable characteristics. Drive Premiumization. Use SAP Recommerce and Intelligent Returns Management for Circularity. |
| Human Resources | (Hire to retire – embed sustainability in the company culture) SAP's sustainability solutions support the integration of sustainability goals into HR processes, such as employee training and development, enterprise health & safety, performance management (including sustainability incentives), and corporate social responsibility initiatives. |
Case Study: Implementing SAP's Sustainability Solutions
Consider a company that has implemented SAP's Sustainability Control Tower. By integrating this solution with their existing ERP system, they can monitor energy consumption, waste production, and carbon emissions in real-time. This data is then used to optimize operations, reduce costs, and improve sustainability performance across the organization.
Note
SAP's Sustainability Solutions are designed to connect seamlessly with end-to-end business processes, providing businesses with the tools they need to achieve their sustainability goals. By integrating these solutions into their operations, companies can enhance efficiency, ensure compliance, and drive long-term success.