The Supply Chain Management Blog covers the latest
in SCM strategy, technology, and innovation.

With the recent 21A release, Oracle Transportation Management now has the ability to provide machine learning-based shipment transit time predictions.

With the recent 21A release, Oracle Transportation Management now has the ability to provide machine learning-based shipment transit time predictions.

The financial plight of healthcare providers amid the COVID-19 pandemic makes it more imperative than ever for HCPs to modernize their back-office systems.

The financial plight of healthcare providers amid the COVID-19 pandemic makes it more imperative than ever for HCPs to modernize their back-office systems.

Rising customer expectations and the Amazon effect are putting pressure on wholesale distributors to ensure a perfect delivery for every order.

Rising customer expectations and the Amazon effect are putting pressure on wholesale distributors to ensure a perfect delivery for every order.

Are you helping your team—or hindering them? Kimberly shares 7 ways to be a more inclusive leader.

Are you helping your team—or hindering them? Kimberly shares 7 ways to be a more inclusive leader.

Expectations of fast order turnaround is putting pressure on businesses to deliver goods “on time, in full”. Learn how to keep cargo in perfect conditions under pressure.

Expectations of fast order turnaround is putting pressure on businesses to deliver goods “on time, in full”. Learn how to keep cargo in perfect conditions under pressure.

Achieving timely insights which unveil top challenges and opportunities requires focused and coordinated collaboration. Maturity models provide useful direction, milestones and best practice guidance.

Achieving timely insights which unveil top challenges and opportunities requires focused and coordinated collaboration. Maturity models provide useful direction, milestones and best practice guidance.

As disruptions and uncertainties ripple through the global economy, businesses are discovering the advantage of adaptive logistics and supply chain networks.

As disruptions and uncertainties ripple through the global economy, businesses are discovering the advantage of adaptive logistics and supply chain networks.

Learn how businesses confront the realities of an uncertain world and embrace the competitive advantage of getting closer to their customers using zero latency concepts.

Learn how businesses confront the realities of an uncertain world and embrace the competitive advantage of getting closer to their customers using zero latency concepts.

COVID-19 has shown that business stability is an illusion. Business leaders need to embrace AI and dashboards to get an in-the-moment understanding of their enterprise.

COVID-19 has shown that business stability is an illusion. Business leaders need to embrace AI and dashboards to get an in-the-moment understanding of their enterprise.

Why were there no new products announced at "Rise with SAP"? Here are 3 questions to ask.

Why were there no new products announced at "Rise with SAP"? Here are 3 questions to ask.

Cloud applications proved essential for business survival in 2020. Here’s what to expect from digital transformation in 2021.

Cloud applications proved essential for business survival in 2020. Here’s what to expect from digital transformation in 2021.

COVID-19 stressed supply chains to the breaking point and showed that relying on operational tweaks and outdated IT systems leave most firms vulnerable.

COVID-19 stressed supply chains to the breaking point and showed that relying on operational tweaks and outdated IT systems leave most firms vulnerable.

The holiday season means a big surge in customer orders. Check out these 7 approaches to help meet demand.

The holiday season means a big surge in customer orders. Check out these 7 approaches to help meet demand.

Having real-time access to data to facilitate quicker decisions can mean the difference between thriving & surviving an economic downturn or becoming a target for acquisition.

Having real-time access to data to facilitate quicker decisions can mean the difference between thriving & surviving an economic downturn or becoming a target for acquisition.

What is supply chain management?

What is supply chain management?

There is an inherent responsibility on technology companies, like Oracle, to innovate and stay ahead of the change curve. It is also important for executives in other industries to understand what’s coming next and position their organizations to adopt and adapt.

There is an inherent responsibility on technology companies, like Oracle, to innovate and stay ahead of the change curve. It is also important for executives in other industries to understand...

Let’s talk about end-of-life PLM systems. The thought of moving to something that has a unified system of record for an entire product may seem like a distant dream, but the time is now.

Let’s talk about end-of-life PLM systems. The thought of moving to something that has a unified system of record for an entire product may seem like a distant dream, but the time is now.

Despite massive shifts in consumer behavior, CPGs can attain the perfect delivery with modern cloud solutions from Oracle.

Despite massive shifts in consumer behavior, CPGs can attain the perfect delivery with modern cloud solutions from Oracle.

The headlines over recent months have shown how the supply chain has moved to become front and center of people’s attentions - whether personally as consumers or professionally as corporations. Dominic Regan, Senior Director, EMEA Logistics Applications, shares some of the latest challenges and trends with us. During the pandemic, the supply chain community focused on keeping our society fed, supplied and healthy in the midst of disruption. What are the weaknesses that have been brought to light? Before talking about the weaknesses, I think that first it is important to recognize how well many supply chains have coped during the pandemic. Very often as supply chain professionals we spend a lot of time fire-fighting, and perhaps don’t step back and appreciate what we have actually achieved. If nothing else, the headlines over recent months have shown how the supply chain has moved to become front and center of people’s attentions - whether personally as consumers or professionally as corporations. So, when faced with the scale and size of global disruption that simply could never have been anticipated, I believe supply chains have in many cases proven to be both remarkably agile and resilient. We have seen customers managing unprecedented spikes in demand, customers who have successfully found new suppliers at short notice, and even customers who have switched entirely the products that they are manufacturing or distributing. We have also seen companies which have had to stop production entirely for diverse reasons. The automotive industry is perhaps a classic example of this, where McKinsey reported only last month that “the COVID-19 crisis has compelled about 95 percent of all German automotive-related companies to put their workforces on short-term work during the shutdown.” So why is it that some industries and companies have coped, whereas others have not? I believe a lot of this comes down to transparency, whether in terms of understanding the supply chain network and how it is made up of many interconnected players, or in terms of understanding the location and availability of inventory, whether in motion or at rest. Without this transparency it proved impossible for companies to put contingencies in place, certainly in the timescales that the pandemic required. So, we saw, for example, how single-country sources of supply meant that sometimes complete industries had to shut down, but also how the absence of inventory visibility meant that companies could not guarantee delivery times or certainty of supply. “By gaining this transparency, and then understanding how to analyze and act upon it, it will enable companies to become more agile and resilient” What does this mean for the future? Well I think the drive we have seen in recent years to get more accurate, granular and real-time data will become embedded as the foundation for supply chain transparency going forwards. This transparency will embrace the physical, financial and informational supply chains - meaning that companies become better at understanding the supply chains they personally operate as well as those other networks and partners they interact with, but also how the dependencies these supply chains have with other business functions such as Sales & Marketing, Research and Development and Post-Sales Service. By gaining this transparency, and then understanding how to analyze and act upon it, it will enable companies to become more agile and resilient, which I believe will become as important measures for the supply chain of the future as efficiency has been in the past. Aligning corporate and supply chain strategy Working with many companies globally and in Switzerland, what are the main inhibitors for supply chain viability and how is Oracle helping find solutions? The study we just released with the University of St Gallen “The Rise of Supply Chain Viability - digital solutions as a boosting role” highlights the steps necessary to achieve supply chain viability, and clearly companies that lack these foundations will find it difficult to progress. Lack of visibility and transparency, for example is one area. “If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it”, this saying is equally true for factors as diverse as freight spend, shipment utilization or the impact of the supply chain on carbon footprint. Clearly without visibility and transparency it is difficult to know what needs addressing, let alone where to start. However, there are other factors that also come into play. In particular I think a failure of alignment between the broader corporate strategy and the specific supply chain strategy can be a major inhibitor. This is perhaps one of the areas where I see differences in companies around the world, with many European companies - including those headquartered out of Switzerland - having perhaps a stronger focus on their Corporate Social Responsibility agendas than those based elsewhere. For example, one can look at companies in the Consumer Goods sector, such as Unilever and Tetra Pak, or in the automotive sector such as Volvo, whose websites speak to how sustainability is embedded as much in their culture as in their operations, whether this is in terms of ensuring products and components are ethically sourced or in terms of looking to reduce carbon-usage or the prevalence of single-use plastics across the supply chain. I believe companies such as these, who have become strongly customer-centric and who see sustainability as a corporate - if not societal - objective, will be better aligned in terms of achieving supply chain viability. In terms of how Oracle can help, if I look at my own area of logistics then clearly our execution level solutions such as Transportation, Global Trade and Warehouse Management can deliver the foundational requirements for supply chain efficiency. There are also technologies such as blockchain which feature in our Intelligent Track & Trace application that can help companies gain visibility into their multi-tier networks and understand the chain of custody. We also see how Machine Learning and Adaptive Intelligence can be used to deliver the type of automated predictions, and tracing of products and processes, that would otherwise go untapped. This ability to maximize the value of newer technologies, along with the ability to run scenario planning that helps deliver agility and resilience, is what I believe results in Oracle having an unrivalled portfolio to help companies progress towards supply chain viability, regardless of their current IT landscape. Starting by gaining that visibility and transparency is the bedrock for progression, as without this transparency companies run the risk of doing things based on gut feel and emotion rather than empirical evidence. It is surprising how many times gaining some simple visibility either highlights deficiencies in an operation, or presents some unexpected opportunities. But even visibility takes time, so you might want start in a specific operational area such as transportation, which has the by-product that it can also help deliver improvements in customer service. Ultimately what is important is not to focus on having visibility, or how you get it, but rather on what you then do with it. Clearly in terms of supply chain viability it is the case that visibility and transparency are just one step along the journey, albeit an important one. So, identifying the resulting business value that will come from this visibility, and then using that to drive ongoing rollout and adoption is key. Tetra Pak, for example, decided to become a global supply chain leader in the food packaging and processing industry by 2020. They leveraged Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) Cloud to gain a competitive advantage by completely overhauling their transportation management platform to improve their logistics capabilities, obtain real-time predictive shipment visibility and coordinate efforts on a global scale. Whilst visibility was important to them, it was not an end goal in itself. So, their supply chain control tower project was defined with a clear progression that moved from an initial focus on improving logistics efficiency, then to ensuring world class customer experience, to finally enabling optimized and sustainable transport management. This approach allowed them to start small, with a number of pilot deployments, before moving to several regional streams that together will deliver global visibility. All of this was done with a clear vision of both their corporate and supply chain strategies. To me this approach is ideal, and provides a model to follow for other companies progressing towards a vision of supply chain viability. 

The headlines over recent months have shown how the supply chain has moved to become front and center of people’s attentions - whether personally as consumers or professionally as corporations. Dominic...

Small-to-medium businesses are turning to Oracle Supplier Portal Cloud to offer an efficient, streamlined supplier experience. Find out how a supplier portal can be a competitive differentiator for your growing business.

Small-to-medium businesses are turning to Oracle Supplier Portal Cloud to offer an efficient, streamlined supplier experience. Find out how a supplier portal can be a competitive differentiator...

The new reality of 2020 pushed organizations to realign operations and supply chains to thrive. The focus is now on adaptability, speed, risk reduction, and sustainability whilst adopting more flexible sourcing and distribution strategies as regionalization has become a trend. The Institute of Supply Chain Management of University of St Gallen just released its latest study in collaboration with Oracle called “The Rise of Supply Chain Viability - Digital Solutions as a boosting Role”. The study's goal is to assess the triggers of Supply Chain Viability and look at the role of digital solutions in achieving Supply Chain Viability. Find the full study here. Professor Hofmann, Director, Institute of Supply Chain Management, University of St Gallen, shares some of the takeaways. Cloud solutions for Supply Chain Viability What are the main take-ways of your study? The increasing emergence of trend breaks, the shift of ecological and social imperatives and customer advocacy forces traditional supply chains to change. The need for sustainability and resilience is higher than ever before, which should be strongly focused by Supply Chains to survive in the future. Supply Chains should push the implementation of sustainability to survive on a long-term basis. The key enabler for supply chains to become viable is seen in the digital transformation. Today Cloud Solutions are the most promising technology to achieve a viable supply chain. What is specific for Switzerland? Do you see any threats or opportunities for Swiss companies? The global interrelation of Swiss supply chains and dependencies on international supplier networks paired with the strong export and transit orientation forces Swiss Supply Chains to implement transparency and sustainability as well as resilience to survive in the future, react to regional and global changing conditions and sustainability requirements. Due to the global relations and dependencies of Swiss supply chains, various changes not directly impacting the swiss economy can have huge influences on their Swiss supply chains. However, focusing on Supply Chain Viability and the implementation of sustainability and resilience in line with digital transformation can foster the global strength of swiss supply chains especially in times of emerging disruptions and global shocks. How have Swiss executives so far reacted to the findings and what do you expect over the next few months? Swiss executives realized the rigidity and complexity of current supply chains and the need of change to become resilient and sustainable to survive in the future. Within the next months supply chains will still struggle to survive the COVID-19 crisis as it will have tedious, far-reaching consequences. Despite this, supply chains will implement first instruments to predict future risks and changes and develop scenarios to overcome them. However, the transformation to viable Supply Chains will be a longer journey for some. What is your advice to Swiss companies wanting to ensure that their supply chain is ready for 2021? Focusing strongly on sustainability implementation and resilience as well as driving the digital transformation is key to achieve Supply Chain Viability. Supply Chains need to establish ecological and social orientation and long-term sustainability of all measures in their supply chain by using technological innovations to improve sustainability within and across Supply Chains. At the same time, adaptability should be built up in order to be able to react to disruptions. Data and analytics for agile and resilient supply chains “Ultimately, the companies that have their data under control and that use the appropriate technology to collect it will have the most agile and resilient supply chains.” Darko Belic, CEO of DHL Automotive GmbH and Head of DHL LLP Ford of Europe Much of the vulnerability related to supply chains is about the lack of visibility of inventory, whether static or in-transit, and how it can be affected by factors that are typically beyond the scope of a company’s own supply chain. This is why Oracle has been working alongside DHL Resilience360 a web-based Big Data Supply Chain Risk Management Solution, to provide logistics planners and customer service clerks using Oracle Transportation Management with the ability to achieve enhanced visibility of potential risks on a global level to supply chain operations in order to react to near real-time incidents during both planning and execution, including the ability to re-plan shipments where necessary to avoid disruption and to pro-actively inform end customers of potential delays and delivery disruptions, offering value-added information services, avoid loss of reputation and protect their company’s top line. For some time DHL Supply Chain has been leveraging the integration of both solutions to offer their Lead Logistics Partner service to global shippers across multiple industries including Automotive and Life Sciences. Darko Belic, Managing Director of DHL Automotive GmbH and Head of DHL LLP Ford of Europe tells us more. What is your strategy to build resilience and transparency in the face of global disruption and how is Oracle’s technology helping? In order to create resilience and transparency managing and interpreting data efficiently is crucial. The team can react to unplanned disruptions if it rapidly knows where the material is located, if it is impacted by a local disruption like a local lock down for example, if regions on route are impacted and if the destination is accessible. This information is required in real time to allow for rapid decision taking. DHL uses “Resilience 360” in order to collect data from different sources like the www, social media or others and overlay the gathered data with its network. Ultimately, the companies that have their data under control and that use the appropriate technology to collect it will have the most agile and resilient supply chains. What about the human relationship within the supply chain? How do you develop the talent and culture to support innovation? Innovation and digitalization won’t be televised. An environment and organizational set up which does not give room for creativity will not empower its people to develop new ideas. One intuitive option to foster continuous improvement is to implement “think tanks” or dedicated teams in operations which solely focus on innovation and service or process improvement. Digitalization is mistakenly perceived as equal to efficiencies and reduced workload. The truth is that digitalization is key for companies to succeed in a global economy and supply chain as it helps not only to secure jobs but also can to enrich them. It not only attracts employees but offers existing ones the possibility to learn new skills. Robotics for example can replace repeating copy & paste tasks and enable the employee to focus more on value added services which are on the other side leveraged by digitalization. A good example is Track & Trace. Instead of calling the carrier to localize a truck, this solution can provide the information real time and the employee can focus on tasks like optimizing the routes instead, using the information to improve dock schedules at destination, keeping the inventory levels under control and planning contingencies earlier if needed. In this case a rather time-consuming low value task (phone call) is being replaced by other more strategic ones. What are your recommendations for companies embarking on a journey to a viable supply chain? Start with the current state mapping and define where you want to be in 1 to 5 years. Reduce the complexity of your long-term strategy by breaking down the rather complex and intangible vision into less complex and more tangible shorter-term actions and be open to adapt and amend your strategy during your journey if new technological developments offer better solutions. For example, if you are currently storing your data in Excel sheets and ordering your transports via phone, do not try to implement blockchain or internet of things but rather focus first on setting the basics like smarter connectivity tools with your stakeholders, implementation of master data like data lakes and a proper TMS and data managing system like Oracle. Once the basics are set review and re-asses your next steps and strategy and adjust if needed on learnings and new developments.

The new reality of 2020 pushed organizations to realign operations and supply chains to thrive. The focus is now on adaptability, speed, risk reduction, and sustainability whilst adopting more...

As supply chains continue to recover from 2020 disruptions, many business leaders have looked ahead to 2021 to figure out how they can incorporate more resiliency into their supply chain design.

As supply chains continue to recover from 2020 disruptions, many business leaders have looked ahead to 2021 to figure out how they can incorporate more resiliency into their supply chain design.

We take a look back at the most popular supply chain & operations stories of the year. This year’s articles range from analyst reports, innovative product announcements, controversial partnerships, and of course, addressing supply chain concerns due to the global pandemic.

We take a look back at the most popular supply chain & operations stories of the year. This year’s articles range from analyst reports, innovative product announcements, controversial partnerships,...

Covid-19 illuminated the importance of a resilient supply chain. This guide shows how companies have successfully navigated challenges and transformed their supply chains with modern cloud-based solutions.

Covid-19 illuminated the importance of a resilient supply chain. This guide shows how companies have successfully navigated challenges and transformed their supply chains with modern cloud-based...

Learn how pre-built SaaS applications can provide business users with all the capabilities that blockchain offers including security, immutability, and establishing trust between partners.

Learn how pre-built SaaS applications can provide business users with all the capabilities that blockchain offers including security, immutability, and establishing trust between partners.

Here are steps procurement organizations can take to effectively manage their suppliers and mitigate risk.

Here are steps procurement organizations can take to effectively manage their suppliers and mitigate risk.

Supply chain and IT executives share their experiences moving to integrated SCM cloud applications.

Supply chain and IT executives share their experiences moving to integrated SCM cloud applications.

The global pandemic has caused a renewed focus on order management and orchestration as crucial components of organizations fulfillment operations as well as a successful customer experience.

The global pandemic has caused a renewed focus on order management and orchestration as crucial components of organizations fulfillment operations as well as a successful customer experience.

When finance and operations teams share a common application suite and data infrastructure, scenario planning is faster and more effective.

When finance and operations teams share a common application suite and data infrastructure, scenario planning is faster and more effective.

With sensors and digital twins, it’s easier to gain the visibility and insights you need to identify any problems before they occur and avoid any major breakdowns that affect production.

With sensors and digital twins, it’s easier to gain the visibility and insights you need to identify any problems before they occur and avoid any major breakdowns that affect production.

Learn how Oracle’s IoT applications can help take data and make it easier to analyze and make better and faster decisions.

Learn how Oracle’s IoT applications can help take data and make it easier to analyze and make better and faster decisions.

Oceanworks runs its track-and-trace app on Oracle Cloud, matching recyclers with brands who want to build an environmentally conscious supply chain.

Oceanworks runs its track-and-trace app on Oracle Cloud, matching recyclers with brands who want to build an environmentally conscious supply chain.

Precision Group, Dubai-based manufacturer, explains why they chose Oracle Fusion Cloud Procurement to modernize their procurement.

Precision Group, Dubai-based manufacturer, explains why they chose Oracle Fusion Cloud Procurement to modernize their procurement.

Deloitte’s 2020 Global Blockchain Survey polled a sample of nearly 1,500 senior executives and suggests that initial doubts about blockchain’s usefulness are fading as business leaders now see it as integral to organizational innovation.

Deloitte’s 2020 Global Blockchain Survey polled a sample of nearly 1,500 senior executives and suggests that initial doubts about blockchain’s usefulness are fading as business leaders now see it as...

Experts from Juniper Networks and Trinamix discuss strategies to incorporate real-time data to eliminate supply chain latency.

Experts from Juniper Networks and Trinamix discuss strategies to incorporate real-time data to eliminate supply chain latency.

SCOPE 2020 opens next week, with all session recordings available on demand shortly after. Don’t miss it!]

SCOPE 2020 opens next week, with all session recordings available on demand shortly after. Don’t miss it!]

Learn how to address the challenges of data siloes in a way that speeds and improves decision-making quality.

Learn how to address the challenges of data siloes in a way that speeds and improves decision-making quality.

By Kaushik Sivakumar, SCM, Oracle, Product Management Asset-intensive projects are typically long-term initiatives that can cost millions or even billions of dollars over the asset’s implementation. During these uncertain times, it is even more important to streamline efficiencies for effective project management and to eliminate waste on highly capital-intensive projects. Some examples of asset intensive projects are nationally based cellular buildouts or a utility company’s project to install smart meters throughout a city. According to PMI Pulse of the Profession* survey, 9.9% of every dollar is wasted on poor project management, which equates to $99 million on a $1 billion project.   According to the same study, only 64% of the most mature project management teams deliver a project on time, and only 67% of projects are delivered on budget. When you compare those KPIs to low maturity project teams, only 36% of projects are delivered on time and 43% are on budget. Unnoticed Project Wastefulness There are many reasons for the excessive waste and poor project performance—a lack of visibility into financials for a given project, disconnected software applications, manual processes, workarounds to derive data from siloed information. Some traditional supply chain solutions provide data as sources for some of the project metrics, but they often don’t provide the detailed insight that a project manager needs to course correct quickly to prevent waste or knowing when to adjust supplies. Phases of a project Let’s dig a little deeper into the progression of an asset-intensive project, such as building a cellular network. Here are the typical phases of such a project: •    Quote/bid, initiate the project – This includes engineering functions, as well as negotiations, legal reviews, contracts, and project planning.  Depending on the contract terms, it may include prototypes of cell towers or suppliers providing quotes for other major physical components of the cellular network that are being built out or upgraded. •    Supply Chain Planning and Materials Management – This starts the initial phase of the supply chain processes that include planning, ordering, manufacturing, managing inventory, and transporting goods for the project. It also typically involves subcontracted services for specific aspects of the project, e.g. hiring architecture or site planning company, engineering services, or welders and electricians to help construct cell towers. •    Construction – Actual work of the project is performed at project sites. The project manager carefully manages the process, inventory and contractors to try to avoid delays and mitigate risks so that the construction project is completed on time and within budget. •    Transfer of ownership and service – Here, the completed asset, in this case, a cell tower network is transferred from the project manager/contractor to the owner. Depending on the project, it may be a private company or a public entity. And then, the asset typically rolls into a maintenance phase. At this point warranties, service contracts, SLAs, and replacement parts come in to play when there’s a hardware failure, upgrade or damage to a cell tower network. •    Capitalization, billing and revenue – The finance department will account for the receivables and payables, properly attributing costs and expenses to the correct project, and capitalizing assets. Common Challenges to Overcome What has been described is the intersection between projects and supply chain processes. Without an integrated solution, these processes can be a muddle of disparate management software applications, manual tasks, and cumbersome work-arounds. Add in delays in the timeline because of macroeconomics events, inclement weather, resource scheduling conflicts, permit reviews, approvals from cities or component part delays, and you could quite easily have a confusing trail that requires forensic investigation to see if a project is on budget, let alone identify the nuances of project waste and detect in-flight project scope creep. The Solution:  Six Opportunities to Eliminate Waste in Supply Chain Projects An end to end project-driven supply chain solution that integrates the six functions listed below can help project managers eliminate waste.   1.    Project planning—with dashboard KPIs to streamline scheduling and budgets for individual projects to quickly gain insight and track the progress at any point in the lifecycle. 2.    Procurement—designed for project-specific purchasing to ensure materials are priced, procured, and received into inventory according to the specifications of each individual project. 3.    Supply chain—with automated functionality to orchestrate a complex multi-project supply chain, you can set up business rules for project requests, orders, creating documents, look-ups and attachment categories, and replenishment planning with a dashboard work area to manage the workflows. 4.    Manufacturing—offering functionality to create work orders, review availability and pick materials at the project or task level, attribute work orders as well as manage inventory and costs per individual project. 5.    Maintenance—with a process flow to create work orders, issue parts from a common or project-specific inventory, the solution also enables you to purchase outside services, import materials, and resource costs, with all costs, resources, and details associated with individual projects. 6.    Finance—with controls to ensure that multiple projects, customers, and associated activities can be accounted for separately with visibility into costs, expenses, and payables. Benefits of a Project Driven Supply Chain Fully supporting supply chain processes within the context of a specific project, including procurement, inventory, ordering, manufacturing, shipping, maintenance and costing, as well as finance functions and project accounting makes it makes easier to gain oversight and take corrective action as needed.  When connected to finance, the project manager can gain visibility into how each project relates to the planned budget at any point in time. For more information on a complete suite of cloud-based applications, go to www.oracle.com/applications. For Project-driven supply chain information, go here.   *2018 PMI Pulse of the Profession Survey                    

By Kaushik Sivakumar, SCM, Oracle, Product Management Asset-intensive projects are typically long-term initiatives that can cost millions or even billions of dollars over the asset’s implementation....

The COVID-19 crisis has revealed an urgent need for predictive analytics supported by accurate real-time data across the organization—something only an integrated SaaS business suite can provide.

The COVID-19 crisis has revealed an urgent need for predictive analytics supported by accurate real-time data across the organization—something only an integrated SaaS business suite can provide.

Wholesale distribution is a tough business to be in these days. Explore Oracle and Deloitte’s webinar series to learn more about how wholesale distributors can thrive during these turbulent times.

Wholesale distribution is a tough business to be in these days. Explore Oracle and Deloitte’s webinar series to learn more about how wholesale distributors can thrive during these turbulent times.

Oracle IoT Intelligent Applications link operational systems to business applications so you can accelerate IoT capabilities in critical functions.

Oracle IoT Intelligent Applications link operational systems to business applications so you can accelerate IoT capabilities in critical functions.

Learn why supply chain collaboration and visibility are critical for streamlining operations.

Learn why supply chain collaboration and visibility are critical for streamlining operations.

Oracle and DX host an online session that explores which digital capabilities are enhancing visibility, efficiency and innovation across the supply chain.

Oracle and DX host an online session that explores which digital capabilities are enhancing visibility, efficiency and innovation across the supply chain.

The new normal for supply chains will entail more automation, resiliency, flexibility, and agility.

The new normal for supply chains will entail more automation, resiliency, flexibility, and agility.

Supply chain leaders around the globe have navigated radical changes in global trade and logistics that affect operations. Oracle’s Rick Jewell shares insights, learnings, and recommendations to help you chart a course for growth.

Supply chain leaders around the globe have navigated radical changes in global trade and logistics that affect operations. Oracle’s Rick Jewell shares insights, learnings, and recommendations to help...

Join us on November 17 to hear from experts at Deloitte, Alcar Italia, Bissell, MTN, Titan International, Inc. and Transworld Group as they share how improved insight and collaboration is improving their supply chain performance.

Join us on November 17 to hear from experts at Deloitte, Alcar Italia, Bissell, MTN, Titan International, Inc. and Transworld Group as they share how improved insight and collaboration is improving...

Learn six ways the AI-powered Oracle Digital Assistant with pre-built app skills and the ability to customize can drive efficiency and productivity, improve customer and employee experience, and support digital transformation.

Learn six ways the AI-powered Oracle Digital Assistant with pre-built app skills and the ability to customize can drive efficiency and productivity, improve customer and employee experience, and...

Learn about the value of advanced technologies and how supply chain professionals can make informed decisions about advanced technologies such as blockchain and distributed ledgers.

Learn about the value of advanced technologies and how supply chain professionals can make informed decisions about advanced technologies such as blockchain and distributed ledgers.

In light of the new partnership between SAP and Siemens to provide applications across product lifecycle management, supply chain, and asset management, SAP customers would be wise to ask the company two critical questions.

In light of the new partnership between SAP and Siemens to provide applications across product lifecycle management, supply chain, and asset management, SAP customers would be wise to ask the...

Announcing the winners of the 2020 Oracle Supply Chain Management (SCM) Excellence Awards who have successfully adapted their organizations’ supply chain strategies to build resilience while driving business growth.

Announcing the winners of the 2020 Oracle Supply Chain Management (SCM) Excellence Awards who have successfully adapted their organizations’ supply chain strategies to build resilience while driving...

Solistica, a leading 3PL in Latin America, shares how they’ve improved on-time deliveries and saved costs with Oracle Cloud.

Solistica, a leading 3PL in Latin America, shares how they’ve improved on-time deliveries and saved costs with Oracle Cloud.

Join us for Oracle Live to discover why the time is now to recapture growth with cloud applications.

Join us for Oracle Live to discover why the time is now to recapture growth with cloud applications.

The question many companies have is “how do we adapt to events like the COVID-19 pandemic and maintain the relevance of forecasting?”. Learn how Oracle Cloud Supply Chain Planning can help.

The question many companies have is “how do we adapt to events like the COVID-19 pandemic and maintain the relevance of forecasting?”. Learn how Oracle Cloud Supply Chain Planning can help.

By Kaushik Sivakumar, SCM, Oracle, Product Management Asset-intensive projects are typically long-term initiatives that can cost millions or even billions of dollars over the asset’s implementation. During these uncertain times, it is even more important to streamline efficiencies for effective project management and to eliminate waste on highly capital-intensive projects. Some examples of asset intensive projects are nationally based cellular buildouts or a utility company’s project to install smart meters throughout a city. According to PMI Pulse of the Profession* survey, 9.9% of every dollar is wasted on poor project management, which equates to $99 million on a $1 billion project.   According to the same study, only 64% of the most mature project management teams deliver a project on time, and only 67% of projects are delivered on budget. When you compare those KPIs to low maturity project teams, only 36% of projects are delivered on time and 43% are on budget. Unnoticed Project Wastefulness There are many reasons for the excessive waste and poor project performance—a lack of visibility into financials for a given project, disconnected software applications, manual processes, workarounds to derive data from siloed information. Some traditional supply chain solutions provide data as sources for some of the project metrics, but they often don’t provide the detailed insight that a project manager needs to course correct quickly to prevent waste or knowing when to adjust supplies. Phases of a project Let’s dig a little deeper into the progression of an asset-intensive project, such as building a cellular network. Here are the typical phases of such a project: •    Quote/bid, initiate the project – This includes engineering functions, as well as negotiations, legal reviews, contracts, and project planning.  Depending on the contract terms, it may include prototypes of cell towers or suppliers providing quotes for other major physical components of the cellular network that are being built out or upgraded. •    Supply Chain Planning and Materials Management – This starts the initial phase of the supply chain processes that include planning, ordering, manufacturing, managing inventory, and transporting goods for the project. It also typically involves subcontracted services for specific aspects of the project, e.g. hiring architecture or site planning company, engineering services, or welders and electricians to help construct cell towers. •    Construction – Actual work of the project is performed at project sites. The project manager carefully manages the process, inventory and contractors to try to avoid delays and mitigate risks so that the construction project is completed on time and within budget. •    Transfer of ownership and service – Here, the completed asset, in this case, a cell tower network is transferred from the project manager/contractor to the owner. Depending on the project, it may be a private company or a public entity. And then, the asset typically rolls into a maintenance phase. At this point warranties, service contracts, SLAs, and replacement parts come in to play when there’s a hardware failure, upgrade or damage to a cell tower network. •    Capitalization, billing and revenue – The finance department will account for the receivables and payables, properly attributing costs and expenses to the correct project, and capitalizing assets. Common Challenges to Overcome What has been described is the intersection between projects and supply chain processes. Without an integrated solution, these processes can be a muddle of disparate management software applications, manual tasks, and cumbersome work-arounds. Add in delays in the timeline because of macroeconomics events, inclement weather, resource scheduling conflicts, permit reviews, approvals from cities or component part delays, and you could quite easily have a confusing trail that requires forensic investigation to see if a project is on budget, let alone identify the nuances of project waste and detect in-flight project scope creep. The Solution:  Six Opportunities to Eliminate Waste in Supply Chain Projects An end to end project-driven supply chain solution that integrates the six functions listed below can help project managers eliminate waste.   1.    Project planning—with dashboard KPIs to streamline scheduling and budgets for individual projects to quickly gain insight and track the progress at any point in the lifecycle. 2.    Procurement—designed for project-specific purchasing to ensure materials are priced, procured, and received into inventory according to the specifications of each individual project. 3.    Supply chain—with automated functionality to orchestrate a complex multi-project supply chain, you can set up business rules for project requests, orders, creating documents, look-ups and attachment categories, and replenishment planning with a dashboard work area to manage the workflows. 4.    Manufacturing—offering functionality to create work orders, review availability and pick materials at the project or task level, attribute work orders as well as manage inventory and costs per individual project. 5.    Maintenance—with a process flow to create work orders, issue parts from a common or project-specific inventory, the solution also enables you to purchase outside services, import materials, and resource costs, with all costs, resources, and details associated with individual projects. 6.    Finance—with controls to ensure that multiple projects, customers, and associated activities can be accounted for separately with visibility into costs, expenses, and payables. Benefits of a Project Driven Supply Chain Fully supporting supply chain processes within the context of a specific project, including procurement, inventory, ordering, manufacturing, shipping, maintenance and costing, as well as finance functions and project accounting makes it makes easier to gain oversight and take corrective action as needed.  When connected to finance, the project manager can gain visibility into how each project relates to the planned budget at any point in time. For more information on a complete suite of cloud-based applications, go to www.oracle.com/applications. For Project-driven supply chain information, go here.   *2018 PMI Pulse of the Profession Survey                    

By Kaushik Sivakumar, SCM, Oracle, Product Management Asset-intensive projects are typically long-term initiatives that can cost millions or even billions of dollars over the asset’s implementation....

Learn how to improve insight and collaboration across the value chain so your organization can orchestrate and continually improve supply chain performance.

Learn how to improve insight and collaboration across the value chain so your organization can orchestrate and continually improve supply chain performance.

Resilience is about more than having the cash to weather disruption. It’s about building a flexible cloud infrastructure to deal with unrelenting change.

Resilience is about more than having the cash to weather disruption. It’s about building a flexible cloud infrastructure to deal with unrelenting change.

The supply chain for government has changed. In our latest blog, we discuss what it looks like today

The supply chain for government has changed. In our latest blog, we discuss what it looks like today

Wholesale distribution has felt the brunt of the global pandemic’s disruptive power – tune in to this webinar series with Deloitte and Oracle to learn how organizations are reimaging the wholesale distribution process.

Wholesale distribution has felt the brunt of the global pandemic’s disruptive power – tune in to this webinar series with Deloitte and Oracle to learn how organizations are reimaging the...

Cohu, a leading semiconductor manufacturer, discusses the lessons learned and benefits achieved by their implementation of a unified cloud solution in a live webinar.

Cohu, a leading semiconductor manufacturer, discusses the lessons learned and benefits achieved by their implementation of a unified cloud solution in a live webinar.

Throughout my career, I have always appreciated that people are the most critical resource and determinant of whether our initiatives will be successful. New technologies, processes, and strategies will only work if team members are motivated and appreciated. As we navigate these uncertain times, we must challenge ourselves to further develop and enhance our talent management strategies. Inclusive leadership is important whether in person or working remotely.  Being inclusive at a distance can absolutely be challenging, but I am confident we can figure it out. Almost overnight, many businesses moved to remote operations and began using web conferencing. YES! But, let’s not stop there. Online meetings are a great first start, but more effort is needed. For leaders who are accustomed to onsite employees, the dramatic shift to employees who are remote takes a shift in mindset. Many studies have reported that employees are actually more productive at home. I have been a virtual team member at Oracle for almost my entire career here, and I absolutely love that there is no traffic between my bedroom and office. Yes! If there is any good news about the challenges we are facing, it is certainly that my colleagues have reduced their commute by as much as three hours a day. However, one of the many down sides of mandatory shelter-in-place order is the anxiety and worry that jobs could be in jeopardy since “out of sight” could also mean “out of mind.” Fearful employees may even take extreme measures by creating and working on many “busy” projects and also by sending volumes of unnecessary emails. Avoiding and reducing this level of stress is why managers and leaders at all levels must develop or enhance inclusive leadership techniques to promote cohesion, collaboration, expectations, and cooperation as we collectively navigate this new uncharted territory.   What is Inclusive Leadership? It’s a verb … an action … in which leaders intentionally create an environment where the entire team is comfortable and confident in bringing forth their respective ideas and recommendations. This goes above and beyond usual techniques that focus on the outcome more than the process. In outcome-focused leadership, the team is almost singularly focused on getting the task completed without room for discussion about different approaches for completing the task or even evaluating whether the approach will yield the best results. Inclusive leadership means understanding the strengths of each person on the team and what is needed to maximize their contributions—starting with making sure that everyone on the team understands the importance of their role within the context of the larger organization. It also involves creating opportunities for team members to build relationships. This doesn’t change just because everyone is in a different location. In a normal work environment, effective leadership is challenging. But now, as the ground seems to be shifting under our feet from week to week, inclusive leadership can make the critical difference between a team that’s just hanging on and one that’s thriving. Here are my tips for practicing inclusive leadership: 1. Communicate, communicate, communicate Leaders cannot communicate enough when everyone is juggling different priorities at work and at home. Challenging schedules intertwined with work and home responsibilities, like managing children while working from home or caring for family members, may mean that each person receives communications differently and at different times. Thus, leaders must use all appropriate communication mechanisms at their disposal to reach the team—email, text, video conferencing, and chat. In sharing details about new business initiatives, strategies, customer engagements, or partnerships, leaders must carefully consider the overall communication plan to reduce the grapevine and rumor mill. 2. Provide clear, consistent communications In times of uncertainty, team members need frequent and direct communication—almost to the point of over communication in order to stay focused. In communications, please consider that if the team members know what to expect and how any news impacts them directly, they will be less stressed. This may include details about how the company is doing as a whole, how the team is tracking against goals, new business models, pivot strategies, new technology roll-outs, etc. Incomplete details and unanswered questions can escalate challenges and uncertainty. 3. Create frequent, proactive touch points to connect your team In team meetings, it is a good idea to build in time for short round-robin discussions to check in on team members, foster comradery and promote networking. Each meeting could have a different topic and team members can suggest creative discussion topics. Here are a few ideas to get you going: •    Mindfulness Mondays—encourage each person to share something they do to promote self-care, for example, recommending their favorite wellness app, online exercise class, or podcast •    Happy Hour Tuesday—ask everyone to share some good news … it can be work-related or personal •    Recognition Wednesday—each person acknowledges someone on the team who helped them recently •    Thankful Thursday—encourage people to share something they appreciate … again, it can be about work or in their personal lives •    Funday Friday—ask people to share something they are looking forward to that weekend Other ideas: •    Binge Mondays—what did you binge-watch over the weekend? •    Throwback Thursday—remember when … there were no iPhones, there was no email, there was no social media, etc. •    Reimagine Friday—what would you do about xyz initiative if you were in charge? 4. Share boundaries for the day or the week In the current environment, team members are juggling many priorities that may not coincide with the typical work day. If team members aren’t going to be available for specific segments of work day, ask them to share their availability by email or via another collaboration tool so that the entire team knows when to connect and/or when to expect a response. 5. Avoid accidental exclusion Inclusive leadership means no one is left out. This means paying extra attention to emails and posts that could unintentionally forget someone. For instance, if leaders hold a call about a particular topic, excluding someone from a meeting related to their responsibility only serves to alienate them and result in their worry about their roles. Another example is related to LinkedIn posts where the leader creates a post thanking specific people who worked on a project. Please be sure not to forget anyone by accident. Further, if leaders like and share posts on LinkedIn or other social media outlets, be sure to mix it up so you’re following, liking, and sharing posts from people across the organization. Optics are important. Trust me, team members notice if leaders only like the posts of upper management. A few unintentional slights like these can cause the team to feel completely marginalized. 6. Welcome new employees Usually when a new team member joins, they are taken around the office and introduced to all of the other team members. We can’t forget the benefits of a having a network and a few “go to” team members we can ask questions. In a remote environment, we must mirror this process as much as possible. Everyone must make an extra effort to get to know new team members by engaging them, inviting them to a virtual coffee, helping them get to know others in the organization, and also sharing context to get acclimated to the team as soon as possible. 7. Strike a balance between managing and micromanaging Demographic characteristics of the team must also be considered. There is a difference between Gen Y and Baby Boomer team members just as there are differences between new team members and seasoned ones. Each team member requires a different level of interaction, guidance, and autonomy—especially in remote environments where the inclination is to ask for daily reports and over-managing. And while it’s important to remember that everyone may be different, a new team member in a remote environment will require much more engagement than a tenured employee who knows the organization. At the same time, seasoned team members still need help and guidance from time to time. Although these team members typically prefer autonomy, leaders must not ignore them since there is a risk they could feel adrift within the organization. "Pay-it-forward" for employees and customers In closing, every leader has the ability to be an Inclusive leader. With intentional effort, leaders can enable and promote an inclusive environment in a virtual setting that is just as effective as the physical office space. I think the saying that “customers will never love you, until your employees do first” is 100% true. The benefits of new and strengthened alliances, collaboration, and comradery are well worth the effort. Customers and business partners will see and absolutely recognize these efforts. It’s a win-win! For more information about how Oracle Cloud Applications can help you and your team work remotely, go to www.oracle.com/applications. To learn more about Kimberly Ellison-Taylor you can access her Oracle Executive Biography here and also follow her on Linkedin.    

Throughout my career, I have always appreciated that people are the most critical resource and determinant of whether our initiatives will be successful. New technologies, processes, and strategies...

Join Oracle and dozens of other Fortune 500 companies at this year's virtual event.

Join Oracle and dozens of other Fortune 500 companies at this year's virtual event.

In our last blog [1], we covered several housekeeping items for your business applications that you and your team could tackle during this stay-at-home period. One of the suggestions was learning about an emerging technology, such as AI, IoT, or digital assistants. In this blog, I’m going to dig deeper into specific emerging technologies and how you can apply an emerging technology to add extra value to your company. First, learn about your company My first recommendation is to gain a better understanding of your company.  If you’re working for a publicly traded company, a good place to start is the 10-K. It’s a document that your company is required to file every year with the SEC. It details financial performance, earnings per share, the organizational structure, subsidiaries, executive compensation, and much, much more information. The purpose of the 10-K is to make investors aware of the innerworkings of a company so they can make timely buy/sell decisions. It’s a great place for you to gain a big picture understanding of your company over and above what you may know about your specific line of business, geographical region, or the particular division in which you work. Next, learn more about your company’s new objectives   Most likely, these will be internal documents, and they may be readily available. The strategic goals may have shifted so be aware. These will help you understand the path forward … how your company plans to grow, new markets the leadership wants to enter, and possibly new products on the horizon. These strategic priorities may also give you an indication of challenges, struggles, and points of pain that your company needs to address during this time.   Apply emerging technologies to your company’s objectives Once you have an understanding of your company’s growth strategies and challenges, you can apply the information you learn about emerging technologies to help solve a challenge, streamline a process, or improve the employee or customer experience. This is your opportunity to think outside of the box as they say, but be sure that your ideas are tied to strategic objectives. Here are some examples of emerging technologies in action that may get you thinking about ideas for your company. Artificial Intelligence for Sales and Marketing The current crisis situation has literally shifted markets in a matter of days. Some segments of the economy went from tremendous growth to double-digit losses in a week. Your company may need to shift its sales strategy in the short-term to find ways to recover lost revenue or tap into new markets to keep pace with economic shifts. AI solutions apply machine learning algorithms to your customer data to identify an ideal customer profile and then match that profile to trusted 3rd-party data to create a target list of prospects for your sales and marketing teams. AI for Supply Chain Similar to entire markets that shifted quickly, suppliers all over the world found themselves dealing with shipping and receiving restrictions that may have prevented them from fulfilling orders. That situation may have put your company in scramble-mode as you tried to find new suppliers.  Depending on your industry, component parts may have spiked in price, impacting sales projections and profit margins. An AI application can analyze your ERP data, including current suppliers, POs, invoices, payables, etc., and compare company information with 3rd-party data to give you insight into your supplier ecosystem. It can also help you rank suppliers, figure out where you can negotiate better discounts, and create models to help your company optimize procurement processes. Digital Assistants/Chatbots for Workforce or Customer Experience This conversational interface uses machine learning and natural language processing to guide people to the right source of information, the appropriate live support person, or walk someone through a process. Digital assistants can be a relatively quick and easy way to fill a gap as your company shifts staff with people working from home. Chatbots can also greatly improve the user experience for both internal and external use cases.  For example, your company can add a digital assistant to your employee portal to help people find specific HCM benefits information, or you can add a digital assistant to the home page of your website to help people get to the right resource to help with a specific question or issue. Learning More Please read my last blog that is referenced at the end of this article for more information on emerging technologies. There is a lot of free content online; from YouTube tutorials to online classes. According to a recent cnbc.com article, many 4-year colleges are offering free online classes, so people can learn while staying safe at home. You can search for the online classes about emerging technologies that fit your interests and company objectives. I hope this gives you inspiration to learn something new so you can apply emerging technologies to develop professionally and to help tackle the priorities and challenges in your company.   For more information on a complete suite of cloud-based applications that includes emerging technologies, go to www.oracle.com/applications     [1] https://blogs.oracle.com/saas/tackling-your-cloud-applications-to-do-list          

In our last blog [1], we covered several housekeeping items for your business applications that you and your team could tackle during this stay-at-home period. One of the suggestions was learning...

SupplyChainBrain, a leading source of supply chain management information and news, has named Oracle a 2020 Great Supply Chain Partner.

SupplyChainBrain, a leading source of supply chain management information and news, has named Oracle a 2020 Great Supply Chain Partner.

Global manufacturer Cohu decided to move to a single cloud platform for ERP and supply chain to unify their business and have the ability to scale quickly.

Global manufacturer Cohu decided to move to a single cloud platform for ERP and supply chain to unify their business and have the ability to scale quickly.

Chris Wood, VP of business transformation at FedEx Services, says leadership and teamwork have kept the company on track through the current crisis.

Chris Wood, VP of business transformation at FedEx Services, says leadership and teamwork have kept the company on track through the current crisis.

Learn four ways that implementing a sourcing solution, such as Oracle Sourcing Cloud, can help your organization streamline your negotiations, reduce supplier risk and increase savings.

Learn four ways that implementing a sourcing solution, such as Oracle Sourcing Cloud, can help your organization streamline your negotiations, reduce supplier risk and increase savings.

One of the key links in the supply chain is the warehouse, as it’s the nerve center for controlling inventory and ensuring that organizations are able to make their deliveries on time.

One of the key links in the supply chain is the warehouse, as it’s the nerve center for controlling inventory and ensuring that organizations are able to make their deliveries on time.

Steve Phillpott, CIO of Western Digital, says the ability to pivot quickly is essential to navigating a crisis.

Steve Phillpott, CIO of Western Digital, says the ability to pivot quickly is essential to navigating a crisis.

Innovation comes in many flavors. New technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Digital Twins and Big Data enable new smart products to enable business model transformations.

Innovation comes in many flavors. New technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Digital Twins and Big Data enable new smart products to enable business model transformations.

Oracle and Deloitte partner for a summer webcast series on supply chain management in the covid era.

Oracle and Deloitte partner for a summer webcast series on supply chain management in the covid era.

A new article in Forbes calls Oracle Fusion Cloud "the real deal," and says that's bad news for competitors.

A new article in Forbes calls Oracle Fusion Cloud "the real deal," and says that's bad news for competitors.

Channel Revenue Management maximizes profitability for wholesale distributors by optimizing rebate programs, simplifying claim complexity and automating process.

Channel Revenue Management maximizes profitability for wholesale distributors by optimizing rebate programs, simplifying claim complexity and automating process.

Learn how to enhance automation in logistic management with robotic process automation.

Learn how to enhance automation in logistic management with robotic process automation.

Here are five strategies to help enterprises build a more resilient supply chain to navigate a world of permanent uncertainty.

Here are five strategies to help enterprises build a more resilient supply chain to navigate a world of permanent uncertainty.

Oracle’s innovation is leading the way in artificial intelligence and machine learning-powered applications and platforms. Learn more about how Oracle’s embedded AI is giving companies more value from their data by using big data, advanced analytics, and modern machine learning to enhance business and IT operations.

Oracle’s innovation is leading the way in artificial intelligence and machine learning-powered applications and platforms. Learn more about how Oracle’s embedded AI is giving companies more value...

For the second year, Oracle ERP Cloud is the only Leader.

For the second year, Oracle ERP Cloud is the only Leader.

The latest updates to Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain & Manufacturing (Oracle Cloud SCM) will help our customers address the challenges presented by widespread supply disruptions.

The latest updates to Oracle Fusion Cloud Supply Chain & Manufacturing (Oracle Cloud SCM) will help our customers address the challenges presented by widespread supply disruptions.

The 2020 OTM User Conference for the Americas is going virtual.

The 2020 OTM User Conference for the Americas is going virtual.

In this period of social distancing, our “smart” connected IoT devices are helping us in ways we never imagined. For example, voice assistants now help people navigate guidelines from vetted sources to assess COVID risk and symptoms, and telehealth apps and triage chatbots are further guiding evaluations. In a growing effort to keep surfaces clean and hands-free, there has been a boon to smart home voice control of things we now look at as “surfaces”: TV remotes, light switches, thermostats, door locks, security cameras, TVs, DVRs, A/C/heating units, and refrigerators. This has created a complex web of connectivity among IoT devices labeled “smart” despite their security and privacy vulnerabilities. We should heed FBI warnings and articles about drive-by hacking of “things,” and think about the data entry points we create— not only for hackers, but manufacturers, app developers and anyone who might want to eavesdrop and violate the sanctuary of our homes during these times of crisis. The issue extends to healthcare and other industries implementing the IoT for efficiencies. For example, healthcare devices have been found to be more vulnerable now than ever. Gartner estimates there will be about 25 billion connected things by 2021. As IoT “things” get coopted into botnets, bad actors can prey on embedded electronics, opening paths of entry for connected-appliance cyberattacks. They infiltrate “simple” devices without detection and gain access to the more important smart phones and computer networks they know connect to more coveted networks and devices. During our time of socially distanced work and personal life, it’s important that we all get “back to basics,” slowing down to ask the logical questions about security, such as: •    What problem does adding an IP address ‘here’ possibly open up? •    What malware and other vulnerabilities may my smart devices introduce to shared networks? •    As IoT is introduced to services, applications or products, what security fixes can go in at the same rate? Smart capabilities don’t have to lead to not-so-smart decisions at home as our personal and professional lives intersect. We just need to check that the things we use are designed to do what they are supposed to, plus incorporate the security we as customers and end users deserve. There’s no such thing as a “benign” environment, so we must all think every step of the way about how what we are using or doing opens the door to criminals that want to infiltrate, compromise and break things. While IT can design things with these criminals in mind, it’s also up to all of us to remember that the answer to technology-induced risk is not always “more technology,” but rather the basics of knowing the risks and vulnerabilities we potentially introduce when connecting in the IoT-driven world. Our basic responsibilities aren’t so basic anymore. Be sure to read our other security-related blogs here and also learn about 5G next-gen core security.  

In this period of social distancing, our “smart” connected IoT devices are helping us in ways we never imagined. For example, voice assistants now help people navigate guidelines from vetted sources...

The Oracle Digital Assistant is now live for Oracle Cloud Logistics.

The Oracle Digital Assistant is now live for Oracle Cloud Logistics.

Join us for an upcoming webinar series where our customers share how they have been able to build a resilient and agile supply chain.

Join us for an upcoming webinar series where our customers share how they have been able to build a resilient and agile supply chain.

Due to rising costs, the speed of technology turnover, global supply chain disruptions and a more demanding and diverse customer base, traditional organic growth in the semiconductor industry is lagging. Semiconductor companies must look at ways to improve operational efficiencies and shorten design cycles as well as innovatively expand their product portfolios. Oracle has been a leader in enterprise software solutions supporting the semiconductor industry for over 20 years.  We provide a comprehensive portfolio of solutions, helping drive operational excellence in almost all areas of business, including engineering, finance, supply chain, marketing, sales and talent management. Our solutions utilize a modern cloud platform that combine robust SaaS applications with embedded technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and internet of things (IoT) to streamline business operations and drive innovation. Please join us for our upcoming live webcast on June 30 to hear about Oracle’s Semiconductor Supply Chain solution as well as learn how SiTime moved to a modern supply chain solution in the cloud and the benefits they realized by getting end-to-end visibility into their extended supply chain. Register now for this webcast and we look forward to you joining us on June 30!

Due to rising costs, the speed of technology turnover, global supply chain disruptions and a more demanding and diverse customer base, traditional organic growth in the semiconductor industry...

With an environment of extreme demand and supply volatility, now is the time to recalibrate and empower your supply chain and financial planning teams.

With an environment of extreme demand and supply volatility, now is the time to recalibrate and empower your supply chain and financial planning teams.

The Oracle Digital Assistant frees maintenance workers from mundane work like data entry.

The Oracle Digital Assistant frees maintenance workers from mundane work like data entry.

The success of your supply chain can make or break a business. We discuss how building a resilient supply chain can help in times of change

The success of your supply chain can make or break a business. We discuss how building a resilient supply chain can help in times of change

With supply chains being disrupted globally, how can you streamline and improve your procurement process?

With supply chains being disrupted globally, how can you streamline and improve your procurement process?

Take a closer look at 3 data-driven logistics use cases with some of the most innovative companies.

Take a closer look at 3 data-driven logistics use cases with some of the most innovative companies.

Optimizing sales and operations planning (S&OP) is an important business process for manufacturing companies. It allows organizations to more quickly adapt to unexpected supply and demand events, and thanks to advanced technologies like AI-assisted analytics and IoT sensor data, manufacturing companies now have all the components needed to better integrate their end-to-end planning with operations execution. Oracle is a leader in enterprise performance management and supply chain management and has been investing heavily in Integrated Business Planning (IBP).  Our comprehensive solution, Oracle Integrated Business Planning and Execution (IBPX), provides advanced, end-to-end planning and analytics capabilities so manufacturing companies can better define, plan and achieve their business performance objectives. Oracle has helped many manufacturing companies to:  Integrate planning and execution to eliminate business latency and allow for smarter decision making Consolidate sales, operations, financial and supply chain planning into a single, centralized hub Improve visibility across your organization to quickly gain real-time business insights and conduct more accurate planning and forecasting Please join us for our upcoming live webcast on IBPX on May 26. You'll hear about real-world IBPX case studies where companies have been able to quickly react to manufacturing disruptions and adapt their business planning to optimize results. Register for this webcast and learn how Oracle IBPX can help you transform your business.  

Optimizing sales and operations planning (S&OP) is an important business process for manufacturing companies. It allows organizations to more quickly adapt to unexpected supply and demand events, and...

A new set of foundational competencies to effectively manage disruptions now and in the future

A new set of foundational competencies to effectively manage disruptions now and in the future

Oracle Warehouse Management Cloud delivers innovative capabilities and offers extended warehouse management functionality at a significantly lower total cost of ownership.

Oracle Warehouse Management Cloud delivers innovative capabilities and offers extended warehouse management functionality at a significantly lower total cost of ownership.

Approaching this from a technology perspective, we’ve identified four key changes that global supply chains will need to be prepared for now and in the future.

Approaching this from a technology perspective, we’ve identified four key changes that global supply chains will need to be prepared for now and in the future.

Watch the recorded sessions from MODEX2020 in March.

Watch the recorded sessions from MODEX2020 in March.

Consumers are pressure on supply chain and logistics professionals to get products and parts to customers faster than ever before.

Consumers are pressure on supply chain and logistics professionals to get products and parts to customers faster than ever before.

We’re introducing new enhancements in ocean and international shipments, improved decision support with 3D load configuration, and New Item Qualification Manager in GTM.

We’re introducing new enhancements in ocean and international shipments, improved decision support with 3D load configuration, and New Item Qualification Manager in GTM.

A Special Blog in Honor of Women’s History Month

A Special Blog in Honor of Women’s History Month

When an unexpected world event strikes, you need to be prepared to work with the tools you have at hand. 

When an unexpected world event strikes, you need to be prepared to work with the tools you have at hand. 

Oracle has been recognized as a leader 13 times, since 2006.

Oracle has been recognized as a leader 13 times, since 2006.

The Need for Continuous Innovation New technologies, products, services and business models evolve, so Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and product development must evolve, too. So, what is PLM and how is PLM different today? The industry has talked about PLM managing the enterprise product record for years. The reality is that traditional PLM systems only created a consolidated product development record, but data was still fragmented in many siloed applications and throughout product development, manufacturing, maintenance, quality management, and IoT…. Older PLM solutions weren’t designed to deliver the speed required to achieve Digital Transformation. Driving faster innovation means you have to think about how you can tightly link cross-functional engineering, development and quality teams with IT. This requires a new way of collaboration and data integration.  Companies looking to pursue their own Digital Transformation should first consider investing in a connected applications platform that manages the complexities of the enterprise product record.  Having access to reliable product data creates a new business architecture—one with a true enterprise product record for the digital thread delivering a complete 360-degree view of a product. This simplification provides you with visibility into the product changes, quality and business process flows that were once hard to keep track of. What is the Digital Thread? Find out in this blog and learn how PLM and IoT tie the Digital Thread to make Digital Transformations possible   Digitally Thread PLM across ERP, SCM, and CX PLM must become a Smart Connected Application (Platform) that can deliver the digital thread to support new business models. What companies find is that by integrating PLM with the insights found from analytics, IoT, and social data is the foundation of the connected enterprise—allowing for faster and more informed decisions. Oracle is the only Tier1 PLM provider making significant investments to deliver this holistic and connected, next-generation, Product Lifecycle Management system. This is what Oracle does differently. It delivers a unique value proposition because PLM, SCM, CX and ERP are all on a single platform with a unified data model and they all scale with the pace of your business. It is not centered purely around the capabilities of the product itself anymore, but around the supply chain and customer. This new evolution of PLM that manages the digital thread can be called PLM 4.0. Your Foundation for On-Premises to Cloud  Oracle has established the foundation for organizations looking to go from on-premise to the cloud. With our customer first approach, we have built best-in-class Software-As-A-Service (SaaS) applications so you no longer need to staff an entire IT department for new product introductions (NPI) and product launches. With a true SaaS deployment, the cost is stable and the value of the investment always increases as we continue to add more innovation and capabilities into the Application Services. True to our approach, we will always continue to deliver the next generation of PLM software as it evolves. This smarter connectivity will only make it easier for you to adopt new business models like Product-as-a-Service and transition to Industry 4.0 (you can watch the video of how that is done here). Because of the unified data model, Oracle PLM Cloud technology comes with built in analytics enhanced by technologies such as adaptive intelligent (AI) apps to plug machine learning into your decisions and digital assistants that can speed up product development. Ultimately, this means you can streamline the development of connected products and services. Agile PLM Customers, You are Safe Oracle has a longstanding commitment to making each individual customer successful. Critical to this initiative is our continued support of our Agile PLM customers–not just for today, but for a lifetime, as part of our Oracle Lifetime Support Policy. Our customers enjoy the benefits of the industry’s most comprehensive support coverage, which provides major product and technology releases, 24x7 assistance with service requests, access to My Oracle Support including Knowledge Base, and much more. The Oracle Applications Unlimited program is Oracle's promise to continuously innovate it’s current applications while also delivering the next generation of Cloud applications. You also have access to Oracle’s product roadmap to plan upgrades, allocate resources, and secure budgets so you can tailor your business and IT strategy, enjoy reduced downtime, shorter upgrade cycles, and proven upgrade paths and methodologies. What we previously announced at Modern Business Experience was the continuation of our customer commitment with a new release model. In the past, we have delivered a new release of Agile PLM in a 9-12 month cadence. But we have switched from a waterfall development process with yearly releases to an agile sprint/scrum model for both Agile PLM and Oracle PLM Cloud. Agile PLM is now on a 2 month sprint cycle and we will release enhancements and bug fixes every 2 months in what we are calling “release roll ups” − this is very similar to what we called service packs in the past. Oracle PLM Cloud will now be on a 3-4 month sprint cycle with 3 or 4 code drops or releases per year. This change enables simplified development, quality assurance and faster innovation cycles. The end results − better code quality and support by enabling development and QA to focus “where it matters” in order to benefit our customers. But it is Not Simply an “Either” – “Or” Oracle provides a flexible path to the cloud. We make it easy to augment existing Agile PLM installs with added value from PLM Cloud: Adding Innovation Management capabilities in PLM Cloud to Agile PLM provides ideation, requirements management and traceability, and portfolio management. Adding Product Hub Cloud to Agile PLM provides as single unified item master to your existing PLM/ERP solution forming the digital foundation for a migration to your next generation PLM. Product Hub Cloud simplifies your product master data management (PMDM) practices and also bridges the gap between product development and the downstream processes while adding layers of governance. These appropriate out-of-the-box integrations are available. Yet, if you’re a net new Oracle PLM Customer, we suggest you onboard PLM Cloud directly for quick return on innovation. Together with our partners, we are well equipped to support our customers in any stage of their Digital Transformation. We have the migration tools to move from Agile PLM to PLM Cloud, and we have the integrations if you want to co-exist. Our partners have built extensions on the same platform and use our PaaS to handle advanced use cases: Inspirage has built a solution for Governance and Compliance, Kalypso has built an extension to manage recipe formulations, and XPLM has built integrations from PLM Cloud to MS Office and CAD such as SolidWorks, Creo, SolidEdge, AutoCAD, Inventor, CATIA, or NX – just to name a few. The guiding principles of Oracle’s adaptive PLM are openness and choice, added value for our customers, simplicity and ease-of-use. With our open architecture, you can perform easy integrations to cloud, legacy or third-party systems. We will, as always, continue to put you, the customer, first.   If you’re interested in learning what the analysts say about Oracle PLM Cloud, read this ebook written by top PLM analyst firm CIMdata or watch the video. For more information about Oracle PLM, check the Oracle PLM Website.  

The Need for Continuous Innovation New technologies, products, services and business models evolve, so Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and product development must evolve, too. So, what is PLM and...

Effectively managing suppliers is critical to the success of procurement organizations.

Effectively managing suppliers is critical to the success of procurement organizations.