On the evening of September 30, Oracle Corporation will kick off its Annual OpenWorld Customer Conference in San Francisco, an event that is expected to draw upwards of 50,000 attendees. As in previous years, Supply Chain Matters will be in attendance at this year’s Open World, along with one of our named sponsors, Infosys Ltd.

Infosys, a named Diamond sponsor, will have a major presence and will premiere its Oracle specific service and technology offerings. One of these capabilities is termed Demand to Deliver (D2D) which has been initially tailored to address supply chain business process and information technology challenges within the high tech and consumer electronics industry.

Supply Chain Matters recently had the opportunity to interview Rajeev Ranjan, Infosys Associate Vice President and Global Practice Head of the Oracle Practice focused for Manufacturing Industries specifically regarding packaged D2D capabilities.

The following outlines our questions and Rajeev’s responses.

1)  It is our understanding that the Infosys and Oracle Demand to Deliver capability is primarily targeted toward high-tech industry clients.   Would you summarize for our audience, what Infosys believes are the top three to five business challenges currently facing the high-tech industry?

The global business scenario has been challenging for Hi Tech enterprises:

Demand Volatility

Supply Chain volatility and uncertainty have permanently Increased and volatility may be the single largest challenge facing high-tech manufacturers today. Supply chain volatility—particularly demand volatility—is on the rise, driven by increased global competition and changes in buying behavior. Consumer expectations continue to escalate while brand loyalty decreases. Demand is growing for products specific to individual local markets, adding new layers of supply chain complexity.

Example: Recent shortages, such as those in electronic components and selected raw materials, indicate that many high tech companies do not have the flexibility to meet increasingly volatile demand.

Shrinking Margins

The lifeblood of high-technology companies is bringing new products to market. However shrinking design cycle times and explosive global competition combined with a shrinking market window have been the major factors contributing to margin erosion.

Shortening Product Lifecycles and Faster Time-to-market Requirements

Most products are mass customized and the rapidly depreciating inventories due to short market  window along with misalignment in supply/demand have added to the woes of the industry.

Increasing Product Complexity

High Tech firms are constantly striving to differentiate their products to prevent commoditization (adding, on average, 1.7 new products for every product retired). This has led to increased product complexity.

Regulation and Compliance Restrictions

Legislation and consumer behavior will drive the need for supply chain professionals to ensure environmental considerations are a consistent facet of their strategy. Cost savings and green initiatives are now so connected that supply chain managers must develop holistic strategies that identify opportunities to achieve cost savings, meet regulatory compliance and lower environmental impact.

 

2) What specific services and capabilities do Infosys consultants provide in the bundling of a Demand to Deliver (D2D) capability?

Following are the specific capabilities Infosys provides for clients embarking on D2D journey. This is in addition to taking the end to end responsibility for implementing the solution tailored to clients needs utilizing their world class delivery model with 98% successful projects..

Pre-defined  but modifiable Processes and Business Requirements

  • Based on Process Centric Framework taking an end to end Business view, rather than a functional siloed view.
  • Tailored for High Tech Manufacturing vertical and  based on industry best practices and Oracle out of the box process flows.
  • Providing the ability to jumpstart the BPR, CRP and Process Modeling Phase of Oracle implementation, bringing process efficiencies and lowering overall duration and TCO for the Implementation.
  • Modular structure allows several variations of the solution offerings to suit various customer contexts

Pre-defined Industry Leading Key Performance Indicators

  • Tailored for High Tech manufacturing
  • Jumpstarts the Business Case Build Phase of an Oracle implementation
  • Helps baseline, benchmark , measure and refine the process and solution efficiency for the organization and the overall implementation.

Pre-defined  BI Analytics, Reporting and SOA based Integration Capabilities between Oracle    Applications, Customizations on top of Oracle out of the box offerings

  • Tailored for High Tech Manufacturing vertical
  • Customizations on top of Oracle out of the box offerings.
  • A focus on actionable insight leading to Intelligent supply chain, end to end visibility and control
  • Jumpstarts the Design and Solution Phase of Oracle Implementation, lowering overall duration and TCO for the customer.

Pre-defined but modifiable Configuration Parameter Data Sheets

  • Tailored for High Tech Manufacturing vertical
  • Jumpstarts the Solution Phase of Oracle Implementation, lowering overall duration and Total Cost of Ownership for the implementation.

Leveraging best of breed, cutting edge, pre integrated Oracle applications

  • Jumpstarts the testing and deployment phases of the Oracle implementation, lowering overall project duration and total cost of ownership.
  • Makes the solution future proof and Fusion ready.
  • Propels highly integrated and efficient value chain

 

Joint Infosys-Oracle Innovation Center

The Infosys-Oracle Innovation Center is a state-of-the-art facility jointly established by Infosys and Oracle Corporation at Oracle’s global headquarters in Redwood Shores, California.

The objectives of Innovation Center are:

  • Discuss Business Issues and understand how to leverage Oracle Based Solutions towards Business Growth
  • Witness Tailored Demonstrations showcasing innovations that will support clients Strategy
  • Get Insights about Oracle Product Landscape and Roadmap
  • Collaborate and Understand Our Business Value Articulation Framework and enhance clients  ROI.

 

3)  Why did Infosys elect to partner with Oracle to offer Demand to Deliver capabilities, and what distinguishes these capabilities from other approaches in the market?

There are 3 components that make up the Oracle/Infosys unique value proposition.  In all cases the combined synergy exceeds the standalone value proposition for each company.

1.  The D2D end to end process is comprised of multiple components of the Oracle portfolio of products.  Infosys has the industry understanding of the process and the Oracle edge applications skills combined to create unique demand to delivery capability for High Technology.

2.  The Demand to deliver process crosses multiple Lines of Business in the enterprise.  Infosys brings credentialed understanding to Oracle’s end to end solutions.

3.  Industry depth with focus on the supply chain brings Infosys and Oracle together in High Technology.

Infosys/Oracle combination provides the best return on investment for clients on D2D journey in comparison to any other partners.

 

4)  Could other industry supply chains benefit from these same capabilities?

D2D could definitely be leveraged across other industry supply chains though the level of fitment might vary. Infosys did a study recently to find the fitment across Automotive and Industrial manufacturing supply chains.  The study showed a high degree of fitment across 5 business functions:  (Sales and Operations Planning, Demand Management Sensing & Shaping, Operational Planning and Production Scheduling, Warehouse Management and Fulfillment and Logistics).

 

5)  Can we anticipate this unique type of pre-bundled applications and integration services, targeted toward unique industry needs, be included in other Infosys offerings to clients?

Yes we have a number of offerings to the clients for their unique industry needs that are pre-bundled applications and integrations.

A glimpse into some of our investments specifically in the SCM domain leveraging Oracle:

  • Manufacturing- Other than the Demand-Deliver solution discussed in this blog series, Infosys has invested in multiple other initiatives for supply chain based solution for Manufacturing. To mention some, we have an integrated solution on Project Driven Supply Chain (PDSC), an inventory visibility solution and we also have a planned approach for Co-development with Oracle on Fusion SCM modules. Our center of excellence for BI, MDM, PLM & VCP enables strong foundation for supplier collaboration and supply chain visibility
  • Retail – Infosys has a multi channel commerce solution including Hosted web platform. We leverage product, order & merchandise management using Oracle technologies. We have invested in a building a specialized group with skills in planning & optimization. Also, we have a mobility solution for integrating Oracle PIM and Retail POS to mobile devices.
  • Energy – Infosys leverages it’s Oil and Gas solution for Project and MRO Supply Chain (Project Driven Supply Chain for Oil and Gas industry). Also, our high Performance Data Management solution  enables the capture and analysis of real time drilling and production data

 

This concludes our Supply Chain Matters interview discussing Infosys D2D bundled capabilities leverage Oracle technology.  Readers with interest in these bundled capabilities can gain more information by either reviewing the Infosys Oracle OpenWorld dedicated web site or visiting the Infosys Solutions Showcase at the conference.

Bob Ferrari

Disclosure: Infosys Ltd. is one of other designated sponsors for the Supply Chain Matters blog.