Novatech modernizes manufacturing processes with Oracle APEX

To respond to market opportunities faster, Novatech undertook a modernization of its IT systems. This included upgrading its primary enterprise application, a version of E-Business Suite (EBS) dating back to the early 2000s that made adding new functionality and business processes difficult.

As a result, end users built a series of ad hoc “satellite applications” outside of EBS using Microsoft Excel and Access that presented unnecessary risks and costs. These file systems were less secure since they could be easily shared or altered. The separate systems also degraded data integrity without a single data source. In addition, managing the detached files and databases from the company’s core order entry system was susceptible to manual error and duplication that was costly to correct. Novatech’s IT department had become responsible for the upkeep and repair of these files.

When Novatech began updating EBS, one of the required migrations was a collection of approximately 300 customer price lists in Excel with different filters, generally updated every year. Thus, Novatech wanted to do away with manual spreadsheet updates and the risks of human error during the lists’ approvals and renewals.  

In addition, some of the EBS personalizations developed in Oracle Forms were found to be no longer a good fit in the new version and data model. Therefore, Novatech considered an alternative approach to transfer EBS data for new application development.

Novatech chose Oracle APEX, a low code development framework with the Oracle Database, to easily and securely transfer and access the data from within EBS. Oracle APEX improved data security with a seamless integration of Oracle menus and navigation compared to Excel and Access that were outside of the EBS system.

Not only did the more intuitive Oracle APEX eliminate Novatech’s scarcity of expert resources in Forms, it also delivered a faster development cycle and made it extensible to mobile devices. 

There are still standard EBS Forms apps remaining in Novatech’s ecosystem, but these were purposely left intact as they continue to function well and require no personalization.

Using Oracle APEX to replace ad hoc and Oracle Forms apps and extend EBS has proven to be pivotal in addressing Novatech’s business needs.

Through its easy to use and interactive reporting tools, Oracle APEX has provided the company with better exposure to single-sourced data from EBS, enabling management to react faster and increase manufacturing production efficiency.  

Oracle APEX has also helped spark an accelerated evolution of business processes. IT has noted a renewed enthusiasm among end users for the improved functionality, which in turn generated more requests for other enhancements to the EBS system.

As a result, the IT department is now prioritizing the many development requests and planning new projects with Oracle APEX instead of using its energy to encourage users to adopt new features.

Insum is an Oracle partner that specializes in Oracle APEX, focusing on application development, modernization, and support. Insum has developed an EBS integration tool, Handshake, that converts the needed data to Oracle APEX. The firm also provided knowledge transfer to the Novatech team, who then were able to further develop and maintain the system on their own.