Alex Love
Managing Director
Someone recently asked me why Oracle Supply Chain Management (SCM) was a good choice for manufacturers. Manufacturers today face immense pressure to build resilient supply chains, particularly due to global disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions.
Addressing Key Challenges in Manufacturing
Manufacturing spans various sub-industries, each with unique needs, from discrete to process manufacturing.
So, when thinking about where exactly to start, I considered the challenges that most businesses face.
1. Risk Management & Resilience
Risk is a constant concern in supply chain operations—when disruptions occur, cash flow halts, and both supplier and customer relationships can suffer. Oracle SCM harnesses embedded AI and machine learning to assess historical and real-time data, enabling advanced risk prediction. AI models can detect patterns that signal potential disruptions—such as supplier delays or demand surges—before they occur, allowing proactive mitigation strategies.
2. Seamless Integration and Real-Time Data Flow
A concern of many companies is ensuring smooth integration and the flow of real-time data between systems or physical locations, from Order Placement to fulfilment, logistics and delivery.
This is one challenge addressed by Oracle that is often taken for granted by those who deliver such solutions. The Oracle product suite is built to work together and is all natively connected, therefore minimising the complexity of integration and information flow. Unlike fragmented niche solutions, Oracle’s unified ecosystem enhances efficiency and data accuracy, making it an attractive option for manufacturers of all sizes.
3. Real-Time Visibility & Automation
Oracle SCM also provide real-time visibility into the supply chain, enabling businesses to track goods and shipments, monitor inventory levels and automate supply orders automatically when the Inventory levels are lower. This transparency assists in detecting bottlenecks, risks, and areas for improvement, all on a single platform.
AI-powered automation is a game-changer here. Oracle SCM applies machine learning to predict stock requirements, automate procurement workflows and dynamically adjust demand forecasts. This not only heavily reduces manual work, but also improves accuracy based on real-world events and seasonality trends.
4. Scalability for Global Operations
For Enterprise manufacturers, scalability is essential, often on a global basis. This is a huge strength of a vendor like Oracle. Oracle’s cloud-based solutions are designed to scale with a growing business and support global operations, especially beneficial for manufacturers who operate in multiple regions and need a system that can handle complex, multinational supply chains.
With evolving global trade policies, including shifting tariffs and trade barriers in key markets such as China, the EU, and the US. Businesses need flexible, scalable solutions to navigate cost uncertainties. Oracle helps manufacturers adapt to these changing dynamics while maintaining operational efficiency.
5. Cost reduction & Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Whilst Oracle’s applications themselves typically reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) of software licenses by uniting all of its capabilities, they are also really strong at improving demand forecasting and streamlining production processes, helping manufacturers reduce costs.
- Lower TCO: By consolidating capabilities into a single platform, Oracle eliminates the need for multiple disconnected solutions, reducing licensing and maintenance expenses.
- Optimised Demand Forecasting: Improved forecasting and streamlined production processes minimise waste and enhance profitability.
- Efficient Resource Management: A unified platform simplifies IT management, reducing the need for specialised technical expertise and further lowering costs.
To summarise, Oracle is a great choice for manufacturing businesses that need to manage their End-to-End Supply Chain. It removes risk, aggregates data, simplifies integration and reduces cost. It has additional benefits for organisations with operations across borders, managing languages and tariffs across multiple entities.
Embedded AI, included in Oracle’s licenses as standard, empowers manufacturers to make smarter, faster decisions.
If those sound like challenges you might be facing, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Enigen team here or drop the Enigen team an email at [email protected]