AEB optimizes trade compliance for OSRAM

After an intensive evaluation phase with various providers, OSRAM finally opted for the Compliance Screening, Export Controls, and License Management solutions from AEB SE in Stuttgart.

"What convinced us at AEB above all was that the software could be deeply and seamlessly integrated into the five SAP^® ERP systems of our different regions and business units," explains Miroslaw Kalinay, an IT project manager involved in the decision.

In addition, AEB was able to meet international requirements and offer extensive options for sanctions list screening. In addition, AEB software also covered the issue of sanctioned ownership, i.e. checking whether a ban on indirect provision exists. And the solutions from the Stuttgart-based software company support OSRAM's IT strategy of moving away from its own server landscape to applications from the cloud.

OSRAM and AEB drew up a plan for the international introduction on the basis of the tight timetable.

"We defined the central logic of how processes run in a kind of copy template," explains Sebastian Rothe, project manager at AEB. "We developed and tested these in the first months of 2018 and took them live at the beginning of April for the OSRAM Opto Semiconductors division's first SAP^® system."

As the implementation progressed, this template was rolled out to a new region or area about every six weeks with only minor adjustments: In June, the SAP^® systems for Europe and Asia were connected, in August it was the turn of the NAFTA region and finally the central HR system. "Although we put existing processes to the test in detail and made some adjustments to improve efficiency and effectiveness, we were able to keep to the tight schedule," says Klingshirn, with satisfaction.

In autumn 2018, the replacement of the existing solution and the switch to the AEB software took place on time. One reason why the tight schedule could be adhered to: The AEB project team was on site in Munich and thus close to OSRAM. "This enabled us to always provide fast and direct project support," says AEB’s Rothe. The solution is now being used by experts at OSRAM's Munich headquarters as well as in the regional export control, customs and business unit teams.

AEB was also able to support OSRAM in another challenge: To develop new software that supports end-use checks. Previously, OSRAM had used a system developed by the previous supplier.

This second project started in February 2018 and was delivered for testing in August. Since the solution would not only be used by OSRAM trade compliance experts worldwide, but also by many different employees, both project partners paid great attention to user-friendliness during the new development.

"Information on the end use of our products is usually only available to the local decentralized sales unit," explains Dites. "Nevertheless, it is essential to ensure that we check the end-use and use of our goods, document this check and ultimately act in compliance with the law. That's why the software should be as easy and intuitive as possible to use, both for us as a specialist department and, above all, for our colleagues on site."

In order to achieve this, later users were already involved in the development of the solution - especially when it came to interface design. They tested numerous prototypes and gave feedback on the designs, which were then corrected and refined until the final design of the software was defined.

The AEB solution Risk Assessment has been in use since October 2018 and helps OSRAM to reliably perform end-use checking worldwide, addressing the concerns of regulators. "We have stored multilingual questionnaires in the software, which every sales employee worldwide must fill out for new customers or projects," said Dites, explaining how the solution works.

As a first step, the questionnaire contains the names and addresses of the partners involved in a transaction. Based on this, an embargo and sanctions list check is carried out directly. The sales representative then has to answer a few brief questions, such as whether a possible delivery is related to a military end-use. Depending on the countries involved, special land notices may be added.

Immediately afterwards, the employee receives a risk assessment; the completed questionnaires are stored centrally and can be retrieved by the export control officers. If a warning is issued, a follow-up process is triggered. An internal workflow ensures that the ECC makes an assessment and later a release of the respective process.

In addition, the software helps to improve transparency by making all checks available in a structured manner in one place and protecting them from later changes. This also pays off in the case of external audits, for example, when the necessary documents have to be made available.

A further advantage: The solution supports the approval process directly by making the completed questionnaires available as pdf documents, which already have comment and approval fields. "Risk Assessment is a great solution for me to efficiently, transparently and securely manage end-use checking in export control," says Dites, summarizing the benefits of the new software.