Oracle Supply Chain Software Review

Global Trade Management

Supply Chain Network Design

Strategic Network Optimization (SNO) global modeling tool is used to design an agile supply chain network that includes trading partner locations, internal locations, transportation, operation, customer segmentation and capital investment. SNO also helps plan alternative network options when mitigating risks in the supply chain. Logistic and operational cost estimates can be fed into Oracle’s Demantra Real-Time S&OP application to assist with planning. Simulating different demand scenarios, new business, evaluating different sourcing strategies and currency fluctuations provide planners with the analysis needed to make better decisions. Off shore sourcing options can be weighed against additional transportation cost, working capital and cash-to-cash time. Because SNO is fully integrated with Oracle’s Advanced Planning Command Center, key executives have access to up to date information alongside other key performance metrics.

Sales & Operational Planning (Demantra Real-Time Sales and Operations Planning)

Oracle’s approach to Sales & Operational Planning (S&OP) has three tracks: First, the approach provides executives with an S&OP dashboard to monitor performance. Second, prebuilt templates are available to proactively collaborate on demand, supply and product information. Third, it provides tools to align tactical plans optimizing a balance between demand, supply and finance. Oracle’s Demantra Real-Time Sales and Operations Planning solution provides all S&OP participants with tailored worksheets. Data can be edited and aggregated at any level, and adjustments made top down, bottom up, or middle out. This enables planners to combine top-down business goals with bottom-up planning. In real time, planners can proactively react to changes and empower decision makers with demand shaping options.

Sourcing Material and Components

With the E-Business Suite, Oracle’s goal is to increase the bandwidth of sourcing professionals so they can pursue additional savings opportunities. Procurement professionals use pre-built templates to quickly generate RFIs, RFQs, RFPs and/or reverse auctions. With one-click, users can clone existing agreements into a new sourcing event. Bids are collected in consistent and structured formats, so users can perform faster analysis and make better selections. Examples of ways to simplify the bidding process include staging the RFP process, automatic knockout criteria, side-by-side graphical comparisons and predefined scoring criteria. Online collaboration makes it easy for team members to contribute to the scoring process. Oracle points out and quantifies lowest total cost, and not just the lowest price.

Procurement (iProcurement)

Oracle’s procurement allows for end user self-service ordering; the users create, manage and track their own orders in an intuitive web interface, while purchasing retains central control. Search features, logically grouped online “stores” and content zones lead end users to the products and services. Oracle’s iProcurement ensures that purchasing policies, controls and preferred pricing agreements are adhered to in each transaction. Buyers, suppliers, and catalog administrators can manage content through file uploads or online interfaces to the supplier hosted web sites. iProcurement builds policy and approval process enforcement from requisition through payment. Accounting methods, including budget, encumbrance, projects and grants, ensure fiscal control. Policy enforcement improves compliance, with exceptions routed to management.

Distribution, Replenishment and Fulfillment

Oracle’s Advance Supply Chain Planning module enables planning that spans long term aggregate plans through short term detailed schedules, including multiple manufacturing processes. With the Distribution Planner Workbench, planners have global visibility to material positions and the ability to automate allocations and distributions with manual overrides, while taking into account kitting, substitutions, alternate suppliers and supply constraints. Oracle Order Management supports Available to Promise (ATP); Oracle Global Order Promising adds Capable to Promise (CTP) and Capable to Deliver (CTD) support. Inventory can be immediately reserved at order entry, or automatically as the requested ship date moves within the allocation window. Orders can be received through multiple systems including web orders, call centers and third party systems. Oracle Workflow provides processes to capture, book, fulfill and invoice out of the box. In addition, Order Management integrates with the Oracle Manufacturing applications to support configure-to-order manufacturing and logistics-based fulfillment. Oracle Advanced Supply Chain Planning is fully integrated with Oracle Advanced Planning Command Center and provides key supply chain owners with the ability to monitor progress against the plans.

Inventory Optimization

Oracle’s Inventory Optimization focus is on effectively balancing revenue, cost and service levels. Inventory planners leverage cutting-edge stochastic optimization and risk pooling methods to maximize optimal solutions. Service level goals and sales mix are targeted by product lines, customers or channels, and take into account cost and risk as they change. Postponement options balance customer demands with carrying cost, working capital and risk of obsolescence. Oracle Inventory Optimization provides time-phased safety stock recommendations that seamlessly can be fed into Oracle’s Advanced Supply Planning replenishment calculations. Oracle’s “Service Parts Planning” also utilizes Inventory Optimization functionality. Inventory Optimization is fully integrated with Oracle Advanced Planning Command Center to provide key supply chain decision makers the capability to analyze output from inventory policy decisions.

Supplier Performance

Oracle Supplier Hub provides a single source for supplier data providing a 360° view into supplier information. Oracle Supplier Lifecycle Management offers a centralized platform for managing supplier processes and supplier data. Oracle consolidates spend tracking across all business units and enables supplier risk management. Suppliers can self-register and maintain their information, reducing administration costs. Before an administrator on-boards a new supplier, a designated approval flow assures requests are evaluated. Supplier Lifecycle Management administrators can generate supplier evaluation questionnaires, send them to internal stakeholders for supplier performance review or to suppliers themselves for data gathering, evaluation, or profile updating.

Collaboration and Supply Chain Visibility

Oracle’s Collaborative Planning enables key trading partners to share and collaborate on sales forecast and supply commitments, and jointly resolve exceptions. Sales forecast and demand singles can be communicated across the extended supplier network including your supplier’s suppliers. Oracle Collaborative Planning provides a variety of visibility tools to the supply-demand mismatches between trading partners and how they trend over time. Thresholds can be set at various elements (items, customers, suppliers and more) to proactively identify issues. Planners can peg exceptions and determine the impact of mismatches between trader partners’ supply and demand.

Logistics

Oracle’s primary logistics applications are EBS Warehouse Management System (WMS) and Oracle Transportation Management. Oracle’s EBS WMS is a fully integrated EBS module, and the new version of EBS WMS is available as a standalone product. Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) offering is sold standalone or packaged with all the Oracle ERP suites.

Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)

Although not a top tier WMS solution, Oracle’s E-Business Suite (EBS) WMS is a mature offering and Oracle is closing the gap with the top tier WMS. Oracle’s EBS WMS offering is sold as a standalone solution or as an integrated extension of their ERP EBS. Oracle’s WMS offering supports retail, e-commerce, wholesale as well as manufacturing, including discrete and flow process. When deployed as an integrated module of the EBS, the WMS completes the supply chain process convergence with the other EBS modules. The WMS provides cutting edge best practices features like MHE support with a WCS option, advanced wave processing, tasks management, rules engine and distributed deployments. Other standard WMS features include labor management, opportunistic cross dock, forward pick locations, kitting, auto-identification and appointment scheduling. Oracle’s WMS standalone deployment option is relatively new, thus Oracle has not yet competed with best of breed WMS solutions and is still playing catch-up in customer base and depth and breadth of features.

Transportation Management Systems (TMS)

Along with JDA’s TMS (acquired with the acquisition of i2), Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) is the market leader in TMS sophistication, breadth and depth of features, global support and compelling vision. After purchasing Global Logistics and a name change to OTM, Oracle helped advance innovations, grow the global customer base, and expand support with internal resource and external partners.

OTM supports inbound, outbound and internal facility shipments, with multi-modal, and multi-leg transportation support for global operations, including processes for multiple currencies, languages, unit of measures and business functions. Transportation orders can be generated from internal systems such as purchasing and warehouse management, and extended to external supply chain partners. Other cutting edge features include Rate Management with rating engine and global repository, Event Management to monitor shipments, Business Process Automation to improve efficiencies, and Shipment Management for planning, automated decision support and manage exceptions. Standard TMS features include Sourcing, Booking and Tendering, Routing, Freight Payment, Billing and Claims, and Fleet Management.

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