Introduction

EHS classic is quite flexible. You can extend it easily. Some options are mentioned in: Customer Exits in SAP EHS MANAGEMENT

One option to enhance EHS is using Rule Sets or Secondary Data Determination. By using these options you can speed up the data management. 

Using these options you can support maintenance actions: refer to: How to deal with legal/regulatory changes (using SAP EHS MANAGEMENT)?

 In EHS FORUM discussion is coming up on low level for use of rule sets and similar options. This is “surprising” as these tools and techniques really facilitate the data handling.

 As you can see in EHS Expert WWI Installation SAP R/3 Enterprise – Toolbox for IT Groups the installation topics  might be not understood very well. 

In Scope

I will try to give an high level overview of the two options more from point of view of business.

Out of Scope

I will not provide the details.

Secondary Data Determination

May be check: Secondary Data Determination – Basic Data and Tools (EHS-BD) – SAP Library as a starting point in reading.

If you read cross the term “Secondary Data Determination” might not be a good one. E.g. This option is used to integrate OCC or other tools which can be used to “upload” data. This is more or less a “data import”. One other subtype is the “Rule Set” integration and the next one would be the use of a “customer” specific exit.

Therefore you could generate this list in context of the term “Secondary Data Determination”:

• it can be used to do data loads (as with OCC)
• it can be used to execute Rule Sets (with the use of EH&S Expert)
• it can be used to incorporate completely company specific programming
  

Long time ago SAP provided some “Secondary Data Determination” “programs” as part of EHS. This is not supported any more.

Rule Set

As always a good option is to start with SAP help. I will do slightly different.

Therefore check these links:

So if you “google” you find some useful results (and not only on the SAP help page).

From technical point of view. Rule Sets and Secondary Data determination option are “only” special cases of an exit. They are “default” ones (which are always present in CG02; that means they are part of the SAP menue (without content; the content need to be customized)); Other exits need to be prepared to show up in CG02 (refer above to the document mentioned there).

 SAP help starts with: EH&S Expert – SAP Library

So as you can see: We have to differentiate between “SAP EHS Expert” and “SAP EHS Easy Expert”. In most cases the “Easy Expert” can only be used for “very” simple “calculations” of  something. On daily business normally this will not be enough. In reality the “Easy Expert” approach is “to simple” incomparison to the “complex” rules you need in daily business(e.g. refer to SAP online help: EH&S Easy Expert – EH&S Expert – SAP Library).

Using rulesets is one approach to speed up in maintenance of data and can help in “Change Management” (after regulatory data has changed).

What are the cons: you need to understand the set up of EHS Server and how to define the rule (including mapping etc. etc.). With EnhPack 3 a lot of performance optimizations have been done. Please read cross the SAP help. On high level: the performance critical step is the reading of the data; this is “improved” in EnhPack 3 (together with other improvements as well).

Keep in mind: to enhance rules sets in prod you need to execute a lot of steps (which are in regrads of complexity etc. may be on level of: how to distribute a WWI layout from dev to qual to prod).

If you do not want to “learn” EHS Expert you need to buy content from a data provider. Prerequisite is: you should not ! have changed the STANDARD tree. You need to use standard SAP data model (with rating, validity areas etc. etc. etc.). Additional prerequisite:

– you need to use the same UOMs as described by the service provider

– you need to use the same phrases (or you need to map them)

Any rule set delivered (according to my knowledge) assume that you are using STANDARD SAP tree without any customer enhancements.

Here a small list of threads:

As you can see. The interest in EHS Expert Server is really limited.

OCC Set up

 OCC is a tool which can be used to import data. E..g. refer to these links:

EH&S Open Content Connector – Basic Data and Tools (EHS-BD) – SAP Library

IMPORTANT NOTE: The old “DataEditor” functionality  as delivered by TechniData is now part of OCC (on high level). You can now use OCC to upload specification data and phrase data

Did you know that regarding there is an US patent in place? I identified two patents: 

http://www.google.com/patents/US7680803

http://www.google.pl/patents/US20050283374

May be read as well: http://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US7680803.pdf  and US20050283374.pdf

(which are pdf files representing the US patents).

E.g. http://www.google.com/patents/EP1852796A1?cl=en could be of interest too.

OCC is a tool to import data as part of an “XML”data stream and in the current version you can use “text oriented files strcutures” as well . In most cases you use it to upload “regulatory data” provided from  a data provider. In most case not more than 10 persons in a company need to do the upload (and therefore need the knowledge and corresponding skills to do so). So there is not a need to install OCC on any client.

The set up and installaiton and use of OCC seems to be having many pitfalls (refer to the many threads). As with WWI: it is not easy to install nor to use the tool/process. And there is more or less no real help available via SAP Msrketplace (we have a good ! dcoumentaiotn of EXCEL based load via OCC but not a “set up” guideline for OCC (e.g. discussing offline and onlline modus differences).

May be check as well: Examples of Data sharing demands in SAP EHS Management using XML

Here a small list of threads discussing OCC:

As you can see. The interest in using OCC is limited.

DRAFT VERSION; WILL BE UPDATED FROM TIME TO TIME