Is Oracle Cloud ready for Process Industries? Let’s find out …

Posted on by Karen Theel

Process Manufacturing Features in Oracle Cloud: Top Features

What is Process Manufacturing?

Process industries are enterprises that produce complex products in either batches or continuous flow from variable ingredients and environmental conditions. A typical manufacturing process starts with a recipe that identifies the manufacturing equipment, instructions, ingredients and intermediates to be blended together to make standard bulk products. These products are filled into various packaging options.

Process products differ from discrete products. Once process ingredients are blended together, they cannot be pulled apart again into their separate components, but they can be corrected with the addition of ingredients or processing time. The quantities used to produce a product can vary due to the quality characteristics of the incoming ingredients. The manufacturing process can also vary depending on the size of the batch, equipment used or even environmental conditions, such a humidity. The manufacturing process can also yield multiple outputs called co-products and by-products from any step in the routing. All of this complexity needs to be supported in Planning and Cost Management too.

Process industries make up over 40% of all manufacturing and include Food and Beverage, Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Biotech and Natural Resources. The target industry for the first release of Process features in Oracle Manufacturing Cloud is Food and Beverage companies that have limited variability in their recipes and packaging.


 

What capabilities are available for Process Manufacturers in Manufacturing Cloud?

Mixed Mode Manufacturing in a Single Organization
Process industries are often a combination of process and discrete manufacturing methods. The actual consumable product is typically blended in a batch tank and managed by batch processing, however at some point the finished products is filled into a container, which can be considered a discrete work order manufacturing process. As of mid-2019 (R19B), Oracle Manufacturing Cloud supports both these types of manufacturing in a single organization and uses the work method to differentiate between the two. Discrete workorders and process batches will display on a single dispatch list view of your organization.

Co-Products and By-Products
In process industries, a co-product is produced along with the main product and carries equal importance as the main product. Whereas a by-product is not a planned product and often needs to be disposed of increasing the cost of manufacturing. Co-products and by-products can be yielded at any step of the process.

This feature was introduced mid-2019 (R19B) for work definitions, work orders and cost management and will be available for planning by the end of 2019 (R19D). Creation of the formula for coproduct/ by-products is in currently on the roadmap.

Batch Quantity Identification at Work Definition
In process industries, you may have many different recipes for exactly the same item, depending on seasonality, manufacturing resources and batch size and ingredient quality/ availability. The capability to add the batch quantity has been added so that you define work definitions in quantities other than one each. At this time, you can manually select from these work definition (recipes) to create a process work order. In the future, this will be used by planning and scheduling.

Scale by Ingredient or Product Quantity
While the goal is to produce standard batch sizes, nothing is certain in process manufacturing. Yields can be greater or less than planned, so scaling downstream operations is a necessity. In the latest release, the ability to scale a batch on a key ingredient or on the product has been added.

Lot / Serial Genealogy
The ability to trace a lot or serial number from initial receipt into your manufacturing facility through production and ultimately to your end customer was available for Discrete Manufacturing from it’s initial release. As of mid-2019 release, it has been enhanced to support batches and co-product and by-products.

Dual Units of Measure
Process industries need the ability to use many units of measure, you may need to receive and cost in one unit of measure, such as pounds, but in manufacturing work orders use a potency unit of measure. In the current release, standard unit of measure conversions are supported in receiving and inventory tracking however, process industries also require unit of measure conversion between unit of measure types at a lot number, for example kg to liters. Lot UOM inventory capabilities are on the future roadmap.

Quality Inspections
Quality is embedded in the Oracle Manufacturing Cloud solution. You can define specifications and identify when these specifications are used – receiving, WIP and AdHoc. WIP inspections are discrete oriented for 100% non-destructive inspection, WIP process sampling is on the future roadmap.

Constrained Planning
In the latest release (19D), you can plan the primary product, coproduct and byproduct outputs at different operations as specified by the process manufacturing work definition in a constraint-based plan. The planning engine will scale the batch quantity linearly to the primary output quantity as well as calculate all the output, ingredient input items, resource usage. Alternate sources of supply will also be recommended.

Regulatory Requirements
In pharmaceutical and biotech industries, the manufacturing system will need to comply with 21CFR Part11 and EU requirements which require those companies who use electronic systems for document and signature control must provide assurance that the electronic documents are authentic. The regulations all stipulate the necessity of the confidentiality of electronic records. Oracle Manufacturing Cloud has many electronic signatures and audit trail built into the product. In Release 19B, the documents have been enhanced to include co-products and by-products. Additional process industry transactions are planned, including an electronic batch record.

Benefits:

Process Manufacturing provides the following benefits:
• One data-model for mixed mode Discrete and Process Manufacturing in the same Organization
• Constrained planning for multiple outputs (primary product, co-product and by-product) at different operations
• Embedded Quality Management for receiving, manufacturing and adhoc inspections
• 21 CFR Part 11 Compliance

Future Releases: Oracle will continue to evolve process manufacturing over the next several years. Some items on the future roadmap include:
• Material reservations – assignment of ingredient lots ahead of batch release
• Operation Yields – identify the quantity of WIP blend moving from one operation to the next
• Integration to Internet of Things Production Monitoring Cloud
• WIP sampling – the ability to sample a predefined subset quantity of a batch as opposed to 100% inspection
• Parent- child lot creation – a grouping of child lots with the same characteristics under a parent lot
• Rule based Recipe selection
• Lot based UOM conversion

Karen Theel | Key Contributor

Karen Theel has more than 25 years experience developing manufacturing and quality applications. Ms. Theel started her career working as a microbiologist in a Pepsi plant and optimized many business processes including implementation of a LIMS system. After leaving Pepsi, she worked as a software trainer and quality engineer for a Process ERP startup called Datalogix, which ultimately was acquired by Oracle. She has had various roles in both the Oracle On-premise and Cloud SCM Development organizations, primarily focusing on life science and process industries. She was also responsible for managing the Manufacturing Customer and Field Advisory Boards to understand user requirements for improving visibility to shop floor operations, quality, compliance and productivity. Karen has a degree in Microbiology from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ and her MBA in Information Systems Management from Pace University.