Oracle adds AI, automation capabilities to SCM, HCM Fusion apps

Oracle on Wednesday said it is adding new AI and automation capabilities to its Fusion Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Fusion Human Capital Management (HCM) suites to help enterprises increase efficiency across divisions.

The updates to the SCM suite, which have been made generally available, include an AI-based planning tool, an enhanced quote-to-cash process for Fusion applications, and new rebate management capabilities.

The AI-based planning tool, according to the company, is expected to aid enterprises in improving the accuracy of lead time assumptions across their supply chain through machine learning.

“The new feature can improve planning efficiency and results by identifying lead time trends, anomalies, and their potential impact with prioritized actions and resolution suggestions,” the company said in a statement.

The new planning tool has been added to the planning advisor inside Oracle Supply Chain Planning, an application that is part of the company’s SCM suite.

Since last year, Oracle has been gradually adding new capabilities, including some AI and automation features, to its supply chain suite.

Last year in February, Oracle introduced machine learning-based shipping time forecasting along with real-time analytics for the supply chain.

In October, the company released a new supply chain management application customized for healthcare companies, dubbed Oracle SCM for Healthcare. The application offers capabilities such as a supply chain planning service and added capabilities for the Oracle Procurement application to help drive down supply chain costs.

As part of the new updates to its SCM suite, Oracle is offering an enhanced quote-to-cash process across all Fusion applications.

Quote-to-cash (QTC) process is a part of the sales cycle in an enterprise that constitutes end-to-end delivery of a product or service. Typical components of the process include sales, account management, order fulfillment, billing, and accounts receivables functions.

The enhanced QTC process, according to the company, will help enterprises centralize subscription orchestration, comply with accounting requirements, improve order management, reduce costs while decreasing time to market, and improve customer experience.

“The integrated solution connecting Subscription Management (CX), Configure Price and Quote (CX), Order Management (SCM), and Financials (ERP),enables customers to quote, capture, and fulfill orders (of mixed physical goods, subscriptions, and services) more efficiently and recognize revenue accordingly,” the company said in a statement.

Oracle has added new rebate management capabilities inside the SCM suite to aid enterprises to optimize discounts or promotional campaigns targeted toward their customers.

The new capabilities automate the rebate management process, the company said, adding that automation includes rebate calculation, financial settlement, and closing customer claims.

This helps reduce administration costs and improves customer experience, the company said, adding that the new capabilities are being offered as part of Oracle’s Channel Revenue Management application under the SCM suite.

New updates to Oracle Fusion HCM suite

In addition to the new updates to the SCM suite, Oracle has announced a new application, dubbed Oracle Grow, in an effort to add more AI capabilities to its HCM suite.

“Oracle Grow is designed to enhance the employee experience and improve performance by engaging with individuals to discover new growth opportunities and empowering managers to align upskilling and reskilling with business priorities,” Chris Leone, executive vice president of applications development at Oracle Cloud HCM, said in a statement.

To be offered as part of Oracle Me that was released in April last year under the HCM suite, the AI-powered application delivers personalized insights and intelligent guidance across all interactions from Oracle Learning, Oracle Dynamic Skills, and Oracle Talent Management in one interface, the company said.

In order to provide insights, the AI engine inside the application is trained on an enterprise’s data in a controlled environment before being rolled out completely, according to Natalia Rachelson, group vice president of outbound product management for Fusion Applications at Oracle.

“We would start small, and we would see what kind of results the AI is recommending and then we work with customers to fine-tune the models to adjust to their specific sort of datasets,” Rachelson said, adding that the data normalization is done by Oracle data scientists.

This means that for new Oracle Fusion customers, rolling out Oracle Grow’s AI capabilities would require a longer time, the group vice president said.

Oracle Grow’s AI capabilities include growth experience for employees, suggestions for career paths within their enterprise, personalized development suggestions, and managerial skilling.

The AI engine in Oracle Grow, according to the company, can suggest development opportunities that workers need to adapt to changes in their role, discover new growth options, and achieve their career aspirations. “By unifying people data from across Oracle Cloud HCM, Oracle Grow provides personalized guidance on the next steps employees should take based on their responsibilities, career interests, desired skills, individual learning styles, and changes in the business,” the company said in a statement.