PeopleSoft touts new tools
As its battle with Oracle continues, the software maker attempts to offer some good news by unveiling tools designed for manufacturers.
One new tool, EnterpriseOne CRM 8.11, is designed to integrate sales and customer service functions into manufacturing-specific business processes. The tool features a single-user interface and data model, the company said, and has functions that connect revenue forecasts to sales management, and product forecasts to operations management. It will be available in December, when EnterpriseOne 8.11 is slated to be available.
Other new products are Demand Flow Manufacturing, RFID Processor, and Sales and Operations Planning 8.11. The software maker said these products will help companies run manufacturing based on customer demand and other inputs from the supply chain. The tools are designed to let customers keep their manufacturing lines flexible and capable, building any model at any time, without building up finished products' inventory or wasting plant capacity.
The sales and operations planning product will integrate sales, manufacturing operations, engineering and finance information, helping companies anticipate fluctuations in demand and simulate the financial implications of supply chain decisions, the Pleasanton, Calif.-based company said.
The RFID Processor supports radio frequency identification throughout the supply chain, PeopleSoft said. It is an improvement over an RFID tool announced earlier for outbound shipments only. The new product will let companies have access to shipment information and increase inventory flow throughout the supply chain.
"PeopleSoft RFID Processor elimates delays and human error from inventory movements in the supply chain," Les Wyatt, general manager, EnterpriseOne, said in a statement. "The new solutions we announced today take supply chain management to a new level by enabling manufacturers to respond to demand volatility in ways they've never been able to before."
But customers curious about the other news involving PeopleSoft--a possible takeover by Oracle--will have to wait a bit longer for answers, as the long-simmering issue remains unresolved.
Oracle has not given up its bid to buy PeopleSoft. The database giant last week took PeopleSoft to court in an attempt to have the smaller company's anti-takeover measures removed.