PN International is using Oracle Discrete Manufacturing and Oracle Order Management to process thousands of products, such as climbing harnesses, belts, and buckles from design stage through to delivery. These products are tailored to customers’ exact specifications.

Because the company designs, manufactures, and sells its safety products in 40 countries around the world, many of the products have to be customized to meet complex international safety requirements or to fit various requirements of the industries in which they are used.

 “Each product has a standard bill of materials, but many of the bills need to be changed to meet specific product requirements, such as the shape and size of the buckles,” said Anand. “Oracle Discrete Manufacturing gives us the flexibility to change the bill of materials depending on product specification, which allows the design team to communicate exactly what is required for each customization, and the manufacturing team to then order exactly the right materials for each product.”

 Previously, materials had to be ordered to a standard bill of materials. Specific requirements for each safety product had to be addressed by the design and manufacturing teams manually. This added time to the manufacturing process and put extra pressure on manufacturing staff as they raced to meet the order delivery time frame of 60 days.

“Now our manufacturing process has been streamlined, we have reduced the pressure on our design and manufacturing teams and can easily meet our order commitments and international safety standards,” said Anand. “We can now produce more safety products for each customer, increasing customer satisfaction. We have also increased our annual revenue by 25% in the last year.”

By integrating Oracle Order Management and Oracle Discrete Manufacturing, PN International is able to keep track of customer orders from the moment products, such as steel hooks and buckles, are sold by a sales representative, to the moment they are delivered to the customer. This has improved the company’s supply chain processes by enabling it to order necessary materials in advance and to deliver products on schedule.

 “Previously, our order management processes were very disjointed,” explained Anand. “We had no way of knowing what orders had been placed with sales representatives until we received the order in the manufacturing plant. This meant we were always ‘working backwards’—unable to buy raw materials such as plastics or polyester until the order had been received. Communication between sales, design, and manufacturing departments was a struggle, and we had to rush to meet our delivery commitment, which sometimes led to errors.

 “Now, as soon as an order is placed, the sales representative enters the information and specifications into the Oracle system, and we can see immediately what we need to produce, when we need to produce it, and what materials we need to buy,” he said. “Having this specific information available from the beginning of the process has improved our supply chain management; enabled us to make more comprehensive, fact-based management decisions regarding our products and sales, marketing, and manufacturing processes; and helped us meet our production deadlines.”
 

PN International uses a range of materials to manufacture its safety equipment, including steel, aluminum, iron ore, polyester and other synthetic materials, and several types of plastics. Many of its products are made to order and include materials that need to be purchased as soon as an order has been received. The company also keeps a minimum level of materials, such as steel and aluminum, in its warehouse inventory at all times.

Previously, PN International struggled to manage inventory levels, and sometimes ordered stock that was already in the warehouse or ran out of key materials. This affected its ability to produce orders on time and put extra pressure on manufacturing staff to comply with the 60-day order-to- delivery commitment.

Oracle Inventory Management has enabled PN International to better plan its inventory levels. Having the right amount of raw materials available enables the company to complete the manufacturing process efficiently, rather than storing items as work-in-process inventory. This has reduced costly production stoppages during the company’s manufacturing process by 30%.

 PN International can also complete larger orders for customers in the same timeframe.

 “Taking better control of our inventory processes means we have improved our production and delivery standards,” said Anand. “In the past, we were able to fulfill basic customer orders comfortably, but as soon as a customer requested an extra product or a new customization, we struggled to meet our delivery commitment. The integrated Oracle system has helped us raise the benchmark when it comes to customer service, and we are now getting much more positive feedback. Happy customers are more likely to pass on a recommendation, which in turn has helped us win more customers. We grew our customer base by 10% to 15% in 12 months.”
 

PN International is using Oracle Financials to keep better track of its customer and supplier payments and collection schedules, which has improved the accuracy and timeliness of its purchase orders and invoices.

“Sales, marketing, and procurement departments from every region now enter information, such as products that have been sold or materials purchased, into a central system,” said Anand. “This information can be checked online by department managers and the accounts team, so any errors are picked up straight away, and the order can be processed quickly. As soon as a delivery is sent or received, the information is moved into the general ledger, and we can immediately generate an invoice or payment. This streamlines the process and ensures we maintain good relationships with our customers and suppliers.”

Oracle Financials also enables PN International to monitor its budget allocation and actual budget more closely to ensure it does not over spend.

PN International works with a number of suppliers to ensure it is able to buy the highest quality and most cost-effective materials for its specialized safety products. Oracle Purchasing has enabled the company to choose the most cost-effective supplier by integrating supplier information, such as prices and delivery times in a single database.

“We can now focus on suppliers’ performances to check that they are meeting their commitments and providing us with the best possible price and delivery times,” said Anand. “Comparing and analyzing these performances saves us money by ensuring we pick the most cost-effective options.”