GE Power adopts a modern supply chain strategy with Oracle Cloud SCM

GE Power is a leading global energy provider for more than a third of the world, serving customers in more than 150 countries. The company’s core mission is to deliver energy equipment, technology, and solutions while creating innovation for the future.

GE Power had more than five ERP systems from different vendors as well as other legacy systems scattered across 100 locations. With all these disparate systems and no single source for data, all forecasting and demand management was running independently. This led to an increase in inventory turnover–a measure of units sold compared to units on hand. With this increased turnover, sales were decreasing, and the business was losing out on opportunities.

The company’s planning and forecasting accuracy was also impacted by the disparate systems. GE Power had to rely on push-based planning, which doesn’t always line up with true demand. This caused problems such as higher carrying costs, missed sales, and rescheduled production cycles. Additionally, with subdivisions running their own forecasting with independent methods, the accuracy was only around 55% at best. Also, generating forecasts with manual spreadsheet work took days to accomplish.

To meet demand, adapt to changes in the market, and forecast accurately, GE Power knew it needed a change.

GE Power had success running its services business with Oracle for several years, and GE had been using Oracle across the business for more than two decades. Recognizing the powerful business processes created by combining services with supply chain, GE Power selected Oracle Cloud Supply Chain Management (SCM).

The flexibility of Oracle Supply Chain Planning to customize and easily integrate with different systems across the company was also a value add. By connecting different areas of the business and consolidating systems, GE Power could gain a single source of truth without having to reconcile with multiple teams around the globe.

The company also valued Oracle's reporting capabilities. GE Power recognized the benefit of bringing its advanced supply chain planning onto one platform, providing greater visibility to leadership with both supply and demand in one place.

By consolidating five ERP systems and other fragmented pieces into one location with Oracle, GE Power was able to connect the dots across departments and simplify its supply chain.

Before, users had to manage hundreds of separate spreadsheets and dashboards to forecast. With Oracle Supply Chain Planning, the company virtually eliminated spreadsheet work and consolidated 15 separate demand forecasting tools down to one. This allowed users to manipulate data and generate forecasts from one central hub, saving the company countless hours of work. What used to take over five days now takes only half a day with a process that can be easily replicated by teams around the world. In addition, forecast accuracy improved from 55% to 70%.

With a single source of truth, the company also dives deeper into data and is more strategic with planning, using automation for scenario modeling and performing what-if analyses. The sophistication of all the new tools was a game changer for the business. Tackling new challenges is easier with tools in one place.

After moving to the cloud, GE Power processed customer orders and built them into demand planning and forecasting for improved replenishment planning. From there, the company added it into the net demand plan and ran capacity planning for various factories and warehouses and connect that all with supplier management. Having all these processes work off each other in one tool allowed the company to streamline the entire sales and operations cycle, making its supply chain more efficient.

As a requirement for the company, GE Power also used Oracle to move from push-based planning to pull-based planning. This strategy helped the company use real-time demand and therefore gain more inventory efficiency. This reduced costs for the business, improved service for customers, and most importantly, enabled GE Power to adapt to demand faster. By combining this strategy with the advanced capabilities of Oracle Supply Chain Planning, the company can be proactive with the constant changes in supply chain, big or small.

GE Power selected Trinamix as its implementation partner. Trinamix helped GE Power achieve end-to-end supply chain visibility and a unified sales and operations planning process across new unit manufacturing and parts businesses, thus helping improve the bottom line.