JD Edwards ERP and Oracle’s Supply Chain Planning Cloud 

Since the release of the ERP / SCM Cloud release 13, Oracle offers a complete Demand and Supply Chain Planning solution, consisting of 4 main modules:

• Demand Management: This SCM module is used to collect and refine sales histories, calculate the best possible forecasts and collaborate to resolve differences with other types of forecasts (customer forecasts, sales budgets, business forecasts).
   
• Sales & Operations Planning: Thanks to configurable planning cycles, this module empowers you to define the stages needed to build and validate your Sales and Production Plan.  Dashboards, layouts, and detailed tables, as well as collaboration tools, help you to build consensus around a realistic plan.  
   
• Supply Planning: This module enables you to calculate supply plans (purchases, transfers, fabrications) that meet demand while also optimizing stock levels. The available functionalities allow you to identify the exceptions and to solve them, thanks to the navigation and visualization tools delivered as standard or through configuration. 
   
• Planning Central: This module is the  foundation of the SCP Cloud Service offer, it makes it possible to store all the common data and also has all the basic functionalities used by the other modules,

4 Reasons for JD Edwards users to look at Supply Chain Planning Cloud Service

Because of the overlap between JD Edwards Enterprise One planning modules and functionalities in Oracle Supply Chain Cloud, it seems reasonable to ask the question about the value implementing Oracle Supply Chain Planning Cloud.

For me, there are 4 key reasons to look seriously at SCP Cloud. 

1. Graphics and User Interface: A major effort has been made to facilitate user navigation.  The homepages of the various modules are composed of "layouts" including "infotiles", graphs and tables. Navigation is no longer done by menus or menu options but by "drilling-down" or "drilling-around" through these "infotiles" and graphs. Data requiring greater vigilance is always highlighted. Key users can also build their own layouts tables, graphs and navigation logic.
    
2. Simulation capability: Unlike EnterpriseOne, for all SCP Cloud, modules, it is possible to modify the imported data without impacting the "live" data. It is also possible to create "simulations sets" which allows you to use several datasets in parallel. In addition, it is easy to duplicate a plan, adjust or change some data and compare the different plans graphically.
    

3. One environment for all modules and common collaboration tools: In most of the advanced planning packages, the different modules have different user interfaces, navigation logic and lack integration. In contrast, all the modules in the SCP Cloud suite are built on a common foundation. Master data and business data are common across all modules. The calculation results performed in one module or the updated data during simulation serve as input for another module, allowing for one version of the truth.  The collaboration tools work in all modules which  makes it easy to share information. 
    

4. Advanced features: 

• Calculation of sales forecasts. The calculation engine is based on Oracle’s on-premise  Demantra Application and therefore more complete than the calculation engine in EnterpriseOne. It includes 15 calculation modes, some of which are designed to deal with intermittent demand. Unlike E1, the "best fit" does not correspond to the calculation method which fits best with the historical data, instead it comes from an algorithm which includes a weighted combination of all the relevant calculation methods. In addition, an unlimited number of causal factors can be used to understand unexpected changes in demand in the past and anticipate their impact in the future.
   
• Planning cycle and construction of a realistic and consensual plan. In the module "Sales & Operation Planning", it is possible to define participative flows to build the S&OP following a logic based on best practices. The goal is to facilitate collaboration between relevant departments  (Sales, Marketing, Finance and Operations). It is possible to consider critical resources and to calculate plans under constraints.
   
• Optimization of stocks. In Supply Planning or Planning Central it is possible to define security stocks in quantity or in the period of coverage. It is also possible to calculate security stocks based on the desired service level.

Future developments that will add value

Despite the really useful functionality in Oracle SCP Cloud, not everything is perfect, just yet:

• Some of the features offered in on-premise modules are still missing. For example, the functions of setting cannibalization rates for new products or the planning of manufacturing under constraints. However,  I would be surprised if these features were not available in future versions.
   
• Even if tools or connectors already exist it seems difficult to avoid having to develop "treatments" to feed SCP Cloud with data from E1.

Who should consider looking more closely at SCP Cloud?

Some of the cases where Oracle SCP Cloud would make sense for JD Edwards users are outlined below.

• If you are using the manufacturing model make-to-stock or order-to-stock, and/or are faced with unstable demand that is difficult to predict, with strong stock constraints then Demand Management could help you. In particular, the advanced, collaborative forecasting functionality which allows for forecasting to be aligned with sales budgets. 
   
• If you are consistently finding it challenging to deliver a realistic and consensual Sales and Operation Plan within a reasonable time, then the Sales and Operation Planning Module could help you to collaborate more effectively and to prepare a realistic plan that can be approved at a single meeting. A particularly useful feature of this module is that real-time simulations can be done if the proposed plan is not entirely satisfactory.
   
• If you often need to optimize inventory levels or check the impact of operational choices (a temporary increase in capacity, ad hoc subcontracting, express purchases, etc.) then Supply Planning or Planning Central is potentially a good fit.  Similarly, these modules are also useful if you are faced with challenges like when the proposed procurement plan does not meet demand satisfactorily and it is necessary to correct the capabilities or prioritize the requests to be served. Planning Central or Supply Planning allows for simulations to evaluate the impact of certain choices, pegging features allow you to know the origin of the request and prioritize the supplies to launch accordingly.

In summary, if you find the features offered as standard in EnterpriseOne not comprehensive enough and you are interested in moving towards the Cloud through a hybrid Cloud model, then the SCP Cloud suite definitely deserves your attention.

Depending on your needs, capacity and ambitions, you could either start with a module (Demand Management, S & OP or Supply Planning) or decide to adopt all the modules in the suite. 

Learn More about Cloud Supply Chain Modules

• Watch a tour of Demand Management Module
• Watch a Demo of S&OP which uses rich analytics and simulation capabilities, to help monitor performance, simulate alternative what-if plans, and respond to changing market conditions.
• Watch a Demo of Oracle Cloud Planning Central that helps you to effectively manage supply and demand.
• Contact us to learn about your options for optimising JD Edwards with Oracle Cloud.