Customer
SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software. 77% of the world’s transaction revenue touches an SAP system. Founded in 1972 and headquartered in Walldorf, Germany, SAP has over 100,000 employees globally. SAP North America oversees the company’s business operations in the U.S. and Canada, where it employs nearly 20,000 people. The SAP Experience Center in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania sits in the SAP North American Headquarters. Located about 45 minutes outside of Philadelphia, the center is also home to a data center, immersive experience room, cyber fusion center, and mission control center.
Project Summary
Like many commercial office buildings encounter from time-to-time, SAP’s North America headquarters’ main building and garage had an aging fire alarm system that needed replacing. This original system was 20 years old and consisted of three EST fire alarm panels covering the basement level, three floors, and a penthouse level. After experiencing issues with erroneous alarm and error messages, along with several software and component upgrades to maintain functionality, SAP contacted Sciens to replace the system to ensure building and, more importantly, occupants’ protection from potential fires.
Sciens Scope
Sciens upgraded SAP North America from an EST3 to the latest and greatest technology, an EST4 fire alarm system. We also converted their horn strobes to speaker strobes, along with an upgraded voice system, so that custom messages can now be communicated throughout the campus. In parallel, we delivered an EST4 voice activation system with the capability to provide existing Siemens and Notifier systems with a high-level input for future paging across the site. This upgrade to a voice type system allows for clearer and more concise communications in an emergency event, which results in safer management of the situation.
Outcome
This work resulted in an upgraded fire alarm system to better detect fires and communicate during an emergency. SAP’s upgraded voice system now enables manual or automatic messages with explicit instructions for various scenarios that could occur. The voice system also allows for separate evacuation instructions in case of an emergency, where perhaps not every floor is affected. In this three-story structure, with over 400,000-square-feet, SAP can now communicate with specific areas of the building. With these upgrades now in place, SAP North America can find comfort in knowing the systems in place provide the required level of fire protection and safety for building occupants.
