VCP Cloud - Planning Central

Oracle Supply Chain Planning Cloud - "Planning Central" surely seems impressive with the new simpler GUI, in-memory planning engine and pre-integrated cloud. Release 11 is first release for Fusion Planning Central. 

Planning Central provides demand planning, inventory planning and supply planning capabilities all in one application with linkage to execution systems. 

• Demand Management: Forecast based of shipment/booking history with sales orders consuming forecast. Stat engine supporting causal factors with NPI capabilities inbuild
• Inventory Planning: Stat safety stock derivation based of demand volatility & stocking goals. 
• Supply Planning:  Material and Resource requirement calculation based of SS and customer demand with lead times, calendars, availability etc. in consideration.

Planning Central key features:

• Unified Data model with common set of dimensions for supply & demand plans
• 200+ Seeded measures
• End to End business process flow support (CollectData>PlanDemand>PlanInventory>PlanSupplies>Execute)
• Integrated with OrderMgmt, MaterialsMgmt, InventoryMgmt, Mfg & Purchasing Cloud Services
• Integrated with Fusion ERP for collections & planning output releases
• OOTB Plan Summary dashboard
• Planner Workbench (Configurable)
• Seeded Data views (Configurable)
• Seeded Analytics (Configurable)
• Embedded Analytics (Configurable)
• Excel Export/Import option

Here is a demo from Oracle on Planning Central's first release. 

Remember all the configurations/setups for Planning Central very much like other Cloud applications is required to be done using Functional Setup Manager(FSM). Offering is Value Chain Planning and functional area is Planning Central. FSM should be used for setting up source systems definition, profiles, loading data and configuring planning analytics. 

Demantra 12.2.5.1 New Features

Oracle released Demantra 12.2.5.1 some time back and there is already a patch on top of the first release which is mandatory for 12.2.5.x customers. With this release though Oracle has brought in couple of interesting enhancements to Demantra and OOTB integration. Here is a summary of what's new per in Demand Management module, no other modules have any additional features in this release.

• Site level integration with EBS enhanced: EBS-DM integration enhanced to allow clients collect historical sales into Demantra from EBS Order Management at account or customer level of Site hierarchy. This used to be a typical customization at client locations and with this option surely customers with EBS integration implementing Demantra or looking for upgrades will be able to leverage this OOTB feature now. Implementing this option will also take care of concerns in later upgrades/patches to EBS side as this becomes a supported option.
• Improved Security: Earlier releases used HTTP calls to communicate between modeler/engine/application server mainly, also allowed a user within firewall to launch engine or other calls if they had the right URL. Calling methodology now uses database layer & oracle wallet to improve security. 
• Enhanced Workflow Tool: Few small but handy changes like SAVE AS option to copy a workflow definition & ability to view(no changes allowed if not an owner) workflow definition owned by other users. Additionally an importance enhancement to allow indicating in workflow step, from which step workflow should restart in case of failures. This surely adds to recovery ability of workflows.
• Global instance enhanced timezone support: User's timezone will be considered in worksheets or any other user actions like simulation launch. E.g. history and first forecast bucket will transition based of user's timezone and not based of instance system timezone.
• Intermittent flag to IO: Inventory Optimization module now gets an intermittency indicator along with Forecast and forecast accuracy which it leverages to improve Safety stock & Service level. 
• Mobility Support enhanced: Demantra Anywhere now supports most regular worksheet functionality, additionally users can launch methods, run simulations, and introduce new products. 
• GUI: Improved GUI for better user experience. New release also allows selecting a pre 7.3.1.4 UI or revised 7.3.1.4 UI or latest 12.2.5.1 interface. 
• 
  

Demantra on Cloud

Demantra is now available on Cloud with Oracles' Infrastructure as a Service(IaaS) allowing customers to setup a Demantra instance on Cloud or to clone an existing instance into Cloud. There are currently though some limitations on usability, and this platform is supported for setting up instance for development, demo & QA purposes mainly. This surely allows customers to setup a cost optimal way of doing development, POCs and testing using Demantra instances setup on Cloud rather than setting up servers and supporting in house.

Current support is limited to release 12.2 and 12.1.3-based environments on Oracle Linux, and currently excludes configurations with Oracle RAC, DMZ, and external integrations.

VCP on Cloud benefits:

• Infrastructure cost savings
• Allocate temporary infra for Project POCs, testing, training and development
• Monitoring and automated patching abilities using Oracle Application Management Suite(AMS) for on-premises & cloud environments simultaneously

You need subscription of Oracle Compute Cloud services (like any other SaaS).With IaaS though you are supposed to purchase license for VCP suite and will be responsible for maintaining your VCP instance hosted on Cloud. Oracle does offer through Oracle managed Cloud Services option of Oracle managed VCP instance. 

Read on for more details @ https://blogs.oracle.com/demantra/entry/demantra_in_the_cloud_you

Demantra Engine Log - Understanding Node

Demantra's Engine2K log has lot of details and one can configure to generate log at various level to debug/analyze engine's forecast generation process. Here is a quick visual of what various numbers mean when log line says Forecasting[x,y,z].

Demantra: Logs to look for while debugging

Demantra application has various logs which can help during root cause analysis of a problem encountered in application. Some of these logs are configurable to a large degree giving flexibility to capture detailed log for analysis. Here is a summary list of some of these key logs:

• Demantra installation log: Installer's first screen has option to enable logging at various level to capture installation activity. 
• Collaborator.log: This log captures any error during server start, shutdown, restart, etc. The log is available under the web server directory. 
• Systemlog: Captures various issues around logs encountered by end user on worksheets,  while running methods, etc. LoggerManager utility available through URL can be used to configure logging level and setup. 
• IntegrationLog:  Captures various logs around data integration runs done via Demantra's inbuild integration interface tool. 
• DBExecptionLog: DB_EXCEPTION_LOG table captures logs generated by some of the Demantra's procedures. (ep_load_xxx, chaining etc.)
• EngineLog: EngineManagerLog & Engine2Klog files carry details of engine run activity, logging level can be controlled for engine logs too. 
• WFProcessLog: Captures workflow run related logs and is accessible through URL too. 

More details around all the logs which come handy during troubleshooting Demantra issues can be found in Metalink Note ID 741464.1. 

Demantra @ Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente went live with Demantra, ready more about their supply chain journey @

http://onforb.es/1rWDWDZ

Demantra 12.2.4 is Available now !!

Oracle VCP 12.2.4 is now available which includes Demantra 12.2.4 version. Here is a list of few key features which made the cut into this release:

• User Access Control: Allowing better control in user's access to application, enables admin to disable access to users/groups for certain time, etc. 
• Improved New product launch management in DM and PTP module
• Custom hierarchies in APCC: Allowing integrating additional custom hierarchies for Customer/Organization dimensions into APCC from Demantra
• Worksheet Performance improvements

Additionally this release also comes with support for In-Memory Performance Driven Planning(PDP) & In-Memory Consumption Driven Planning(CDP). 

Oracle's Demantra 12.2.1 released !

Oracle last month released 12.2.1 version of Demantra. This version was long over due for release and it finally is available for all customers. One can download the new version from Oracle's E-Delivery.

Though be careful, as this version can either be installed as stand alone or it can be installed along with VCP 12.2.1 version only. For using the VCP/EBS - Demantra standard integration, one has to be a 12.2.1 version of VCP.

One of the key feature of this release is having the ability to utilize both weekly and Gregorian calendars in one data model itself.

Demand Analytics within Oracle, What are my options ??

The need to have access to demand data to capture insights, analyse and respond quickly and appropriately has been around for long in CPG market. The economic turmoil across the globe has added to complexity of projecting demand for CPG goods. Consumers today are spending less and wanting more and better return on their spend dollars. Social media has gone to a new high of usage and is playing a bigger role in consumer's decision making for selecting products. Amount of data present in various forms in various systems is absolutely humongous in size and scale.

Imagine a world where any data which can convey a story about market demand is available for analysis. Though getting every data out there into a system may not be do-able for every business, but atleast having access to key data streams which are classified as indicator for demand can itself be a big step forward. Some of the well known demand indicative elements are POS, Store inventory, Syndicated data, Consumer sentiment captured from big data, etc.

A business intelligence(BI) initiative to capture all such data to gain valuable insight of market/consumers has become critical for CPG companies. Like any BI initiative, few things to keep in mind while embarking a BI project journey are:

• Never forget that business goal is to gain insights by implementing BI 
• Thus ensure that these "insights" are identified upfront

We are seeing quite few companies are using Demantra as backbone for forecasting and S&OP process. These companies wish to use data lying in Demantra and S&OP in Oracle BI application for achieving a common reporting center, calling it often Demand Analytics. Building a Demand Analytics layer in your enterprise can help planners, managers and Chief's of company in various ways. Demand Analytics can quickly provide answer to questions like:

• Which are my most profitable brands?
• Which customers are giving me most business?
• How is my newly launched product doing in stores?
• Where am I running into Out of Stocks and for which products?
• etc..

Oracle BI apps are already being offered in various areas of business like Mfg Analytics, EAM Analytics, SCOM Analytics etc. For Advanced planning business users community(demand planners, supply planners, demand manager, supply managers, operations manager, S&OP planners and managers, COO, CIO, CFOs etc), Oracle has provided Advanced Planning Command Center and Oracle Demand Signal Repository as two key solutions for planning analytics space.

Oracle DSR: Oracle DSR is more focused towards capturing various demand signals/data from external and internal sources, cleansing and harmonizing it all to report in a BI presentation layer for easy reporting for business. Demand signal repository thus acts as a central warehouse for all demand related information providing business value gained from the insight of demand data in DSR. Also with data elements from DSR integrated to downstream applications like Demantra Demand Management, Demantra Consumer Driven Planning(future release), Demantra PTP, Agile PLM etc, there is richer value which downstream applications and users can realize.

(Read more @ http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/ebusiness/planning/053299.html)

Oracle APCC: Advanced Planning Command Center module provides a robust BI analytic layer over Oracle's Value Chain Planning modules, specially ASCP and Demantra. Latest version of APCC allows supply planners to almost do all their day to day ASCP work using simple and better APCC user interface. Additionally APCC allows publishing Demantra DM data as demand plan with option to publish 15 custom forecast&history measures and custom hierarchy into APCC. APCC also support S&OP and IBP processes using demand, supply and financial information from Demantra, SNO and ASCP modules. This module though is more manufacturer's internal operations and planning process centered.

(Read more @ http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/ebusiness/planning/053296.html)

A third option which we see clients considering is building a custom VCP Analytic solution using Oracle BI as platform with feeds coming from ASCP, Demantra and other planning applications. This option though is found more common among clients who find Gaps in std APCC offering due of variety of custom sources they may have. If there is lot of ETL work required for feeding APCC with required data from 3rd party sources then considering this 3rd option may become a better choice. Also for clients who already have a strong BI solution footprint are seen to prefer building additional metrics and subject areas on existing analytic solution.

(Read more about OBIEE offering @ http://www.oracle.com/us/solutions/ent-performance-bi/enterprise-edition-066546.html)

VCP 12.2 release and EBS11i source?

Key points to remember:

• VCP 12.2.X release will not be supported with EBS11i source, for customers who wish to upgrade to VCP12.2.X release in future will need to upgrade their EBS platform to either 12.1 or 12.2. 
• Customers wishing to stay put on EBS 11i will have to stay on VCP12.1.X version and on Demantra 7.3.1.X version.
• Latest released supported version for EBS11i source is VCP 12.1.3.8 and Demantra 7.3.1.4

Note: Demantra 7.3.1.5 is in making and should be released soon. Also Demantra 12.2.1 release is expected to be released sometime this year. New Demantra CDP module announcement though makes release of Demantra 12.2 during this FY improbable. 

Demantra 7.3.1.3 & BranchId Multiplier parameter

Version 7.3.1.3 takes away branch Id multiplier parameter from Demantra's engine setup, new engine execution process determines number of branch Ids by itself. Though 7.3.1.3 version is seen with setting.xml file still containing the parameter due of ignorance probably, 7.3.1.4 version is fixed and doesnt have this parameter listed.

New process looks at predictable number of combinations and available number of engines in distributed engine environment to determine division of branches. This change eliminates any wrong manual settings of this parameter which used to degrade engine run performance.

Btw, Demantra's R12.2 release is still out in horizon and hopefully will be available for implementations in 2013 soon.

Demantra DB Connection Issue Resolution

This morning, ran into an issue with my local Demantra install. When connecting to Business modeler I got a DB error " ORA-12154: TNS:could not resolve the connect identifier specified." 

Additionally found that TOAD wont connect to my local DB 11g install too, giving the similar error. Checked that my DB services were running fine and TNSPING was responding well too. 

Decided to bounce my DB using cmd prompt and found below error while doing it:

ORA-00065: initialization of FIXED_DATE failed 


Recalled that last I used my DB I changed my DB settings to make it fixed date environment for some work and shutdown my DB with FIXED_DATE settings. 

To resolve the issue, I took the option of creating a new PFILE using SPFILE and then edited the PFILE to take out the FIXED_DATE settings from it. Later I was able to make this change permanent by creating SPFILE using the PFILE. 

CREATE PFILE FROM SPFILE;

Once created look for file named “initXXX.ora” where XXX stands for DB service name. e,g. VCPDB in DB Home install directory. Take out the FIXED DATE setting from init file and try starting server using :

SQL> startup pfile='uo1\dbhome_1\database\INITXXX.ORA' ;ORACLE instance started.

For making this change permanent:

CREATE SPFILE from PFILE ='u01\dbhome_1\database\INITXXX.ORA' ;

RESTART again to use the SPFILE for starting the DB. 

And... I am back in action with my local DB and Demantra install. :) 

APCC 12.1.3.8

APCC 12.1.3.8 Release Features:

- This release comes with enhanced and improved usability of Advanced Planning Command Center module. Within APCC, Supply Chain Analysts in this version have ability to:
- edit material plan to modify supply and demand
- edit resource plan to modify resource availability
- utilize item simulation set for mass item attribute maintenance
- utlize Orders UI to firm and release orders
- re-run a plan and release the plan for execution

- Embed Demantra worksheets in APCC reports: Ability to access and update Demantra worksheets while being logged into APCC. Uses Demantra anywhere feature and requires both APCC and Demantra applications SSO enabled.

Demantra 7.3.1.4 is supported with APCC 12.1.3.8, also note that APCC 12.1.3.8 is certified on OBIEE 11g.

New "Guided Resolution" for Demantra

After a good success of Oracle Community concept released earlier by Oracle Support, we are seeing them taking another step forward in form of "Guided Resolution" for Demantra application. The concept basically better organizes previous resolutions for known or fixed issues related to Demantra product. 

They have started with five topics:

• Data loading related issues (Note Id 1461899.1)
• Data loading issues not related to error codes (Note Id  1468884.1)
• Workflow related issues (Note Id 1353217.l)
• Worksheet related issues (Note Id 1486639.1)
• Engine related issues (Note Id 1486634.1)

Guided resolution page look:

Refer to below note for more details around what is this new concept and how to use it. 

How to Use the Demantra Guided Resolution, a Proactive Services Tutorial.  Note 1473992.1

Demantra: Engine Status Check

Checking status of Engine:

To determine if engine is running or not, one can use the work_status parameter in init_params_0 table. Value_float column indicates if the current or the last engine run was in batch mode or simulation mode.

• 99 => Simulation Run
• 1=> Batch Run

Value_date reflects the current state of engine. If the value_date changes every 22 sec then it would mean that Engine is running currently.

As Engine can only run in one mode at a time, it helps to be aware of the current state of engine prior to launching engine run.

Demantra 7.3.1.3 version released

Demantra 7.3.1.3 version was released recently for customers.

Following are few key new features:
 - Integration with Asset Intensive Planning Applications.

• DM module is now integrated with cMRO(Complex Maintenance Repair & Overhaul) module of Oracle EBS application. Integration empowers using Demantra's capabilities to build non-unit maintenance plan forecast and to support deriving planning factors accurately for cMRO module. 
• DM module is also integrated with eAM(Enterprise Asset Management) module of Oracle EBS application. The integration let's Demantra users to generate a non-maintenance forecast and then use it further with ASCP and cMRO to support planning for maintenance activities.

 - Ability to define Series with Hyperlink, allowing opening a URL from worksheet.

- Ability to run database health check using standard procedures. Flexibility to run a quick or a comprehensive test has been provided.

- Additional improvements on PTP/TPMO engine are also part of this release.

Refer to document ID 1453644.1 on Metalink for more details about this new release. 

Integrated Causal Exponential Model (BWint)

Demantra has Integrated Causal Exponential Model (BWint) as one of the models available for analytical engine. This also is a regression model, known as Multiplicative regression - winter model. The model works only in DP mode. It runs multiplicative regression on Causal data (short CFs) and then smooths out the residual series exponentially like HOLT.

Data Type: Good fit for capturing Trends, Seasonality and Causality in demand data.

Example: Here is an example of where forecast is generated by Bwint model of Demantra. Look at how engine is able to capture seasonality and demand trend accurately, providing a good baseline forecast for planners to start with.

Demantra 7.3.1: Fast Divider Engine parameters

Just a small note for those who wish to be on are on 7.3.1 level.

If you have noticed or are using engine parameters "RunFastDivider" & "RunPartialDivider" in your Demantra 7.3.0.1 install, there is a change awaiting you in 7.3.1 release. While the concept of fast divider which came with 7.3 release to speed up the engine run remains in existence, these parameters no more exist. This was established that these parameters need not exist to support fast divider process, hence Oracle decided to take out these parameters from 7.3.1 release.

Demantra 7.3.1 released

Few key features which 7.3.1 has to offer are:

• Support for Service Parts Forecasting: Seeded integration now available between Demantra and Service Parts Planning(SPP) module. For customers implementing SPP module this integration can help them use Demantra for developing a more accurate Service(Spare) Parts forecast.
• Support for Multiple Business Processes: Forecast tree and Causal Factors can now be setup differently for each engine profile, allowing better flexibility around setting up analytical engine for different business processes.
• Enhanced Proport: Improved Proport process performance by providing additional parameters to control proport run.
• Worksheet Performance improvement: Additional parameters to create parallel hints for specific worksheets which can help in improving the performance of Demantra worksheets.
  
• Support for Rolling Data Profile Groups: Users can now assign rolling data profiles to a group and then can call these groups for execution using workflow. This feature increases flexibility around archiving process within Demantra.

New versions of various Demantra documentation now available in Oracle MySupport @

Oracle Demantra Documentation Library [ID 443969.1]

Demantra 7.3: Engine split based on series

Whas is NEW ?:
Demantra 7.3 has come up with quite few features which customers have been wishing to see. One of these is ability to split statistical forecast which generated at aggregated level to split down to lowest level based on user defined/controlled proportions. Prior to 7.3 this split was always based on historical proportions and there was no workaround for it. These historical proportions were calculated based on every product and location combinations historical monthly sales averages using proport procedure. Split by series option allows user to pick a series which dictates weights for dis-aggregation of baseline forecast.

How we USE it?
1. Define a new series with server expression, the server expression gets used in weight calculation.
2. Using Business modeler setup parameter: ENGINE > PROPORT tab > parameter name "ProportionSeries" shall be populated with the internal name of the above series.
3. Select combinations/population to use SPLIT MECHANISM by using series "Engine Proportion Method" in a worksheet. The series has two dropdown values, Matrix Based Proportions which is the default and Series Based Proportions which is the value required for series based split.