Oracle and HCL Help SolFocus Prepare For Growth in Solar Market
by Alison Weiss
When executives at SolFocus, Inc. began planning an upgrade of core technology processes and services they knew just who to call: HCL Technologies Ltd. (HCL). As one of Oracle’s most aggressive and innovative Certified Advantage Partners, HCL implemented Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 to deliver the features and flexibility SolFocus needed to thrive in the still-evolving renewable energy market.
Indeed, the solar energy industry is expected to grow from $11 billion in 2005 to $51 billion in 2015, according to a projection by Clean Edge Inc., a market research firm focused on clean technology.
SolFocus, which markets solar concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems, and trackers for CPV and flat panel PV installations, is looking to expand with the market. Management recognized the importance of investing in core technology today to take advantage of the expected market growth in the solar technology industry in the near future. The company currently has approximately 100 employees but in the next 24 months it hopes to acquire multiple outsourcing partners and manufacturing agreements in various international locations. “We’re facing rapid growth—in volume, geography and organizational size,” says Bob Raybuck, SolFocus Vice President of Finance and Administration. “This is a fast-paced industry. We need business processes put into place that support our business today, that address our developmental plans, that implement change control processes. The ability to scale as we grow is one of the key reasons we chose Oracle.”
SolFocus needed to migrate to an integrated business information system with a unified database structure, technology platform, and a common set of business practices. “Adopting standard business processes is not easy in the solar energy industry because the industry itself is so new,” says Ravi Reddy, HCL Vice President of Enterprise Solutions. “Unlike discrete manufacturing where you can go back to look at how the industry worked in the past, you don’t have the experience of big companies as pioneers. Solar energy companies like SolFocus are pioneering technology, themselves.”
HCL staff recognized that while the solar technology market is still relatively immature, it parallels the semiconductor industry in terms of many of its functionality requirements. “HCL‘s vast Oracle ERP Experience with deep domain knowledge has enabled it to build industry-specific extended business solutions. in thehigh tech and manufacturing space,” says Reddy. “We have a good understanding of the semiconductor industry and how it is in many ways complementary to the solar technology industry.”
In particular, the manufacturing processes are similar between the semiconductor and solar energy technology industries, and from a systems perspective, integration between Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), and ERP is key for both semiconductor and solar companies.
Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 offers valuable features that support’ expanding global technology requirements of SolFocus, including Multi-Organization Access Control, Order Management, and Centralized Setups of Intercompany Accounts. Reddy says, “Oracle R12 is a lot more robust release compared to R11i and is extremely stable.”
“The quicker we can get to scale in terms of volume and manufacturing, the more benefits we’ll see in terms of cost,” says Raybuck of SolFocus. “Cost is one of our value propositions in delivering clean solar solutions. One of the things that HCL has beyond its expertise as an implementer of Oracle technology is that we can depend on an ongoing consulting relationship with them and utilize HCL’s expertise in an integrated way.”
Reddy sees future opportunities for HCL to flourish in the solar technology arena. Several other solar industry firms are already considering implementing Oracle technology with HCL’s help. “This is absolutely a niche we plan to target,” says Reddy. “Our high tech experience will help us guide our existing customers in utilizing Oracle applications to comply with green technology regulations. This is the next wave that we’re seeing.”
Christine Rutherford, Oracle Partner Director, North America Alliances and Channels, believes that it’s HCL’s ability to leverage its Oracle expertise that makes it so successful. “HCL is a very nimble and adaptable. Their ability to be innovative makes them stand out and succeed in targeting new vertical market opportunities.”
