SAP for Utilities North American Conference: A Thought-Provoking First

This Energy Insights Perspective discusses SAP's first utility-focused conference for North America held in October. This event provided opportunities for utility attendees to learn more about SAP and SAP partner products and services and also how peer utilities are using SAP products to achieve corporate objectives ranging from financial to customer satisfaction to reliability measures. Some participants who had previously attended SAPPHIRE and ASUG events found this setting much more intimate and highly relevant compared with the immenseness of SAPPHIRE.

Klaus Heimann, former head of SAP's Utility Business Unit for years (Stefan Engelhardt is the existing head) and now strategist for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and head of Industry Solution Management for Communication and Services Industries, started out the proceedings by showing how the SAP utility modules tie together in a way that paves the future footprint for utilities considering or expanding SAP in their shop. "Plan, unify, simplify, and optimize" was the theme — but also one that can be used for many projects and even one's office. The conference ended with two thought-provoking keynotes about the future of energy. Sandwiched in-between were multiple tracks and sessions full of information on some of today's hot topics in the energy industry. Some of the event highlights are discussed in this Perspective.

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The 2009 Import and Export Market for Vegetable Saps and Extracts in North America & the Caribbean

On the demand side, exporters and strategic planners approaching the market in North America & the Caribbean face a number of questions. Which countries are supplying vegetable saps and extracts to North America & the Caribbean? What is the dollar value of these imports? How much do the imports of vegetable saps and extracts vary from one country to another in North America & the Caribbean? Do exporters serving the market in North America & the Caribbean have similar market shares across the importing countries? On the supply side, North America & the Caribbean also sells to the international market of vegetable saps and extracts. Which countries in North America & the Caribbean supply the most exports of vegetable saps and extracts? Which countries are buying their exports? What is the value of these exports and which countries are the largest buyers? This report was created for strategic planners, international marketing executives and import/export managers who are concerned with the market for vegetable saps and extracts in North America & the Caribbean. With the globalization of this market, managers can no longer be contented with a local view. Nor can managers be contented with out-of-date statistics that appear several years after the fact. I have developed a methodology, based on macroeconomic and trade models, to estimate the market for vegetable saps and extracts for those countries serving North America & the Caribbean via exports or supplying from North America & the Caribbean via imports. We do so for the current year based on a variety of key historical indicators and econometric models.

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