Enterprise applications provider Oracle this week updated its supply chain planning portfolio with the release of Demantra 7.3. The latest version updates Demantra’s Demand Management, Advanced Forecasting and Demand Modeling, Real-Time Sales and Operations Planning, and Predictive Trade Planning applications.
The Demantra product aims to help manufacturers forecast customer demand and align their production plans to meet that demand. Among the enhancements in 7.3 are new tools to guide companies through product introductions, including the ability to create a demand profile for a new product based on the sales history of an existing product in the Demantra system.
Manufacturers of configure-to-order (CTO) products will find new features in the latest offering, the company said in a statement. Demantra 7.3 enhances a user’s ability to manage products with multiple optional or mandatory sub-components and track “interaction between items and components, including automatic calculation of dependent demand,” Oracle said.
For manufacturers looking to analyze demand patterns across various product time series, Oracle has extended Demantra’s forecasting capabilities to include pooled time series modeling in addition to the more traditional time series aggregations.
And the goal of sales and operations planning is more fully realized in v. 7.3, according to Oracle, which emphasized that the new release helps manufacturers better link financial plans to operating plans. Among other enhancements in 7.3, Oracle listed worksheet usability improvements and performance, as well as security and scalability enhancements.
On the technical side, the Real Time Sales and Operations and Planning module in version 7.3 can be integrated with Oracle Hyperion Planning — via the company’s Application Integration Architecture — for a more holistic planning process across the manufacturing organization.
Customers can also run Demantra 7.3 on Oracle Enterprise Linux, a feature that Oracle said will help companies looking to standardize on an open source operating platform.
When Oracle bought Demantra in 2006, it boosted the product’s demand and planning capabilities for manufacturers. The company has since worked to integrate those capabilities with other Oracle enterprise software offerings.
Demantra 7.3 is available now.