What is SCM and why is it important?

The acronym SCM stands for supply chain management. It refers to the systems, processes, and software packages used by organizations to manage day-to-day operating activities such as product lifecycle management, supply chain planning, procurement , logistics, order management and fulfillment, manufacturing, and maintenance management. SCM systems provide a strategic advantage and business insight to companies and their operations. SCM systems tie together and define a plethora of business processes and enable the flow of information between them – in essence, SCM is the new business operating model. By giving an organization end-to-end visibility from developing products to fulfilling orders, through planning, managing inventory, sourcing, manufacturing, and delivery, SCM systems provide the competitive advantage for companies to innovate, connect and simplify their business.

Today, SCM systems are critical to businesses of all sizes and in all industries for managing their day-to-day operations. To these businesses, SCM is as indispensable as the water we drink to survive.

SCM fundamentals

SCM systems are designed to help a company innovate, connect, and simplify its operations. It’s the glue that ties them all together and provides the operations teams clear direction to execute. SCM systems deliver the visibility, insights, and capabilities you need to create your own intelligent supply chain.

The supply chain management evolution

Oracle offers a broad range of end-to-end, integrated SCM solutions to help customers modernize operations across the demand, supply, and product areas of their businesses. Underlying the SCM portfolio are analytical capabilities that span applications, modules, and functions. This unique family of solutions falls into the following areas:

• Oracle product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions can connect your entire organization by establishing a single source of truth for product information and processes. Oracle’s PLM solutions enable companies to rapidly innovate, develop, and commercialize new products.
• Oracle’s supply chain planning technology enables your staff to make fast and accurate planning decisions. It addresses demand management, supply and distribution planning, promotions planning, and service and maintenance planning.
• Oracle’s procurement solutions allow you to improve negotiations, make smarter spending decisions, and more effectively manage source-to-settle processes.
• Oracle logistics capabilities include transportation planning, informed trade decisions, and efficient warehouse operations. From fleet management to transportation intelligence, freight payments to carrier sourcing, Oracle can help you improve your logistics activities.
• Order management and fulfillment orchestration and processes span the order-to-cash lifecycle. Oracle supplies a centrally managed, globally available platform for order management activities that improves order visibility and expands fulfillment options across multiple channels.
• Oracle’s manufacturing excellence stems from automation that encompasses the entire production cycle—improving visibility, encouraging collaboration, and mitigating risk for manufacturing operations.
• Good maintenance management is a byproduct of sharing information and updates about all types of assets throughout the asset management lifecycle. Oracle’s support for preventive maintenance gives workers a complete view of all types of assets and equipment.

Get started today

In nearly every industry, market leaders recognize the shortcomings of relying on rigid, legacy applications. To advance in competitive markets, they are adopting modern, flexible, end-to-end supply chain solutions. Cloud security has steadily improved even as the economics of implementing cloud applications have become more compelling, motivating organizations to move their SCM applications to the cloud. Rather than continuing to install, maintain, patch, modify, and integrate a dozen different SCM applications, they are adopting cloud-based alternatives that can be provisioned, deployed, integrated, and scaled—quickly and easily.

Of course, not all SCM cloud vendors are created equal. To stay flexible and innovative, businesses need to connect their processes, empower their people, and simplify their operations and the associated supply chain systems. Oracle is uniquely positioned to provide a broad family of solutions that does just that. These proven, cloud-based SCM solutions enable you to quickly and securely deploy new services and capabilities that can be easily scaled to meet ongoing demand.

Oracle Fusion Cloud SCM connects your supply network with an integrated suite of cloud business applications designed and built to outpace change. Join the many forward-looking companies that have deployed Oracle Fusion supply chain management applications with minimal risk to achieve maximum flexibility. With Oracle Fusion SCM Cloud solutions, these companies no longer have to maintain on-premises infrastructure or stay on top of upgrades. They can receive Oracle’s latest, best-in-class SCM functionality through a flexible subscription-based pricing model.

To learn more, join our demo sessions to see Oracle Fusion Cloud SCM in action—and learn how it can help accelerate product innovation, keep goods moving, and elevate the customer experience.