Direct Relief Innovates with Solutions from Esri and SAP 

Nonprofit Direct Relief International uses leading-edge technology from Esri and SAP AG to simplify operations that provide medical supplies to underserved populations. As a result, the Drucker Institute has awarded its $100,000 first-place prize for the 2011 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation to the organization.

The organization has built a commercial-grade IT system that enables a more precise, targeted, and efficient flow of donated medical supplies to nonprofit health care facilities in more than 70 countries, including the United States. The award recognizes the Santa Barbara, California-based humanitarian organization’s implementation, which improves inventory management, warehousing, ordering, and distribution of goods.

Built with assistance from researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the system integrates Esri's ArcGIS technology with SAP solutions—including SAP ERP, SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM), SAP BusinessObjects solutions, and the SAP NetWeaver platform—which Direct Relief uses to track inventory. This combination makes it possible to take detailed assistance data from the SAP solutions and map it using the ArcGIS location-based interface.

The Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation is given each fall to three U.S.-based nonprofit organizations in recognition of existing programs that have made a difference in the lives of the people they serve. The award has been given annually since 1991 and is accompanied by two runner-up prizes of $7,500 and $5,000. The program is generously supported by the Coca-Cola Foundation.

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