Infosys-Oracle Blog

The Importance of being Earnest (on Oracle Rollup Patches)

2010-01-26T02:08:57Z

Oracle Implementation projects at large organizations typically tend to span over a long period of time and quite often into years. Wide scope of requirements, complexity of design, elaborate testing efforts and smooth cutover planning, all mandate substantial investment of time. This may lead to substantial time getting elapsed between start of the project and the go-live of implementation.

During the implementation, the project teams start with a given version of oracle code and design the solution based on that version. In large implementations, substantial number customizations are built for the customer specific requirements. During project implementation duration itself, oracle may come out with new Rollup patches for the modules that are being implemented. As applying the Rollup patches may significantly impact the already built customizations and since they require significant analysis and regression testing, these new Rollup patches are not applied to Oracle instance used during the implementation, unless it is a must to resolve a project specific issue, Thus, more often than not, the oracle version that gets implemented at go live is the same that was started with at the time of design.

Further, after the go live, the projects teams and client business teams are focused on making the production environment stable. The thrust is on making sure that all the built components and solution work as has been expected as per the designed solution. So it takes some more time to make sure the production environment is stable and running smoothly and during this time the new Rollup patches are not taken up for application. Further, successful implementations are very close in being able to provide to the customers almost all the functionalities that they sought from the implementation. With requirements being met, the client organization’s IT and support team’s next goal is to ensure continuity of systems to the business and operations. Due to this, the latest Rollup patches do not get applied to the production environments even further down the line.

Also, since the oracle implementation are large initiatives for the client organizations, they tend to be sticky in the sense that customers tend to harness the implemented oracle system for a good number of years before planning for any major change unless it is required by a new initiative. And, in some situations, the cost of large implementations leads to client management ramping down teams and focus on maintaining the system rather than bring any further changes that may impact the existing system. This tendency further causes delays in taking up the Rollup patches for application.

Thus multiple years would have passed on since the start of the Oracle implementation without the newer Rollup patches being applied to the system. As a result of all this, the oracle version in production would have become woefully out of sync with the latest versions from Oracle. In case of some rapidly evolving oracle modules (e.g. WMS), this gap becomes even more pronounced.

This can be a very drastic situation for production environments that are at the core of running large scale business operations. What further increases the gravity of the situation is the fact that this criticality may not be borne out to system managers until the production system runs into a major issue with Oracle standard code. When a major production issue occurs and it needs to be resolved in the oracle code, then to be able to fix the issue Oracle support expects the client systems to be close to the latest system versions vis-à-vis the program files pertaining to the issue. Often times the issue may not be replicable within oracle support instances due to version differences. Then oracle development and support further necessitate that the production system version be the latest. Moreover, it may not be possible for oracle to fix the issue in isolation as changing just few of the files may have impacts that are widespread in the system.

So, it might lead to a situation that there is not an existing oracle patch to resolve the issue and Oracle is not able to provide a one off customer specific patch. Even if it is possible, Oracle may take some time in building a one off patch and testing it. If the issue is so critical that it is stopping the operations, this time lag may lead to huge losses to business. This can cause a scenario wherein the latest rollup patch needs to be applied urgently. As this would require significant regression testing, it will significantly delay the resolution time of the issue. Also, applying the rollups within a short timeframe may not leave enough time for proper planning and rigorous testing of the patch.

Therefore, it is highly imperative for system managers to ensure that the Oracle versions in production are timely updated with latest rollup patches. The application of rollup patches should be taken up in earnest and due importance should be paid to this activity. This will help in planning properly for the application of these patches and performing rigorous end to end testing of the same. Further, this will ensure that the system is capable of handling any eventuality if it arises. The resolution turn around time for any critical issue will be short and business and operations will be affected to a lesser extent in case of issues.

Also, with the system being on the latest versions, any new initiatives and new solution that need to be brought in to the oracle system can be taken up quickly as and when they come up and implementing these solutions will not require an extra effort of bringing the systems in sync with the latest version. Overall, it makes a lot of business sense to continually asses and evaluate the new Rollup patches provided by oracle for application in the production systems and ensure the sustainability of the system.

Lean Transportation: Reduce Transportation Wastes using OTM

2010-01-25T04:30:11Z

Taiichi Ohno, the father of Toyota Production System says, “Transportation is a waste and has to be reduced”. Transportation within the organization is considered a waste which does not add any value. What many overlook is the fact that transportation does not only imply inside the manufacturing facility but also outside it. The outside transportation can, not only help add value but also act as a differentiator. With many companies implementing Lean Manufacturing concepts, it is of paramount importance that the Logistic strategies are also aligned to it. Let us analyze the different wastes in transportation and how they can be reduced using Oracle Transportation Management (OTM), a Transportation Management System (TMS) by Oracle.

With Lean Manufacturing implementation the supplier and the manufacturer collaborate to tune themselves to listen to the customer demand and produce only what is required. They continuously aim to reduce inventory and create a pull system. This requires the transportation to have frequent truck runs with lesser quantity. Most organizations prefer going for Milk Runs with the right size equipments.

Customers also prefer smaller and frequent orders and this reduces the opportunity for full truckloads and direct shipments. In this case organizations have to look at other modes to transfer the goods. Mostly LTL transport is looked at. In many cases the orders are such that they are not fit for LTLs (more weight or volume) but do not fully utilize the full truckload capacity either. In such cases the planners forget the fact that multi-stop shipments can fully utilize the trucks.

One of the key factors for instantaneous response is proper communication between the carrier and the manufacturer. Visibility of the shipments for various reasons like warehouse planning, customer queries etc. is essential. The delivery times for all the carriers needs monitoring so that the efficient carriers can be identified.

To implement lean transportation, organizations are looking at their transport network very closely. Every route is being rationalized so that better vehicle utilization can be achieved. This exercise needs to be done continuously for reduction in the waste.

For some of the above OTM can be very useful, become partners for waste reduction and make the system lean.

Ø The schedule for the Milk Run is entered in OTM and the shipments are formed accordingly, helping the manufacturer have several runs for a pre-defined route.

Ø The planning engine of OTM takes care of the customer order planning. It helps in giving you the right mode with the right equipment to deliver the shipment to the customers at the right time.

Ø Planning engine takes care whether to build a Multi-Stop, LTL, Direct or a Multi-Leg based on all the constraints on the order.

Ø OTMs powerful Supply Chain Event Management tracks the shipment which helps in planning at the warehouse and answering customer queries quickly. It gives immediate information about the current status of the shipment. The shipments are routed to the correct Dock so that the time wastage on unloading is reduced.

Ø Cooperative Routing feature of OTM identifies repetitive routes and helps in determining the right number of vehicles required for a particular route. This supplements the Transport Network rationalization.

Ø Fusion Transportation Intelligence module provides a means to monitor Key Performance Indexes like number of on-time deliveries, number of late deliveries, total load pre lane etc. These help in making strategic decisions and revise the carrier collaboration programs to make the supply chain more effective and leaner.

Reducing wastes in transportation is one of the key factors for making the supply chain lean and OTM can act as a strategic partner to achieve it.

Acknowledgement: Anirban Roy

Data Federation – A potent substitute of Data Warehouse?

2010-01-14T11:20:25Z

From my past experiences, I have observed that we often build a data warehouse as a way of integrating multiple sources of data to gain effective business intelligence. This is both time and resource consuming and also can potentially disrupt the IT roadmap of an organization if not handled with utmost maturity.

In this rapidly changing world of technology, new paradigms have evolved which have the possibility of simplifying the process of aggregation of multiple sources. One such technology which I found very exciting is Data Federation technology which is also known as Information-as-a-service, Data Virtualization or EII(Enterprise Information Integration).

Heart of this technology is a “virtual database” or a Federated Database as was defined by McLeod and Heimbigner long back in 1985. Simply speaking, a virtual database is storage of data definitions and not the data itself. The virtual database will have information about the location of the data.When a single call is made to a virtual database, the technology ensures multiple calls to underlying databases and is also responsible for meaningfully aggregating the returned result sets.

Primary benefit of the above approach is that data need not be moved from the source systems for analysis.It also saves the cost of building and maintaining a permanent warehouse. Since data is not being moved, this enables quick and real time data delivery.

The biggest challenge that needs to be handled for such a system to deliver what it promises is the heterogeneity of the DBMS giving rise to naming, schema, domain, model conflicts. These can be typically handled by designing multiple stacked-up schemas which accurately translates
the data model,as visible to the user, to actual data models of the component DBMS.

Areas where this technology will have ready acceptance are the organization’s divisions (like fraud detection units) which heavily rely on real time intelligence from disparate systems to drive business. Data Architects may also find this approach very efficient for maintaining master dimensions which are typically time consuming at an enterprise level.

Vendors like Oracle, SAS, Informatica etc have already lined up extremely comprehensive solutions in the market. Now it’s on the Consultant and Architect community to go out there and propose solutions which are truly ‘out of the box’!

Last but not the least, what is the experts’ take on this?
Talking to some of the data warehousing connoisseurs, I felt people are divided on the appropriateness of this approach of replacing a data warehouse with federated architecture. Weighing in the pros and cons, I can safely conclude that at this point of industry maturity, this approach definitely merits an augmentation to a traditional data warehouse but we need to wait and watch how best it evolves to become the mainstream.

India Incs 3 Critical Financial Changes in 2011- will they be winner like 3 idiots

2010-01-12T13:53:44Z

The recently released movie 3 Idiots, based on 3 college graduates experimenting and challenging a deeply rooted, established education system, has turned out to be quite a huge hit in India. Taking a cue from the 3 Idiots, I cannot help but ruminate on the impact that the 3 Critical Changes will have on how the India Inc does its business? Will India Inc emerge a winner or a loser? There is no doubt that all three financial changes i.e. IFRS, GST, Direct Tax Code, which are supposed to be effective from 2011, will have some effects. Even if implemented in silos, they’ll change the way business is done and the financial statements are prepared. As an example, IFRS is not just an accounting change but it will also have an impact on overall policy changes that effect each and every stakeholder of the organization, be it an employee or a shareholder

]]> The 3 changes still have a lot of loose ends. They still need a lot of discussions amongst different stakeholders in order to be finalized. Though some work is happening in some fields but the pace of progress may not be good enough to leave sufficient time for them to adopt these changes.

So, will India Inc be ready to implement all or some of it will get pushed? May be IFRS would have to be given a back seat because it involves changes in various acts and laws or GST where paper is still not released for public debate or Direct tax code with a lot of ambiguity still to be looked into..

As the year 2011 unfurls, so may the answers to these questions. Lets wait and watch for more…

Playing the Russian Roulette

2010-01-01T04:23:04Z

Russia, post USSR days, though small has its own share of uniqueness. It has 83 states/provinces and 11 Time Zones. Given the fact that there are unique legal requirements, any ERP implementation becomes a challenge. Some of the Statutory requirements are to have a Parallel Accounting System, one account system is to be built in accordance with the bookkeeping rules and another one in accordance with the tax accounting rules. All Customer documents and all backup and sub-ledgers for tax audit need to be in Russian. Shipping documents like Invoice-Factura (VAT invoice) and Consignment Note need to be in specific layout and content in Russian language and should accompany any shipment.

Though Oracle has a localization solution for Russia (in terms of localization patches), 1C is the most prevalent software and has close to 1 million customers in CIS. There are multiple versions of 1C in the sense that the base code remains the same while various companies have developed their own code over the 1C Framework. 1C Bits is the most prevalent one.

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5 Mistakes Every Future ERP Implementation should make

2009-12-16T13:45:20Z

a) Choose a costly Partner than a cost effective vendor
One must thoroughly assess all of options in evaluating potential external implementation companies. Software companies aren't always the best at implementing their own software, and some are more expensive than others. An organization should look at a vendor who can partner with them in their ERP initiatives not only for software implementation but also in managing the non-technical aspects of the project, such as organizational change management, training, and ERP benefits realization.

b)    Map the software to Business requirements don’t just buy it
    If an organization has decided that ERP is the route it needs to take, it is important to begin by looking at the desired software to implement. In most of the cases, package selection is influenced by top executives who have previously worked on particular package.
    Instead, executives should define and document key business requirements irrespective of the package that may be selected. This includes not only nice-to-haves, but also requirements that can be "proposal-breakers" if the software is unable to accommodate. The package selected should focus on achieving measurable business value for the organization, and one should choose the software that best enables to do this

c)    Focus less on System training and more on Change management / Executive sponsorship
    What is your Business Case and ROI? This is where many companies fall apart. Answering and documenting this question is important to get Executive sponsorship and ownership for an ERP program.
    The lack of a change management approach as part of the program can prevent a program from succeeding. Resistance to change is human nature and is quite often caused by (1) A failure to convince a case for change, (2) Lack of involvement by those responsible for working with changed processes (3) Inadequate / Improper communication (4) Lack of visible top management support and commitment, and (5) Arrogance. A lack of buy-in often results from not getting end-users involved in the project from the very start, thereby negating their ownership of the new system and processes.
    ERP-related training is also crucial as most employees must learn new software integration and business processes which affect the operation of the entire organization. Appropriate focus should also be given on this part of the ERP implementation else it leads to much pain and suffering downstream.

d)   Don’t just Save Dollars sometimes?
    One of the key causes of ERP implementation failure is unnecessary cost cutting. In an effort to avoid multi phased roll out costs, repetitive conversion costs, some companies take a very risky route and go live “Big-bang” at multi-plant sites simultaneously, subjecting all plants or some plants to a total shutdown, should there be a failure
    Some projects have compressed schedules in order to save on expenses, only to eventually overrun both schedule and budget.
    Sometimes the question “What is my Value for Money / ROI?” should take a back seat as some projects should be treated as an upgrade to the company infrastructure that is necessary to maintain or gain a strategic and competitive advantage.
e)    Yes we can but are we prepared for Failure?
    Best organizations would prepare themselves for unforeseen contingencies, similarly all implementation projects should have a fail over plan. No matter how well-run a project is, one should be prepared for failure.
    If the project failed or if the software was not implemented correctly, what will be the backup plan? Would users be able to access legacy systems? Would certain processes be performed manually until the system is brought up? Catastrophic failures may not be common, but they do happen on occasions, so companies should be prepared for the "what-ifs."

Go Green: TMS Approach to Reduce Carbon Footprints

2009-12-16T09:09:33Z

The Copenhagen Climate Summit is grabbing the newspaper headlines all over the world. This led me to introspect about how Oracle Transportation Management (OTM), a Transportation Management System (TMS) by Oracle, can help in making the world a better place to live.

Several researchers have revealed the fact that 15% of the global emissions and 31% of the Ozone release can be attributed to transportation. This suggests that we have a large gap to fill in. Being a Transportation and OTM consultant my first thought was how OTM helps to fill up this gap.

Oracle itself builds products which are “ISO 14001 Environment Management Standard” compliant. It helps organizations fulfill its environmental policies. This led me to believe that the same has been built into OTM as well. The benefits for the environment are plenty. Before we get into the environmental benefits let’s try to figure out the benefits every company is looking for after an OTM implementation. Then we’ll see how the 2 are connected. Organizational benefits after an OTM implementation:

· Route Optimization without any compromise on delivery dates/time.

· Explore multi-modal and continuous move opportunities while planning

· Explore consolidation opportunities while planning

· Automated shipment execution (includes tendering and visibility) and freight settlement process

· Automate pool and cross dock planning

· Reduction in Transportation Costs

What many ignore is the fact that most of the above benefits inherently helps reduce the company’s carbon footprint and makes it greener. Let’s try to break it up.

1. Route Optimization without any compromise on delivery dates/time –

a. Reduction in truck miles

2. Explore multi-modal and continuous move opportunities while planning –

a. Reduction in truck miles

b. Reduction in number of trucks

3. Explore consolidation opportunities while planning –

a. Reduction in number of trucks

4. Automated shipment execution (includes tendering and visibility) and freight settlement process –

a. Paperless environment

The points above make it very apparent that OTM reduces the fuel consumption and in turn reduces the CO₂ emissions. EDI integration for Shipment Execution (204, 990 & 214) and Freight settlement (210, 110) makes the entire process paperless and also automates it. Apart from the above, “Cooperative Routing” helps corporations make strategic decisions on which route to optimize and in turn optimize the fleet utilization.

Want to know how much your corporation emits after OTM implementation? Very soon OTM’s Transportation Intelligence module, FTI, will help in providing a dashboard for knowing the CO_2,NO_X and Fuel Consumption for each transport modes run by the corporation’s transportation department.

OTM TMS is a very effective way to reduce the unnecessary emissions of a corporation due to transportation. OTM combines the environment protection and cost reduction in such a symbiotic way that it not only helps the organizations but society at large.

Courtesy: Anirban Roy

GLOBAL TRADE MANAGEMENT THROUGH OTM

2009-12-15T05:31:20Z

Trade locally had become a very old practice for any economy across the world; global trade is the new axiom any enterprise is looking at for global business to survive. In this context Transportation of goods in the Supply value chain has a prominent role in any Enterprise Global Trade Management. As the word goes (Global); the goods has to cross across borders moving from one location to another and in the process has to stop and go at the point of Customs.
Oracle Transportation Management (familiarly known as OTM) has built its architecture to address the latest Global Trade Management solutions in its Application. The Application is very robust that it has in-built functions of Denied Party Screening, Embargoed Country Screen Service, Import/Export Ban Country Service. Apart from the above functions various customization of the application facilitates OTM(Oracle Transportation Management) to serve as an information supplier to AMS (Automated Manifest System) of US Customs and Border Protection (AMS is a multi-modular cargo inventory control and release notification system).
The above functionality can be achieved:
Ø Outbound integration of the service provider’s OTM Application to the US Customs and Border Protection system
Ø Inbound integration of the US Customs and Border Protection system to the service provider’s OTM Application

Out-bound Integration:

Service Provider’s (Shipping Liner, NVOCC) OTM application will create the vessel – cargo manifest by considering all the details required by the US Customs and Border Protection system and have them validated in the BPEL middleware. BPEL transforms the required AMS data elements (Vessel/Voyage ID, Ports of Source and Destination, Cargo Description, SCAC, B/L, Shipper/Consignee etc.) from the Shipment information into the respective file format which customs would accept. The data file will be sent to AMS system from OTM through the external system setup.

In-bound Integration:

US Customs and Border Protection system will process the Carrier’s request and allows faster identification and release of low risk shipments if the information is accurate as per the Custom rules and regulations. If the rules were not matching as per the customs regulations the service providers receive the corresponding status or alerts which helps them to modify the said information in the Shipment manifest.

Conclusion:

OTM – AMS integration reduces reliance on paper documents and speeds the processing of manifest and waybill data. As a result, cargo remains on the dock for less time, participants realize faster tracking, and Customs provides better service to the importing community.

Courtesy: satya_vabilisetty

ERP - Integrating Acquisitions

2009-12-08T17:52:18Z

Challenges in M&A

Mergers and acquisitions are raining in banking and financial industry. Recently there have been a lot of them in Banking space across geographies to meet different needs of organization varying from survival to growth. However most of initiatives fail to deliver expected outcome due to various reasons including system integrations.

To meet M&A objectives, firms should have proper strategic direction on system integration and back office works. Firms should focus on two different areas like process and data integration in a phased manner. Data integration should happen first followed by Process integration to move toward Centre of Excellence

A clear integration model and strategy needs to be chalked out for ERP integration of the merged entity with a proper project charter and governance. Some key directions can be

a) The internal IT strategy should aim to integrate, centralize, outsource, and economize

b) Power and Politics should be properly managed i.e. more time and money should be spent for BPR and change management

c) Innovative strategy to retain employees with relevant knowledge is key for integration

d) An excellent communication strategy is important

e) Focus on gradual IT cost reduction by Application portfolio rationalizations

]]> Conclusion

The integration of two ERP systems is a complex project, which involves several challenges. The important things to be kept in mind are:

A high degree of integration of the different systems can provide large benefits
An excellent communication strategy is important
Maintain competitive parity in technology usage
Focus on gradual IT cost reduction

Project cost control ... But at what Cost?

2009-12-07T10:19:21Z

Accurate and effective cost control is the most important solution aspect for any Projects based solution implementation. How ever how to determine the optimum level for cost control remains on of the biggest challenge in the solution. For Project based organizations (be it a typical E PC firm, for a professional services based firm or contract manufacturing firm), cost control is a very high priority requirement. As the margins for projects completely depend on the proper cost control, there is always a big drive from top management to control the cost for projects and have a better control over any changes to cost budget.

So, when you have a tool like Oracle Projects, and when a new implementation starts, there is always a likely hood of solution going over the board when it comes to control the costs.

Oracle Projects supports unlimited number of levels when it comes to definition of definition of task structure. So more granular you go in defining the tasks, the better cost control for you.

For ex. Lets look at one task where project manager has a budget to procure and dispatch a pump set. Budget can be defined at a Pump set level, which gives project manager a flexibility to use this budget to buy or make all the items for a pump set at a given budget.

So if he/she is not able to get a better deal (from buyer assigned to a project) , say for electric motor , she/she can still manage the project cost by getting better deal for a pump and couplings.

And this is where the organization looses the opportunity to save the costs, as project managers use the budget across various activities. So if cost budget is defined at a lower level than a complete pump assembly say at pump level, electric motor , nut bolts, base plates level there will be lot more pressure on project managers and buyers to get better deal for each of these components and for sure this will result into better cost control at a assemble level.

Such a explanation of features of product and its potential benefits is certainly a attractive proposition.

But I think before a solution is finalized, one must look at the organizations capability to handle the change that will come up due to the solution. More granular you go in defining control for a project, other divisions or departments of a organization must undergo some process changes.

For ex. The way in which buyer issues the purchase orders, changes to a great extent. Earlier (means when project solution wasn’t in place), for a Purchase order buyer can group in all the items for a project and issue a single Purchase order. (With necessary distribution lines for each item etc). But as we have cost control at more granular levels, even one item, which a buyer is buying can map to multiple tasks of a project. So based on this knowledge buyer should create separate distribution lines for same item mapping to different tasks of a given project. This will necessitate that buyer is very well aware of the project structure, and cost control as it’s planned by project manager. (Or project manager communicates this to buyers via valid requisition). Same will be applicable when supplier invoices are registered in system for a particular project.

Hence for such a solution to successful, its very important that organization is realistic about what they are getting by controlling cost at very granular levels vs cost they have to spend in managing the change due to such a solution.

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Minimizing the Bull Whip Effect in the IT Supply Chain

2009-12-06T04:58:15Z

In his world famous book ' The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization', Peter Senge talks about the bull whip effect which essentially is how small ripples in demand create bigger ripples on the supply side. The Beer Game is a classic example of this bull whip effect and this applies to the IT industry as well. Typically companies have forecasted demand and according ramped up the manpower supply. And one fine day recession crops in, your demand pipeline does not result in firm orders and you have surplus manpower on your rolls. And with the changing mindset of doing more with less, IT industry needs to plan their manpower really well.

In the past companies have maintained a certain percentage as reserve manpower so that whenever there is a big order coming in, they can cater to that demand. And typical forecasting methods have been linear where the required manpower was a linear function of the revenue projection. Not any more. With innovative pricing models coming in, companies need to move to a non-linear model to plan the manpower needs.

Secondly, there has to be more co-ordination between the field force and the delivery unit to minimize the information assymmetry. It is imperative that the sales force provide a realistic picture of the demand pipeline to avoid the problem of surplus manpower. The probability of the deal coming in needs to be factored in the regression equation to have a realistic manpower number.

Thirdly instead of a person being tied to one domain/technology, we need to have multi-skilled workforce to offset the order cancellations in a particular technology/domain. After all, no education goes waste (Remember how Steve Jobs' training in calligraphy helped him design the fonts for his Mac)

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OTM Out-of-Box Integration with Oracle WMS

2009-12-04T04:25:27Z

In the OTM world, there is a common misperception among OTM Consultants and Customers that OTM is not integrated with Oracle WMS. But the fact is OTM is integrated with Oracle WMS and leverages the same Out-of-Box OTM integration that exists with EBS for other modules like Oracle Purchasing, Order Management, Accounts Payable & Accounts Receivable. In R12.1, Oracle has further enhanced OTM by including Warehouse Dock Door and Dock Schedule Information in the integration footprint. From the warehousing perspective, the current integration means that one can perform warehouse tasks based on the transportation plan. In other words one can release lines for picking prior to dock appointment and staging the products to the dock door where the dock appointment has been made.
From a WMS perspective there are two interested integration points:
· Shipping Itinerary Integration
· Dock Door Appointments Integration

Shipping Itinerary Integration
The most interested integration from the warehouse perspective is “Delivery trip interface with OTM”. This is a very trickier integration, since by necessity it has to be a two way integration. EBS sends the Order information to OTM for planning and OTM sends the shipping itinerary back to EBS based on transportation constraints and goals. EBS then executes the pick, pack and ship process and resends the information back to OTM for rerating if required.
EBS concurrent program “Shipping Transportation Outbound Interface” creates Order Release in OTM from EBS Delivery. So, as you probably guessed, deliveries in EBS are a pre-requisite for using this integration. Once the OTM transportation plan is finalized, OTM triggers planned shipment interface concurrent request to create a trip in EBS.

Dock Door Appointments Integration
If the OTM dock appointments are used, then there is a brand new interface point introduced in R12.1. The “Dock Door Appointments Interface” is applicable for WMS only. This interface synchronizes the dock doors defined in WMS to OTM. This model assumes that WMS is the source for dock door definitions. R12.1 has “Synchronize Dock Door with Transportation Management” concurrent request for dock door synchronization.

Conclusion:
The current OTM-WMS integration is robust and works as described. However, the integration may require tweaking in case of more complex needs and/or operating a very dynamic logistics environment. There are few ‘missing links’ that needs to be addressed, that can help customers in designing a more efficient fulfillment operation.

Acknowledgements: Lakshmana Murthy Kodukula

Are you getting the most out of your investment in PLM and ERP?

2009-12-02T12:26:50Z

Core ERP products are typically not geared towards the design and lifecycle management of products. ERP is very transaction oriented whereas design requires 3D drawings, specifications and other such unstructured data. As a result, customers are increasingly making investments in best-of-breed PLM products in addition to their ERP investment. The objective, of course, is to reduce development lifecycle and improve the time to market for new products.

]]> Not many are able to reap the intended benefit. Why? The investment in PLM can only be justified if it is well integrated with ERP in order to get the benefit of automation between Engineering services resident in PLM and operations resident in ERP. In addition, this needs to be a two way street with data flowing both in and out of PLM and ERP systems. Typically, PLM has been the repository of Engineering BOM, drawings, specifications and Approved Manufacturer’s list (AML) and ERP been the repository for Manufacturing BOM and costs. (On a side note though, this is also changing with PLM becoming master for Manufacturing BOM and costs too). New products or form-fit-function changes to products are initiated in PLM as an Engineering Change Request(ECR), gets approved electronically by one or more people, an engineering BOM is created and then it flows to the ERP system as an Engineering Change Order (ECO) with the relevant manufacturing BOM. This is the traditional integration, but which is only half the battle won. What winning organizations also do is integration from ERP to PLM for details such as cost/sourcing data and procurement history. This enables design engineers to have better design decisions in light of this additional data.

A customer that I worked with recently, integrated eMatrix with Oracle ebusiness suite and was able to derive many of the beenefits of PLM-ERP integration. The customer who operates in a highly customized, engineer-to-order (ETO) product scenario was able to streamline the product development capability with the implementation of PLM. PLM became the master for the Engineering BOM and depending on the factory where the product needed to be introduced/changed, the manufacturing BOM was pushed into Oracle via an ECO. Item creation in Oracle was automated by applying templates based on attributes of the item in PLM. ECO was also created automatically. Thereafter, to complete the detailing of the item within Oracle, a workflow driven process was used to pass the ECO from one functional area to another. E.g. for a make item, this could be from Manufacturing Engineering department to Planning department to Costing department. For a buy item this could be from Purchasing to Planning to Costing. Once all the functional areas had defined their relevant attributes, engineering change control would implement the ECO. Using the combination of the PLM process and workflow process within Oracle, the client was able to significantly reduce the cycle time of an ECO implementation – a must-have for an organization in an ETO environment.

Consistent product master data across the sales front ….today’s necessity!

2009-11-26T11:41:28Z

As consumers we have increasingly become used to the idea of having a same product available to us across different stores or channels from the same selling company. And we expect consistent product information available to us across these sales channels.

]]> It is easy to put off a customer when the two arms of the selling organization give inconsistent or incomplete information on the same product.

These inconsistencies, bewildering as it might be to the customers are easy for an IT practitioner like me to understand. It’s a case of product data lying in silos or lack of master data management (MDM) at the organization level.

Even as companies are waking up to the need for MDM at organizational level there is still a long way before we reach the desired state. In a recent experience of dealing with the Fortune 100 company, I discovered that the most simple reason for inconsistency of data. The selling channels e.g. distributors have the flexibility of picking the product master information as per their needs, basically only information which they need to make the sale. The logic at one hand might be preventing a data overload to the distributor systems and reducing manual effort since the data transfer was a manual process there. On the other hand the process simply ensures inconsistent or incomplete product data across the selling front since it depends on the distributors judgment of essential product data.

The need for a master data management strategy is pretty apparent in such a case. But what would be some of the measures as part of this strategy? Let’s list out some of them.

Standardize the master data set needed for the selling arms across the organization. So that all the selling channels have a consistent set of product data. Baring of course any channel or geography specific content.
Automate the process of sharing of product data across the selling arms. The manual effort of data sharing can leave the product data sharing dependant on the evening schedules of the person/s responsible for the data transfer!
Implement a Master data management product solution in the organization. An MDM product can assist in standardizing data and sharing the same across the organization and systems.
Have an IT systems strategy which can ensure that hardware and software purchase or developments are planned with the intent of having as much uniformity as possible across the organization. A set of disparate best of breed applications, which have limited capabilities to talk to each other can lead to creation of data silos.

Bringing consistency across the sale channel can be comforting to a customer and could be one of the reasons for a customer choosing a company’s product!

Making the most of your GRC Investment

2009-11-22T22:31:40Z

With the ever increasing and changing legislations, companies are in a mad rush to make an investment in Governance, Risk and Compliance Projects. Making an investment does not yield results if you do not plan well. The first and foremost thing is to understand what is the problem we are trying to solve. If it is just a change in policy or framework, there are other options as well.

Secondly, GRC is one of the pillars of any organization and it is important that we ensure that it percolates to every nook and corner in the organization. We cannot have a successful project unless we get a buy in from all the stakeholders.

Thirdly, the project should be flexible enough to cater to the ever changing legislations . The investment is costly and hence too many throwaways become an overhead.

Fourthly, technology is the least important thing. If we get the people and processes right, 90% of the project is done.

Finally do not copy blindly from any organization. Each organization has its own unique GRC needs and it is imperative that we take care of this aspect.

Oracle provides a comprehensive solution around its GRC Suite of products and companies need to evaluate the options very carefully before deciding on the solution.

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