Supply Chain Management Archives | ERP Today https://erp.today/topic/supply-chain-management/ The #1 media platform for ERP and enterprise technology Wed, 21 May 2025 20:35:44 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://erp.today/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-cropped-cropped-Logo_Black-1-32x32.png Supply Chain Management Archives | ERP Today https://erp.today/topic/supply-chain-management/ 32 32 Industry Expert eBook: Transforming the Fresh Produce Supply Chain https://erp.today/industry-expert-ebook-transforming-the-fresh-produce-supply-chain/ Wed, 21 May 2025 16:09:30 +0000 https://erp.today/?p=130484 Discover how the right technology can transform your workflow from constant firefighting to effortless, proactive operations.

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Discover how the right technology can transform your workflow from constant firefighting to effortless, proactive operations.

The Fresh Produce Industry Operates Under Unique Pressures

You’re handling products with a short expiration date, working with notoriously slim margins and trying to balance fixed-price contracts against fluctuating production costs.

It’s a high-stakes juggling act. But with the right technology, you can move from reactive firefighting to proactive, seamless operations.

We sat down with four of Aptean’s fresh produce experts to discuss how the supply chain is changing and how advanced software is transforming operational efficiency.

Their insights reveal a fundamental shift in how successful companies are approaching inventory management, quality control and profitability in a demanding marketplace.

Download the eBook Here

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Aptean Food & Beverage TMS https://erp.today/aptean-food-beverage-tms/ Wed, 21 May 2025 13:55:20 +0000 https://erp.today/?p=130471 Take the complexity out of managing your transportation operations and run your fleet using less time, less miles, less trucks and less drivers.

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Take the complexity out of managing your transportation operations and run your fleet using less time, less miles, less trucks and less drivers.

Start you Self-Led Aptean TMS Tour

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Epicor Pushes the Boundaries of Industrial Intelligence with New AI and Sustainability Tools https://erp.today/epicor-pushes-the-boundaries-of-industrial-intelligence-with-new-ai-and-sustainability-tools/ Thu, 08 May 2025 17:31:01 +0000 https://erp.today/?p=130173 At the Epicor Insights 2025 conference, Epicor announced its commitment to the manufacturing and supply chain sectors with the introduction of AI-driven tools, including Epicor Prism and Grow AI for enhanced operational efficiency and data quality, alongside the Carbon Cost Rollup for managing carbon footprints in production, highlighting the increasing importance of sustainability in ERP systems.

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At the recent Epicor Insights 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Epicor made a clear statement about its ambitions in the manufacturing and supply chain sectors. The company unveiled two major AI-driven capabilities—Epicor Prism and Grow AI—alongside a sustainability-focused tool called Carbon Cost Rollup, signaling a broader push to integrate cutting-edge technology into core business processes.

Smarter AI for the Shop Floor and Beyond

Epicor Prism introduces conversational AI to traditionally manual environments like the shop floor, warehouse, and sales desk. Built as a suite of industry-specific digital agents, it allows employees to interact with their ERP systems using natural language commands. Instead of manually navigating complex interfaces, users can ask for a list of overdue quotes, insights on part availability, or recommended suppliers and receive immediate, actionable responses.

Andy Young, VP Systems and Processes at Olympus Group, noted the potential impact of this technology on his operations. “One of the most important metrics for us is on-time delivery,” he said. “I really think Epicor Prism can increase our responsiveness to customers and get a typical eight-week delivery time down to four weeks. There’s probably opportunity for a 20% gain in the operation.” This highlights a key use case: reducing lead times and improving customer satisfaction through more intelligent, responsive systems.

Meanwhile, Epicor Grow AI aims to enhance data quality and scalability by integrating ERP, third-party, and legacy data into predictive models. This data backbone powers tools like Item Advisor, which automatically suggests complementary products during the order process—potentially increasing basket sizes and reducing abandoned carts. The platform’s focus on data quality is critical, as poor data remains a top barrier to effective AI adoption across industries.

Decarbonization as a Core Business Metric

With global pressure mounting on companies to reduce carbon emissions, Epicor also introduced the Carbon Cost Rollup—a patent-pending tool designed to measure and manage the carbon footprint of products from raw material to final assembly. This feature is integrated into the Epicor Kinetic ERP system and borrows from traditional cost accounting methods to assign a “carbon cost” at every stage of production.

As Kerrie Jordan, Group VP at Epicor, put it, the tool is meant to elevate emissions data to the same level of business scrutiny as financial costs. This approach could provide a more transparent way for manufacturers to meet ESG targets and comply with increasingly stringent environmental regulations. The Carbon Cost Rollup also benefits from Epicor’s 2024 integration with Climatiq’s carbon footprint APIs, further enhancing its ability to capture real-time sustainability metrics.

What This Means for ERP Insiders

AI is Becoming a Critical Operational Layer. Predictive AI is no longer a futuristic add-on—it’s becoming an essential part of day-to-day operations. Epicor’s Prism and Grow AI demonstrate how conversational and predictive tools can reduce manual workloads and accelerate response times without requiring data scientists on staff. Companies should assess their current ERP environments to identify high-friction areas where these types of tools could drive immediate efficiency gains.

Sustainability is Now a Core KPI. For manufacturers, tracking carbon costs at the bill of materials level is a game-changer. This approach moves sustainability from marketing material to the core of operational decision-making. For CIOs and CTOs, the question is no longer whether to measure carbon, but how accurately and at what granularity. Companies that can calculate their carbon impact in real-time are likely to have a strategic advantage as ESG reporting requirements tighten globally.

Usability Will Define the Next Wave of ERP Winners. Embedding advanced capabilities like generative AI and carbon accounting directly into ERP workflows addresses a critical barrier to user adoption. If your ERP strategy relies on disconnected, bolt-on solutions, it may be time to reconsider. The most impactful technologies are those that enhance user productivity without disrupting established workflows, ensuring faster ROI and higher overall adoption rates.

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Navigating Tariffs with NetSuite https://erp.today/navigating-tariffs-with-netsuite-2/ Tue, 06 May 2025 20:46:30 +0000 https://erp.today/?p=130126 Continuous Scenario Planning.

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Continuous Scenario Planning with NetSuite.

 

 

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Implications of Tariffs on the Supply Chain https://erp.today/implications-of-tariffs-on-the-supply-chain/ Tue, 29 Apr 2025 20:10:04 +0000 https://erp.today/?p=129859 Uncertainty surrounding tariffs and trade policies is making it difficult for businesses to plan and manage their supply chains effectively. Businesses can adapt by diversifying suppliers, rerouting their supply chains, and adopting technology to help them mitigate the impact of tariffs.

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Governments worldwide have been weighing a variety of tariffs and retaliatory measures. Some of these duties have already gone into effect, others are on the negotiating table, and more are likely to be announced. This article takes a close look at the implications for company supply chains.

What Are Tariffs?

Tariffs are taxes that companies pay on goods imported from other countries. Tit-for-tat disputes between trading nations mean that tariffs can negatively impact businesses in two ways:

  • Imports: Tariffs imposed by a company’s home country on imported raw materials, components, and finished products raise the prices the company must pay for those goods.
  • Exports: Tariffs imposed by foreign countries often compel companies that export to those countries to raise prices on those goods to compensate, making themselves less competitive in those markets.

8 Implications of Tariffs on the Supply Chain

Tariffs have historically been used to prop up domestic industries or protect them against subsidized foreign competitors. By increasing the price of imported goods, governments seek to encourage citizens to buy homemade products instead. However, this kind of industrial policy can result in higher prices for both domestically produced and imported goods, as well as retaliatory tariffs from governments abroad. Recently, governments has also used tariffs as leverage in negotiations on issues other than trade, such as border control, causing greater uncertainty.

Whether they’re used for industrial policy or political leverage, tariffs can contribute to a government’s treasury. For example, such duties accounted for about 1.6% of US federal revenue in 2024. The average duty across all US imports hit a low of 1.2% in 2008, rising to 2.8% by 2022, according to the most recent comparable data, with individual tariffs rising as high as triple-digit percentages based on type of product and country of origin.

Tariffs represent only one of the many financial and logistical factors impacting companies’ supply chains. Other challenges include international logistics, currency fluctuations, overseas sales taxes (such as Europe’s value-added taxes), and official trade barriers (such as subsidies and customs procedures). Focusing on tariffs, the implications for supply chains include:

  1. Business uncertainty: With so many trade routes subject to tariff changes that may or may not last, it’s hard for companies to navigate around the problem. As one expert put it: “Where do you go?” Restructuring a company’s sourcing and production is costly, complex, and time-consuming. For example, in capital-intensive industries, such as manufacturing, companies must plan months—even years—in advance to complete the required investments.
  2. Shifts in sourcing: Mexico overtook China as the United States’ biggest trading partner in 2023, reflecting US companies’ decisions to nearshore their production and sourcing closer to home. More recently, though, Mexico has faced potentially large US tariffs that could undermine the value proposition of that nearshoring. Such shifts are occurring in other countries, too.Experts recommend at least two strategies near term. One is to gradually diversify suppliers and production centers to serve different regional markets, despite the negative implications for economies of scale and supplier relationship management. Another is to invest in better software to manage procurement, inventory management, and supply chain processes, often through the implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system—to improve operational efficiency and agility. Notably, however, everything from raw materials and components to specialized skills and adequate infrastructure may be hard to find in new places.
  3. Increased costs: Tariffs raise the cost of imported raw materials, components, and finished products. Though a company may negotiate with its suppliers to share the cost burden, much of this expense is ultimately passed on to customers in the form of higher prices. Some businesses have already invested in tariff mitigation strategies to strengthen their supply chains against abrupt changes in trade policies. They’ve diversified geographic locations, stockpiled inventory, and adjusted pricing and cost absorption methods, according to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). But these adaptations can be costly and reduce profitability while providing no fail-safe against further trade disruptions.
  4. Decreased export competitiveness: When a national government increases tariffs, domestic companies can face a double whammy. Their production costs can increase, due to the higher prices they must pay for imported raw materials and components. And if foreign governments retaliate with tariffs of their own, those same companies may find it harder to compete when exporting to the foreign countries.
  5. Inventory challenges: Facing impending and unpredictable tariffs, some companies have been stockpiling imported goods before the tariffs take effect. The National Retail Federation reported the busiest December on record for US imports. But the association cautioned that stockpiling imported inventory increases costs for warehousing and is known to strain cash flow, tying up money needed for operations, debt repayment, investment, and other essentials.
  6. Trade retaliation: When a country imposes tariffs on its trading partners, those partners often retaliate with tariffs of their own, a cycle that can escalate, leading to trade wars and geopolitical tension.
  7. Encouragement of domestic production: Part of many countries’ trade strategy is to encourage domestic companies to source and manufacture more goods locally rather than import from overseas. Reshoring may offer companies some operational and cost benefits at a time when wages, trade barriers, and shipping delays are increasing in countries abroad. Reshoring is typically considered as part of a broader supply chain restructuring, with companies strategically placing different parts of their supply chains in various national, regional, and overseas locations.
  8. Bureaucratic burden: Complying with tariffs and other trade regulations adds administrative complexity to supply chains, encouraging companies to elevate their global trade management skills. Global trade management software can help companies weigh different sourcing options based on landed costs that incorporate tariffs on top of product prices and shipping expenses. Such software can also automate customs reporting. Notably, many companies seek exemptions from tariffs, which is another complex, bureaucratic process.

Mitigate Risk to Your Supply Chain With NetSuite

NetSuite can help companies navigate today’s volatile trade environment. NetSuite ERP and supply chain management software give companies the visibility needed to understand costs associated with tariffs and their impact on the business. For example, staff can run a profit analysis of each import with a landed costs feature that breaks out tariffs and other expenses. AI capabilities help businesses run scenarios on alternative suppliers, products, and costs to find the best options, as well as help them evaluate the potential impacts of absorbing cost increases or passing them on to customers. Companies can also use the software to analyze their supply chain operations to find efficiencies that might offset at least part of the cost of new tariffs.

infographic mitigate supply chain risk
NetSuite ERP can help companies with supply chain scenario planning.

The outlook for international trade is clouded by heightened geopolitical tensions, as major trading nations exchange tit-for-tat tariffs and retaliatory measures. As the International Chamber of Commerce points out, companies urgently need predictability and certainty to plan investments, manage supply chains, and operate effectively in global markets. Amid the uncertainty, businesses can take steps to analyze their options, streamline their operations, and plan for multiple scenarios to maintain supply chain resilience.

Implications of Tariffs on the Supply Chain FAQs

What is an example of a tariff?

One example of a tariff is the 10% levy the United States recently imposed on all Chinese imports, prompting China to respond with tariffs on certain US goods.

What does a tariff do to supply?

As tariffs rise, increasing the price of goods imported from abroad, affected companies often seek alternative, lower-cost suppliers.

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Four Key Lessons from the Pandemic for Today’s Supply Chain Challenges https://erp.today/four-key-lessons-from-the-pandemic-for-todays-supply-chain-challenges/ Fri, 25 Apr 2025 17:00:13 +0000 https://erp.today/?p=129738 The pandemic revealed critical vulnerabilities in global supply chains, underscoring the necessity for manufacturers and distributors to diversify suppliers, enhance visibility, strengthen relationships, and invest in technology to build resilience and adaptability for future disruptions.

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The pandemic was a wake-up call for many industries, exposing vulnerabilities in global supply chains and highlighting the need for greater supply chain resilience and adaptability. As we navigate the post-pandemic landscape, manufacturers and distributors must apply the lessons learned to prepare for future disruptions, including potential tariff increases. Here are four key lessons from the pandemic and how you can stay prepared.

  1. Diversify Your Supplier Base
    One of the biggest takeaways from the pandemic is the importance of not putting all your eggs in one basket. Relying on a single supplier or region can be risky, especially with the looming threat of tariff increases. Diversifying your supplier base can help mitigate the impact of disruptions and ensure a steady flow of materials. By spreading your risk, you can better navigate unexpected challenges and maintain continuity in your supply chain.
  2. Enhance Supply Chain Visibility
    The pandemic underscored the need for real-time visibility into supply chains. Knowing where your products are at any given moment can help you identify potential issues before they become critical. This is particularly important in the context of potential tariff increases, which can cause sudden shifts in trade dynamics. Implementing advanced tracking and monitoring systems can provide the insights needed to make informed decisions and respond quickly to disruptions.
  3. Strengthen Supplier Relationships
    Building strong relationships with your suppliers can improve communication and collaboration, making it easier to work together to overcome challenges. The pandemic showed us that having reliable and trustworthy partners is crucial. With potential tariff increases on the horizon, maintaining strong supplier relationships can ensure quality and reliability, even in times of change.
  4. Invest in Technology
    Leveraging technology can enhance your ability to respond to disruptions quickly and efficiently. From advanced planning and scheduling to real-time analytics, the right tools can make a significant difference. Investing in the latest release of SYSPRO ERP can improve your supply chain management and help you stay agile in the face of uncertainty, including potential tariff increases.

Staying Prepared for Future Disruptions

To stay prepared for future disruptions, it’s essential to build resilience and agility into your operations. Here are some strategies to consider:

  • Develop Contingency Plans: Having a plan in place for various scenarios, including potential tariff increases, can help you respond quickly and effectively to disruptions. Regularly review and update your contingency plans to ensure they remain relevant.
  • Optimize Inventory Management: Balancing inventory levels to meet demand without overstocking is crucial. Implementing smart demand planning and inventory optimization strategies can help you maintain the right balance.
  • Focus on Agility: Being able to adapt quickly to changing circumstances is key to resilience. Flexible production scheduling and capacity management can help you respond to shifts in demand and supply.
  • Invest in Workforce Training: Ensuring that your workforce is well-trained and adaptable can help you maintain operations during disruptions. Cross-training employees and investing in continuous learning can enhance your team’s resilience.

Transforming Disruption into Opportunity

Disruptions can also present opportunities for growth and innovation. Use disruptions as an opportunity to review and improve your processes, explore new markets, and enhance customer relationships. Data-driven decision-making can help you identify new opportunities and make informed strategic decisions.

Conclusion

The lessons learned from the pandemic have highlighted the importance of resilience, adaptability, and innovation in supply chain management. By applying these lessons, building resilience, and leveraging proven solutions, manufacturers and distributors can stay ahead of market shifts and thrive in an uncertain world.

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The Power of 4: Blue Diamond’s Transformation Journey https://erp.today/the-power-of-4/ Tue, 22 Apr 2025 08:00:56 +0000 https://erp.today/?p=129000 How Blue Diamond Growers solved supply chain issues and ESG metrics.

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How Blue Diamond Growers solved supply chain issues and ESG metrics.

In late 2022, Blue Diamond improved its processes by implementing SAP Transportation Management (TM) systems for global transportation. Although the issue of getting available containers was resolved with SAP TM, the company continued to incur a high cost of transportation as vendors would give their estimated costs and Blue Diamond would accrue them until containers became available, due to a lack of a proper forecasting and accrual system.

But that changed in 2023, when the company upgraded its integrated planning with the SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) system.

The four pillars of technology

“Like most companies, our ocean freight supply chain suffered immensely during the pandemic and that was our primary driver to embed SAP TM on our SAP S4 system,” says Steven Birgfeld, Vice President, Information Technology and Services at Blue Diamond Growers. “After that it was only a matter of leveraging the Business Network for logistics in this integration.”

It helped that around 80% of Blue Diamond’s carriers were already in the Business Network making the update to SAP IBP easier for the company. Blue Diamond went live with these integrations for its export market in late 2022 and by July 2023, they went live for their domestic logistics. These updates helped the company with better visibility planning and making sure they got a carrier on time.

According to Birgfeld, a faster turnaround time for the company’s customer service team was also achieved due to the integration, as they now only had to refer to one system to get all the answers instead of different ones, leading to better accruals, flexibility, and supply chain resilience.

“We also have better insights into the information going into the system. If there is a discrepancy we get alerted immediately, so that helps us understand the issue swiftly and work with the carrier accordingly,” he explains.

Blue Diamond is focusing keenly on ESG metrics

Birgfeld gives an example of a typical order that the integrated system generates today. “Suppose we have a shipment that is ready to be sent out. The system will provide us answers like who will be able to ship overseas or deliver domestically, which carrier has the best rate and best timing so that we can pick that carrier accordingly. The system provides these answers along with an estimated delivery date.”

Additionally, there’s Project 44, a visibility extension that works with SAP IBP, SAP TM, and SAP Business Logistics Network (BLN).

“Project 44 is an SAP partner that captures data from hundreds of thousands of carriers in almost real time,” says Birgfeld, adding that this system also uses a degree of artificial intelligence (AI). “For example, it will let you know that though the carrier might be predicting a Thursday delivery, there’s a risk of the delivery being delayed to Saturday,” he says.

A lesson in integration

The biggest change from this integration was felt by Blue Diamond’s logistics team, though it took some time to adjust from the manual processing they were using. The key was trusting the data. Birgfeld notes, “Change management and data management were a big part of our learning.”

“In 2022-2023, when we were implementing these systems, the data being sent back to our team was not complete as carriers were not giving them accurate or timely information. So, we had to work with SAP and Project 44 to let them know we were seeing gaps in their data and checking on what we could do to close that gap,” he says.

Understanding the process flow after the integration was also a challenge. “We sometimes sent the wrong code to the system resulting in gaps for data and time accuracy,” he says, adding that training, especially for the company’s logistics representatives, made a big difference in overcoming these issues.

Additionally, the company ensured that the right elements or data were input into the standard integrations between the four systems to reduce these gaps, by communicating more with the carriers.

It helped that Blue Diamond had strong partners in SAP and Project 44, who helped the team get trained on the integrated system and tweak the process to make it work more accurately for them. It was also about encouraging the team to embrace the system through reports and case studies that showed the system would make their lives easier. The continuous learning process also gave better insights to Blue Diamond’s technology partners on what the company needed.

Next steps

Today, the four systems, which have an on-premises license running in a hyperscale environment and hosted on Google Cloud, are running seamlessly.

The company is now evaluating an upgrade to RISE with SAP. Birgfeld believes that this is a natural progression in his team’s quest to ensure they have a seamless logistics and supply chain network.

“The question is not if we upgrade to RISE but when we do it, especially since sustainability and AI are the way forward. Both these features are available on RISE Private Cloud.”

With the logistics part of the company’s digital transformation sorted, Birgfeld and his team now aim for a digital transformation of the company’s production and plant maintenance processes.

“We have a basic third-party maintenance system now, but we want to implement a new system from the SAP ecosystem such as production planning and detailed scheduling (PPDS). “We see it really closing the whole extended planning and analytics capability gap,” he says.

He is also planning for some updates on the visibility aspect of shipments. “Project 44 has got some additional capabilities like a world map or dashboard to show exactly where the cargo is and that is an interesting addition to the system,” Birgfeld says.

The team is also focusing on continuous optimization to build flexibility and resiliency in their supply chain. Giving the example of the Baltimore Harbor accident in 2024, Birgfeld says, “The incident did not impact us directly, but it was an event that could not be predicted. It led us to look for alternatives like trucking and rail to ensure we did not fall back on our delivery schedules.”

Blue Diamond, like many other companies, is also focusing keenly on its environment, sustainability and governance (ESG) metrics and has upgraded to the 2023 version of SAP S4, which has sustainability metrics built into it. “We can now get metrics like carbon footprint from our freight shipments through this upgrade,” Birgfeld notes, “We want to leverage that aspect and make sure we are lowering our carbon footprint.”

Blue Diamond is a California-based company and the state’s recent strict ESG mandates have made the company even more focused on ensuring that they remain a responsible almond grower and supplier.

“We want to plan our logistics just-so, to save gasoline, resulting not only in lower costs but reduced environmental impact as well,” Birgfeld says.

To ensure these projects meet the company’s needs, Blue Diamond is investing in upskilling its SAP talent. “We want to further strengthen our backend, see how we can leverage low code/no code and get away from the standard work,” says Birgfeld. He adds that to achieve this the company is strengthening its data and analytics team to come up with better ways to model and shape their AI initiatives. “It eliminates the need for heavy-duty data scientists but boosts the need for AI experts,” he says.

Betting on AI

Beyond 2025, Birgfeld hopes to have a complete ERP or Analytics suite in place at Blue Diamond. “We are focusing on the data and analytics part and also trying to figure out the true business value of using AI and going beyond using features like Copilot or Chat GPT.”

He believes that it is only a matter of time before a solid business case can be made for AI. “We are already seeing its impact in areas like marketing, where the team has realized six-figure savings by using AI in their operations,” he says, adding that his own team is experimenting with the technology and has developed a chatbot for the IT Helpdesk in the company to reduce the load on the team.

Blue Diamond experiments with AI to help with crop forecasting and taste trends

His team has also developed an AI tool for the services unit called Sprinkler, which takes customer calls and helps service agents gauge customer mood during and at the end of the call to help them provide better service and answers. Blue Diamond is now experimenting with AI to help with crop forecasting and taste trends. For the former, it seeks to layer aspects like weather patterns to predict the crop yield going forward, while for the latter it is working with a vendor to see if AI can predict taste trends and project the next cool flavor for almonds or even new product simulations to see if consumers will like it or not.

Still, Birgfeld believes that they are just getting started on AI. “There are many opportunities, but we need to figure out how best to use those, how we can take advantage of Gen AI. Although it seems like a light lift, we must consider a lot of aspects like data and governance before we build a clear path to using the power of AI,” he concludes.

What this means for ERP Insiders

In the ever-evolving landscape of supply chain management, Blue Diamond Growers—a leading almond producer and exporter—has emerged as a shining example of how modern ERP systems can transform logistics and operations. Between 2022 and 2023, the company embarked on a digital transformation journey, tackling challenges ranging from container shortages to sustainability metrics. For ERP professionals, their story offers valuable insights into leveraging technology for resilience, efficiency, and innovation.

1. Strategic Integration of ERP Systems Enhances Supply Chain Efficiency

Blue Diamond integrated SAP Transportation Management (TM) with SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) to streamline its global logistics. These systems, coupled with tools like SAP Business Logistics Network and Project 44, allowed the company to automate carrier selection, improve visibility, and forecast transportation costs. The result was a unified platform that reduced manual errors, accelerated service timelines, and enhanced accrual accuracy.

2. Data Management and Change Adoption are Crucial for Success

Implementing new systems revealed challenges in data accuracy and team adaptation. Blue Diamond tackled these issues by collaborating with partners like SAP and Project 44, improving data flow, and upskilling its logistics team. Comprehensive training and a focus on change management were pivotal in building trust in the system and ensuring seamless operations.

3. Leveraging AI for Sustainability and Innovation

Blue Diamond is exploring AI-powered tools for crop forecasting, taste trend prediction, and customer service optimization. By integrating AI with its ERP ecosystem, the company not only enhances operational capabilities but also aligns with ESG (environmental, social, and governance) goals. For instance, the updated SAP S4 system helps track carbon footprints, enabling more sustainable logistics planning.

Blue Diamond Growers’ journey underscores the transformative potential of ERP systems in navigating supply chain complexities, driving innovation, and meeting sustainability goals. ERP professionals can draw from their example to optimize systems, prioritize change management, and embrace emerging technologies.

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Unlock the Next Level of Inventory Management with GS1 Standards https://erp.today/unlock-the-next-level-of-inventory-management-with-gs1-standards/ Mon, 14 Apr 2025 17:57:52 +0000 https://erp.today/?p=129467 Consumer and regulatory pressures are driving the need for enhanced food traceability from farm to table, necessitating global standards like the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) to fully realize the benefits of the Food Traceability Final Rule under the Food Safety Modernization Act.

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Consumer and regulatory demands are putting pressures on growers, processors, manufacturers, and distributors. Being able to trace food from farm to table has become an integral part of the supply chain, especially now with the additional traceability requirements of Section 204(d) of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), better known as the Food Traceability Final Rule. And foundation to support the U. S. FDA New Era of Smarter Food Safety Blueprint.

This level of traceability and visibility is only possible with global standards for unique identification of the product, lot, and source/supplier. The Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) is widely used in supply chains around the globe to identify unique products – but for the food supply chain, its full value is yet to be unlocked.

Download the Whitepaper Here

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Oracle Redwood: The Future of User Experience in ERP https://erp.today/oracle-redwood-the-future-of-user-experience-in-erp/ Fri, 14 Mar 2025 16:37:04 +0000 https://erp.today/?p=129042 Oracle Redwood represents a significant transformation in Oracle Cloud Applications, offering a modern user experience with features like AI-driven automation, enhanced navigation, and embedded analytics, aimed at making enterprise software as intuitive as consumer applications while promoting efficiency and collaboration for ERP users.

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If you’re an Oracle Cloud Applications user, you’ve probably heard about Oracle Redwood—but what does it mean for you? Redwood is Oracle’s next-generation user experience (UX) design, built to create a more modern, intuitive, and productive interface across its cloud applications. This update isn’t just a cosmetic refresh—it’s a fundamental shift in how users interact with Oracle’s ERP, HCM, and CX platforms. 

What Is Oracle Redwood? 

Oracle Redwood is a new design system and UX philosophy that Oracle is rolling out across its cloud applications. It aims to make enterprise software as user-friendly as consumer apps, with: 

  • A sleek, modern design featuring updated colors, layouts, and typography. 
  • AI-driven automation to streamline workflows and reduce manual tasks. 
  • Embedded analytics that provide real-time insights within the user interface. 
  • Personalized experiences that adapt to individual roles and preferences. 

For business technology end users, this means a faster, smarter, and more enjoyable experience when using Oracle applications. 

How Does Redwood Benefit ERP Users? 

If you rely on Oracle Cloud ERP for financials, procurement, or supply chain management, Redwood will bring several enhancements to your daily tasks: 

  • Intuitive Navigation: With a cleaner layout and improved menu structure, Redwood reduces clicks and makes it easier to find what you need. 
  • Smart Automation: AI and machine learning will automate routine tasks like invoice matching and approvals, helping you focus on strategic work. 
  • Better Collaboration: Embedded chat and teamwork features allow seamless communication within the application. 
  • Consistent User Experience: Whether you use Oracle ERP, HCM, or CX, the look and feel will be uniform, reducing training time and improving adoption. 

When Is Redwood Coming? 

Oracle is rolling out Redwood gradually across its cloud applications, with some features already available and more coming in future updates. While the transition will take time, Oracle is ensuring a smooth and user-friendly adoption process for businesses. 

Preparing for the Change 

To get ready for Redwood: 

  • Stay informed: Keep up with Oracle’s announcements and updates. 
  • Leverage training resources: Oracle and its partners, like Fudgelearn, offer guidance to help users navigate the transition. 
  • Encourage user adoption: Start exploring Redwood’s features early to maximize efficiency. 

How Fudgelearn and ClickLearn Can Help 

Adapting to Oracle Redwood’s new interface and features may require structured learning and ongoing support. That’s where Fudgelearn’s partnership with ClickLearn comes in. ClickLearn specializes in digital adoption and automated training solutions, ensuring that businesses can onboard employees faster and minimize disruption during software transitions. 

To help organizations prepare for Redwood, Fudgelearn hosted a webinar in collaboration with ClickLearn. This session provided a full insight into the capabilities of using ClickLearn and Fudgelearn for your user-adoption and Oracle training needs. By leveraging ClickLearn’s automation, businesses can ensure their teams quickly adapt to Redwood’s new UX without losing productivity. You can learn more about the webinar here: 

Watch The Future of User-Adoption and Training Webinar. 

Oracle Redwood is more than just a design update—it’s a transformative step toward a smarter, more user-friendly ERP experience. With the right training and digital adoption strategy, businesses can ensure a seamless transition and unlock the full potential of Oracle’s latest innovations. 

What this means for ERP Insiders  

Get ready for Oracle Redwood. By watching the Fudgelearn and ClickLearn webinar, ERP end users will gain practical insights and hands-on strategies to navigate Oracle Redwood’s new UX, learn how to automate user training, reduce onboarding time, and access interactive guides and e-learning materials that streamline adoption, ensuring a smooth transition with minimal disruption, while also discovering how ClickLearn’s powerful digital adoption tools can enhance productivity, efficiency, and user confidence in leveraging Redwood’s AI-driven automation and intuitive interface. 

Optimize your transition with training. Updating to Oracle Redwood will require comprehensive training like Fudgelearn’s to ensure ERP users can seamlessly adapt to its modernized UX, AI-driven automation, and embedded analytics, reducing confusion and downtime while maximizing efficiency, as the shift introduces new navigation, workflows, and productivity tools that demand structured learning to fully leverage, making expert-led training essential for smooth onboarding, minimizing disruptions, and empowering teams to effectively use Redwood’s intuitive, role-based experience for enhanced business performance. 

See the benefits of Oracle Redwood. Oracle Redwood offers ERP end users a modern, intuitive interface with AI-driven automation, embedded analytics, and personalized workflows, making daily tasks more efficient and user-friendly, ensuring businesses can fully leverage Oracle Cloud ERP’s capabilities with a smarter, more engaging experience. 

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WMS -SCM Mobile 2024.1 Enhancement Features https://erp.today/wms-scm-mobile-2024-1-enhancement-features/ Fri, 07 Mar 2025 14:48:35 +0000 https://erp.today/?p=128926 CloudPaths’ NetSuite experts expect a minimum 30% increase in worker efficiencies resulting from the exciting new features and enhancements to WMS and SCM Mobile announced in NetSuite’s 2024.1 Release. These enhancements include the ability to display images at the item master level and within SCM mobile, give users the ability to upload of images while performing receiving/picking activities on mobile devices, and capturing item weights during PO receiving.

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Optimize & Enhance Warehouse Operations and Supply Chain Management with NetSuite’s 2024.1 Release

CloudPaths’ NetSuite experts expect a minimum 30% increase in worker efficiencies resulting from the exciting new features and enhancements to WMS and SCM Mobile announced in NetSuite’s 2024.1 Release. These enhancements include the ability to display images at the item master level and within SCM mobile, give users the ability to upload of images while performing receiving/picking activities on mobile devices, and capturing item weights during PO receiving.

Reach out to CloudPaths on how we can implement these new functionalities to optimize your warehouse operations.

WMS Enhancements

Capturing Item Weights During PO Receiving

When you receive items for purchase orders on the WMS Mobile app, you can capture the weight of an item directly from your weighing scale. Through the PrintNode integration, you can connect weighing scales to your local computers.

On the app, you can choose the weighing scale you want to use in your location. The Enter Quantity page displays the Capture Weight option for obtaining the item weight per quantity.

New Vendor Returns Mobile Process

When you pick items for vendor returns, you can record the details through the enhanced Vendor Returns process on the app. The process includes the staging of picked items and creation of item fulfillments for tracking until you ship them out.

You can use the Vendor Returns bin type to classify bins that contain items for return. From this bin type, you cannot pick items for sales or transfer orders.

Adding Custom Item Images – Previously, you could populate item images on mobile pages by using the Site Builder features and Web Store facility on item records only. Now, you can upload item images on the NS WMS subtab of item records without having to use the Site Builder features. In case you upload them on the Web Store subtab, NetSuite WMS

automatically copies and displays them on the NS WMS subtab. On the app, item images appear on the info screen by default.

Support for Lot Number Generation – If you use the Lot Auto Numbering SuiteApp, you can activate the Autogenerate Lot Numbers system rule to enable it for the PO receiving process only. The app follows your lot number formats and settings to generate lot numbers per lot item.

Pick All Option for Serialized Items – You can pick and stage the entire quantity on a pick task without scanning or entering each serial number. NetSuite WMS provides the new Pick All option for serialized items. It automatically picks from bins that can be emptied first before those with sufficient quantity.

SCM Mobile Enhancements

Image Capture and File Upload Through SCM Mobile App:

Pain point: Until now, there was no available feature supporting warehouse operators’ ability to add images of items being received or while picking as a part of daily warehouse operations.

Now, through SCM Mobile app, you can add attachments to transactions by capturing an image or uploading an image or document file. It saves the image or document to the file cabinet and attaches them to a reference transaction (either a sales or purchase order).

This capability provides the new Capture Image Icon and Update File Icon that you can easily set up on a mobile page. When you set up either or both, you can specify an icon label, file path, and reference transaction.

Disabling UOM Subfields

You can now disable either or both the Quantity and Unit subfields of a UOM page element.

Enhanced Search Using Tags

For Data Table elements only, you can now search and filter data using Tags. When you enter a keyword as your search criteria, you can save it as a Tag for a column.

For each column, you can assign up to five Tags. For each table, you can assign Tags for up to three columns.

Displaying URLs in Columns of Data Tables

NetSuite now supports the ability to add columns that display URLs for navigating to another page, website, or NetSuite record. You can also use the link to display an image file from your file cabinet. You can set up dynamic URLs and one or more hyperlinks in a table cell.

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