The document discusses considerations when evaluating the use of discrete manufacturing in a process manufacturing environment, particularly using Oracle applications. Key distinctions are made between discrete and process manufacturing, including handling co-products, lot management, and ingredient variations. The presentation emphasizes the importance of determining specific needs and suggests testing both applications to make an informed decision.

1. What to consider when using Discrete
Manufacturing in a Process Manufacturing Plant

2. Disclaimer:
The following information is based on my experience as a consultant using
Oracle Applications in both Discrete and Process manufacturing environments.
If you are in a process environment using OPM, it is not a good idea to convert
to discrete. If you are considering the use of OPM or discrete for your
organization or a new facility, then the information in the following
presentation could be very useful. While the information provided in the
presentation may present a stronger case for discrete, it is your decision not
mine.

3.  Do I have co- or by- product from my
process?
 Do I need to have a separate cost for
each lot?
 Do I need to manage sub lot records?
 Do I need to vary my ingredients based
on the output size?
If your answer YES to any
of these questions, you are
in a process environment.
You may not be able to use
discrete but lets not rule it
out until you see all the
information.

4. Ingredient
Ingredient
OPM
Ingredient
Batch
Different Terms, almost the same meaning
 Discrete uses components, Bills of Materials
Routings and Work in Process jobs.
 Oracle Process Manufacturing uses items,
formulas, recipes and batches
 Components = Items
 BOMs = Formulas
 Routings = Recipes
Components
 Jobs = Batches
Bills of
Material
Keep in mind this is not
a presentation on how
the two manufacturing
systems work. It is just
information to help you
decide which to
consider.
Assemblies
Finished
Good
Discrete

5. CoProduct
ByProduct
Main
Product
 Dealing with co- or by-products
 OPM has no problem with getting multiple
products out of a batch
 Discrete has the ability to get multiple
products out of a batch by using the WIP
negative component issue
If co or by-products are an
important part of your product
and process, OPM offers better
functionality but discrete will
work.

6. Lot 1 $
Lot 2 $
 Separate cost by lot
 OPM supports this very well
 Discrete does not support this need
If you have to have
separate cost by lot, you
must use OPM. You
could use FIFO costing
(layered) costing in
Discrete and it would
give you close to an
actual cost by job but
not a separate cost by
lot.

7. Sublot
3
Sublot
Master
Lot
1
 Management of Sub Lots
 OPM supports this need
 Discrete supports Parent/Child lots
Sublot
2
Discrete doesn’t offer
sublot functionality but
it does offer complete
traceability of parent to
child lot genealogy.
Unless sublots are
critical to your business,
you can use discrete.

8. Recipe 3
Recipe 2
Recipe 1
 Ingredient size varies with batch size
 OPM supports many formula variations
 Discrete can support alternate bills
This is a critical issue. If
you have product where
the ingredients required
varies with respect to
the output (the input is
non-linear from the
output), then OPM may
be a better option.
With discrete, you can
have a bill for a gallon of
product and scale it up
to any number of
gallons as long as the
scale is linear.

9. Bottom Line:
This presentation was intended to show you some of the issues to consider. It
is not a complete assessment of OPM versus Discrete capabilities. I have
shown the high points which should get you started on the road to your
decision. It is now your turn to explore and test. It is a simple matter to model
both applications. This is where a Vision test instance comes in quite handy.
Since both types of applications exist in the instance, you can load your data
and test both.
If you have questions, my contact information can be found at
www.larrysherrod.com