Implementing Oracle Maintenance Cloud with VIZIYA

March 8, 2019

Any company that has completed a major, large-scale software implementation understands the challenges that can arise. Software implementations require a large time and resource commitment. There is no doubt that these types of projects are a lot of work, and often there are bumps in the road.

In recent years, Oracle has released the Oracle Cloud, and more specifically the Maintenance Cloud, with the goal of enabling efficient and productive maintenance operations.

VIZIYA Global (formerly Global PTM) has been assisting companies with their Oracle eAM implementations for decades. VIZIYA Global combines maintenance best practices with a thorough understanding of Oracle eAM to help clients turn maintenance challenges into sustainable operational improvements.

As with any new software option, implementing the Oracle Maintenance Cloud comes with a unique set of challenges. Not only do organizations lack the insight into past implementations, but they also need to take a holistic view of their business processes and how they can utilize the Oracle Cloud.

To implement a successful Oracle Maintenance Cloud solution the following 9 Cloud components should be taken into consideration.  The Maintenance Cloud Project Team must be experienced with all 9 components and with maintenance best practices.  The Team must also own the solution design and implementation. 

• Inventory Cloud
• Product Management Cloud
• Maintenance Cloud
• Cost Management Cloud
• Procurement Cloud Integration
• Projects Cloud Integration
• OTBI Reporting
• VIZIYA Cloud Applications
• PaaS Applications

Each of these cloud components needs to be considered carefully for the successful implementation of the Oracle Maintenance Cloud and for the betterment of your overall business and maintenance processes. Each component has individual elements that require careful consideration.

Inventory Cloud

The first step is to design the Maintenance / Inventory Organizational structure for your business.  For this, you will need to consider the maintenance work execution model, inventory consumption and replenishment processes, and cost management requirements.

The inventory cloud includes the following 9 elements:

• Maintenance Enabled Organization Definition
• Maintenance Organizational Costing Strategy, Structure & Definition
• MRO (Maintenance Repair and Operations) Inventory Control
• MRO Item Replenishment Strategy
• Pre-defined Storage Locations
• Define Cycle Counting and Physical Inventory Procedures
• Forecast of Inventory Item and Direct Receipts to support Work Order Scheduling
• Consumable Inventory Tracking and Cost Analysis
• Consignment Inventory management with integration to the Procurement Cloud

Product Management Cloud

The Product Management Cloud addresses the business need to identify Asset Items and Inventory Items to support business analytics.  It defines the foundation for Item Identification, Bills of Materials, Purchase Requisitions, Purchase Orders, and Cost Management Strategies. 

The Product Management Cloud includes the following 6 elements:

• Asset Item Definition to support Asset Hierarchy Structure & Analysis
• Asset Item Categorization & Equipment Type Attributes
• MRO Item Definition to support Taxonomies across all Organizations
• MRO Item Categorization, Attributes, & Cross References
• MRO Item Inventory Control by Organization
• MRO Item Replenishment Planning by Organization

Maintenance Cloud

The Maintenance Cloud provides the framework for Work Identification, Work Definition, Work Execution, and Maintenance Analytics to support identified and well-defined best practice business processes. 

The Maintenance Cloud includes the following 15 elements:

• Asset Definition, Categorization, & Attributes
• Parent-Child Relationships to support Cost Rollups
• Transferring Organizational Asset Ownership
• Maintenance Crew Identification
• Preventative Maintenance Scheduling Techniques
• External Asset Deployment & Tracking
• Asset Parts Lists
• Job Plans including Material, Resource, & Supplier Requirements
• Work Request Business Process
• Work Order Definition, Planning & Scheduling
• Material Allocation & Picking Business Process
• Work Order Operational Execution Business Process
• Material, Resource, Direct Procurement, & Outside Processing Tracking and Consumption
• Work Order Charging: Manual vs Automated & Push vs Pull Functionalities
• Work Order Completion Process

Cost Management Cloud

The Cost Management Cloud enables the configuration of flexible, yet concise maintenance and inventory costing rules.  The mapping sources, mapping sets, and subledger accounting rules manage the assembly of the entire cost accounting string, one segment at a time as necessary, to support any business scenario. 

The Cost Management Cloud includes the following 9 elements:

• Cost Management Sources
• Cost Management Account Mapping
• Cost Elements, Valuation Structures, & Profiles
• Cost Accounting Methods & Attributes
• Subledger Accounting Rules
• Journal Line Rules
• Resources Costing
• Work Order Costing
• Inventory, Expense, & Direct Procurement Receipt Accounting

Procurement Cloud Integration

The Procurement Cloud Integration manages critical sourcing and forecasting for both the Maintenance Cloud and Inventory Cloud business processes.  The requisitioning, receiving to inventory, receiving to work orders, receipt accounting, usage and supplier analytics are foundational elements of a successful Maintenance Cloud solution. 

The Procurement Cloud Integration includes the following 7 elements:

• Storeroom Replenishment Planning Execution
• MRO Item Sourcing to Blanket or Contract Agreements
• Purchasing Categories & Accounting
• Requisitioning of MRO Items
• Requisitioning of Description based Items
• Supply / Demand Planning & Forecasting
• Tracking Procurement to Work Orders & Assets

Projects Cloud Integration

Integration to the Projects Cloud currently requires a consulting-based design.  It demands creative solutions from a partner that understands how to integrate the Maintenance Cloud to the Projects Cloud while respecting maintenance best practices. 

The Projects Cloud Integration includes the following 5 elements:

• Project & Task Identification against a Work Order
• Work Order Manual data entry or System Validated data selection
• Reporting: Export / Import Solution
• Integration Solution
• PaaS Application Solution

OTBI (Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence) Reporting

The OTBI Cloud is an excellent reporting tool when configured properly.  Access to report on specific data requires careful consideration of how the User Roles are defined.  Custom reporting across multiple Cloud Modules is common and thus requires a detailed understanding of the new Oracle Cloud table structures for these 9 Components that support a Maintenance Cloud solution. 

The OTBI includes the following 4 elements:

• Custom Roles to grant user access to OTBI Subject Areas
• Out of the Box Reporting by Subject Area
• Custom SQL based Business Publisher / Export Reporting
• Create Key Business Reporting like: Backlog, Bad Actor, WO Costing, WO Supply/Demand, Inventory Validation, Asset Repair History, etc.

VIZIYA WorkAlign^® Cloud

The VIZIYA WorkAlign^® Cloud contains applications that significantly enhance the Oracle Maintenance Cloud experience.  These applications offer seamless integration with other Cloud applications so that users can concentrate on high value activities that increase business process efficiency and effectiveness.  The VIZIYA WorkAlign® Cloud maintains a data lake that enables robust reporting across Cloud platforms using any analytics reporting tool.

VIZIYA WorkAlign^® Cloud includes the following 6 elements:

• Planning & Scheduling
• Work Execution
• Inventory Optimization
• Budgeting
• Warranty
• IoT, AI and Machine Learning

PaaS (Platform as a Service) Applications

PaaS Applications are custom. These are only built when all other solution options have been deemed insufficient or when a temporary solution is required until standard functionality is available.  Commonly used to obtain data manually and/or from external systems and integrate with the Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications. 

The PaaS Applications include the following 3 elements:

• Projects Integration
• Mass Entry Front-Ends
• External System Integrations

It is much easier to be successful in your Oracle Maintenance Cloud implementation when you partner with a team that follows maintenance best practices and who have successfully implemented the Oracle Cloud.

As Oracles largest partner in the maintenance sphere, VIZIYA Global has positioned itself to be the leader in Oracle Maintenance Cloud implementations. Recently, VIZIYA Global completed the largest and first production implementation of an Oracle Maintenance Cloud solution at the Wonderful Company. You can read the full press release, or watch our on-demand webcast “Implementing Oracle Maintenance Cloud – A Case Study with VIZIYA, Oracle and The Wonderful Company”.

VIZIYA Global provides consulting services that rapidly assess your organizations’ maturity and capability to implement the Oracle Maintenance Cloud and VIZIYA WorkAlign^® Cloud suite of applications. 

For more information on how VIZIYA Global can help you Go-Live on the Oracle Maintenance Cloud, Contact Us for a Maintenance Cloud Readiness Assessment.  We will work directly with your business users and IT personnel to craft a best practice solution and plan, exploiting these 9 components.  The Assessment is commonly completed in 2 to 4 weeks, providing companies with the details required to make solid business decisions. 

To learn more about how the VIZIYA Global can help your organization better access and utilize real-time data for your maintenance processes, contact one of our reps now: