A closer look at Oracle R13

For software developers, relevance is largely dictated by the quality of updates combined with how these new additions tackle pain points in the current system. Oracle is making a big push into the cloud environment by updating its programs and adding significant functionality. Oracle Release 13 will serve to enhance its capabilities in a number of different industries, with notable contributions to its supply chain management features. Let’s take a closer look at Oracle R13 and what it means for businesses.

Making the cloud a priority

R13 is the latest effort by Oracle to reflect how much of a priority the cloud has become for the organization as well as businesses overall. Better insight, productivity and collaboration were key improvements that were consistent across the suite of Oracle cloud application updates. Oracle Supply Chain Management Cloud received the biggest changes, including 200 additional features and six new products in the latest release, TechTarget reported. Oracle R13 addresses the lack of visibility across the business space and enables collaboration to streamline business initiatives. These capabilities will be particularly important in the supply chain space as operations become more complex.

“More and more, customers expect cloud-based services to provide ways of confirming how services are being used, what patterns are emerging and where bottlenecks might exist, along with other insights into the applications and users,” technical consultant Robert Sheldon told TechTarget.

Oracle R13 addresses the lack of visibility in businesses. Oracle R13 addresses the lack of visibility in businesses.

 

Important feature introductions

Oracle R13 for supply chains focused largely on adding assets that would improve inventory management, financial orchestration, receipt accounting, cost management and shipping processes. These new products could make the vision of a fully integrated supply chain a reality in the near future. In addition, Oracle R13 introduced additional functionality that will streamline planning for demand, supply and sales and operations. With these planning applications, organizations can align around an integrated operating plan; accurately sense, predict and shape customer demand; and proactively monitor supply performance. In turn, businesses will be better able to meet their strategic goals, enhance operational efficiency, eliminate resource issues and improve customer satisfaction.

In addition to these essential features, R13 was the debut for Oracle’s Quality Management Cloud, Maintenance Cloud and IoT solutions. These functions facilitate quality controls throughout supply chain processes, define and maintain critical assets and prepare organizations for digitization. Above all, Oracle’s R13 release marks a critical step in adapting to the future of supply chain needs and providing businesses with the tools they need to succeed.

Integrating R13

In addition, Oracle’s representational state transfer (REST) API can be used with Oracle Supply Chain Management Cloud (Oracle SCM Cloud) to support integration requirements. This ensures that organizations can easily integrate data into new or existing business process flows and tie in any applications that are used to manage your supply chain. Using this architecture will also enable organizations to integrate with additional Oracle application suites and customize Oracle SCM Cloud to meet specific business requirements. Leaders will need to ensure stakeholder collaboration throughout the rollout process and test everything to mitigate problems early.

Whatever your integration or upgrade plans are, it’s important to plan appropriately and ensure that configurations are translated accurately. Inspirage has the expertise to help you deploy Oracle R13 as well as other ERP and SCM solutions within 90 days or less. To ensure that the Oracle upgrades are set up correctly and will be valuable to your supply chain, schedule a consultation with Inspirage today. For more information about R13, visit our R13 Resources page.

Kevin Creel | Key Contributor

Kevin Creel is a co-founder of Inspirage and currently serves as President, Strategy and Business Development. Mr. Creel leads the global business strategy and development organizations at Inspirage. He is a recognized subject matter expert for supply chain management business process and system design. Kevin frequently presents at industry and analyst events on subjects such as cloud supply chain systems. Prior to founding Inspirage, Kevin worked for Oracle Corporation as a product manager leading supply chain systems design with a focus on high tech and configure to order products. In this design role he acted as a “voice for the customer” leveraging his 15+ years of experience in business leadership and system engineering roles in the high tech and semiconductor industries. In 2008, Kevin was recognized by the Oracle Technical Network as an Oracle ACE for his thought leadership and educational contributions within the Oracle professional and user community.