About content providing - A challenge for provider and company who need content

[christoph_bergemann]

Introduction

The header of this article contains two terms:

The term "Content" and the term "providing".

Let us start with term "providing".

For a lot of reasons: if you (as e.g. a chemical company) would like to use EHS classic to generate e.g. MSDS/SDS and support many subprocesses existing in EHS you need "legal/regulatory data" to do so. In many cases you as the acting company do not have the many ressources to look at the many regulations out there to be considered. And therefore you try to get the data (= content) using a "Provider". This provider sells many kind of services. One service is: the option to get data to be uploaded in EHS.  In our days the services provided are really extended in comparison to e.g. 5 years ago. E.g. you can as well acquire service to maintain "raw material data" in your system as well. So the "providers" have extended their business model. And you can now select which services you would like to use etc.

Now let us focus on the term "content". The meaning of this term has changed in the last years. At the beginning you received "only" legal data and nothing else. Now you can get e.g.

- Phrases (or translation of phrases)

- Expert Rules

- Layouts (e.g. MSDS/SDS)

- clearly still the "legal data"

- and many other stuff

To "load" the data you need some tools embedded in SAP. E.g. OCC. For the other areas:

You need to e.g. updated the WWI layouts yourself (by using the new delivered layout), you need to change/adapt the "Expert Server" rules etc. Depending on the "service level agreement" with your provider sometimes the provider will do the job for you.

There is some "conflict" in understanding the difference of "Legal data" and "other data" (which you can get both sometimes from the provider)

Legal Data

Many regulations are described by some "written papers" (e.g. REACh ...) and these are more or less "word" oriented documents and are available partially in internet as well. But the needed  data for EHS is therefore "hidden"; that means: it is not "structured" in such a way that you can do an upload in EHS. The job of an "provider" is now: analyse the "legal document"; try to understand structure and content. At the end prepare a kind of data base with the "legal data" as "listed" in the document which can be used to be uploaded in SAP EHS using whatever kind of tool (e.g. OCC). Such an example is the topic of "OEL" (Occupational Exposure Scenarios). I believe most of the providers are supporting may be 150 up to 200 lists (I do not have counted them; and the number is changing all the time). For any list you can have something between 50 and may be 2000 entries (only a very "simple" assumption; never have checked all of the lists out there). Some "regulations" are quite stable; some not. But what is the change here?

Option 1: Only new chemical objects are listed

Option 2. some "general" review of the regulation has been done and many more objects are effected.

Option 3. You have a complete new regulation (e.g. old classification/labeling system is moving to GHS principle).

Option 4. As with GHS principle. Some regulations are now "obsolete" (the old ones)

Option 5. Some times CAS numbers are removed from a list

Many other options might exists as well.

Option 1: as long as the newly listed objects are not used in your company: this is not of interest to you

Option 2. We can imagine that a lot of objects still exist in EHS as you are using these objects (CAS numbers) and therefore an update of data is needed

Option 3: this is one of the "biggest" challenges. In most cases you need to prepare first EHS so that an upload is posible. The work involved can be big depending on the number of objects which are of interest in you company

Option 4: Here you need "only" to delete old data to avoid that this data might show up in MSDS/SDS etc.

Option 5: Only of interst if you use the CAS number

Other Data

The "Regulatory Data" as shown above is listed in some "official documents". But data as e.g. density, flash point etc. are available as well using official available books, other documents or other data bases. But as well here we talk about only data which is specific to an e.g. CAS number.

If you act as a chemical company you will get e.g. documents of many kind from the seller (e.g. MSDS/SDS/Label etc.) of the material you need to generate your one chemistry. This kind of data belongs to a "REAL_SUB".

Some providers are providing as well services which analyse the MSDS/SDS etc. and maintain the data in structured form in EHS.

Conclusion

It can be assumed that the providers will extend their services step by step and that more and more companies will use their services. The topic of "cloud" solutions will change as well the services and how chemical companies will use SAP software in the future.

One of the many reasons: the use of a rule set can really simplify data maintenance in EHS.

A rule set can be executed by "mass" in EHS. In one run you can get many data (e.g. rule set MSDS maker). The need to look for persons which are well knowning the many regulations (and how to prepare a MSDS) is therefore reduced.  If you start from scratch you may need some days to populate  a "spec" "best" so that the "spec" does have "good" data for any needed MSDS/SDS. And this is not an easy job. Depending on the amount of REAL_SUBs to handle it is quite obvious that using at least "Rule Sets" can reduce dramatically the "manpower" to maintain the data.To have the chance, by using up to date rules sets, WWI layout etc., to reduce the "manpower" is a clear strategic driver to look for service providers.

The CAS number: please check: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAS_Registry_Number

And CAS REGISTRY and CAS RN FAQs

The CAS number is in most cases used as "reference number" in the many other regulations. But not always entries in regulatory lists related to s "specific" CAS number

Take a look at this quite nice overview document regarding "content" (from SAP)

https://www.asug.com/discussions/servlet/JiveServlet/previewBody/44600-102-1-66138/3917_Dow%20Cornin...

PLEASE READ: Safety Datasheet Authoring in 6-clicks or less!

Some threads collected (how to handle content how to use a provder, which tool to load, how to set up the tool etc.)

Topic	Thread
ARIEL Content	How can i connect Ariel Database with SAP EHS?
Managing data load (Regulatory data)	How to manage the regulatory data import into specification database?
Managing data load (Regulatory data)	EHS data upload from Content providers through EHS OCC
Managing data load (Regulatory data)	Maintaining Regulatory without Content Provider
Regulatory data	SAP EHS Related regulatory data
Regulatory data	Update EHS Regulatory Content
Regulatory Content	Question on regulatory content provider and expert server
Regulatory Content	SAP EH&S Regulatory Content and SAP Unit of Measures (UoM) are definied different
Regulatory Content	Maintaining Regulatory without Content Provider
Regulatory Content	Regulatory Content & OCC
Regulatory Content	SAP EHS Related regulatory data
SERC	SERC content package and service package
SERC	EHSM and SERC
SERC	SERC 2013-1: Errors
SERC	Missing regulatory lists in SERC content
SERC	Initial SERC Load with OCC
SERC	update new rules from new serc update
SERC	Data Model for MSDS Authoring with SERC
SERC	Minimum Input data required for Expert rules to produce GHS compliant SDS with SERC Content
SERC	an error when executing ZEXP_GHSSG and ZEXP_GHSAU
SERC	Clarity on Compositions ??
SERC	Serc update Issues and Doubts
SERC	Error "Cannot load RUC-file" with new rule set in Expert server
SERC	how to upload phrase set in sap
SERC contetn	SAP EHS Waste Management integrated with DG
SERC/SERD	SAP EHSM or MOC
Data model (Regulatoy Data)	The use of Listed substance
Regulatory Lists / Content	regulatory list in sap ehs
Regulations	EHS Regulations
EHS content	sap ehs - How and where do we get physical chem properties for msds
EHS content	No data provider to MSDS
EHS content	ehs expert rule - input and output data for GHS , Sara Comp and DAPEC
EHS content	use of msds maker and set up process
EHS content	How many types of SDS we have with standard SAP?
Compliance handling/Managing data	A Fragrance Company ensures EH&S Compliance in Real-Time