GE
Energy unifies global processes with Oracle
Posted: 18 April 2004
General Electric unit spanning nine countries increases
business visibility and cost controls with enterprise resource planning
system
GE Energy has united its global financial and manufacturing operations
with Oracle across nine countries to increase visibility and cost-controls.
The leading aero-derivative gas turbine service provider has cut
operational costs and improved efficiencies by automating and standardizing
worldwide processes using an integrated enterprise resource planning
(ERP) system from the Oracle E-Business Suite.
In order to lower operating costs and improve workforce productivity,
GE Energy migrated from multiple layers of legacy technology to
a single implementation of the Oracle E-Business Suite.
GE Energy mapped its business practices to the processes in Oracle
applications and standardized practices across regional locations
to optimize information sharing and business efficiency.
Using a standard implementation of the Oracle E-Business Suite,
GE Energy has significantly lowered maintenance costs and realized
benefits of a consolidated e-business environment.
“We were not unlike many companies today looking to do more
with less on a tight budget,” said Judy Warfield, information
management manager of GE Energy. “We wanted our operations
to move at light speed but we also needed to make a cost-conscious
investment. With Oracle, we’ve accomplished the business goals
we established for our organization, making marked improvements
in the ways and pace at which we share information.”
Improved Business Process and Information
Through a phased implementation, GE Energy upgraded to the Oracle
E-Business Suite for improved visibility into its project management
and financial practices. As a result, end-to-end financial operations
are completely automated and project managers in the field now review
costs against actuals in real-time, and make approvals instantly.
Overall, GE Energy’s invoice approval process has been reduced
from 45 days to one. Oracle Projects and Oracle Financials have
also helped the company’s management retain tighter cost controls
associated with transportation and logistics, usage of materials
and power resources.
“Prior to our Oracle implementation, project managers were
bogged down with tedious administrative tasks and had to send important
documents by overnight delivery to obtain the required signatures.
Internal administration costs were increased and our ability to
invoice was slowed due to manual practices,” said Warfield.
“With Oracle, we’ve equipped our managers to become
more efficient in overseeing the fiscal status of their projects.
The company is able to quickly prepare and distribute invoices and
secure payment.”
Financial transparency and automation has enabled GE Energy not
only to exercise strict internal cost control, it also helped the
company address governance and compliance efforts such as the Sarbanes-Oxley
legislation. “Disparate environments allow for more points
of failure and more opportunity for data to be wrong. When our operations
are tied directly to our financials, there’s really no opportunity
for data to get lost so the room for error is significantly diminished,”
said Warfield.
GE Energy also relies on Oracle Order Management to automate planning
and forecasting across its long-lead network of suppliers and distributors.
For example, the moment it is determined that an engine part is
required, Oracle’s auto-sourcing functionality enables a GE
Energy employee to instantly source for the appropriate part. “We
have an extremely long supply chain in some areas, so we’re
often planning for parts that have up to a nine month lead time,”
said Warfield. The Oracle system enables the company to accurately
assess the cost of goods, better track contract execution and manage
shipment and delivery schedules more accurately.
About Oracle
Oracle is the world’s largest enterprise software company.
For more information see http://www.oracle.com/me
Posted by Richard Price,
Editor Pipeline Magazine
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