Oracle plans MRO application

Oracle is preparing a new supply chain management (SCM) suite module tailored for the aviation and defense industries, the company said Tuesday at an industry conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Oracle Complex Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO), slated for a mid-May worldwide release, is intended to offer organizations real-time process information drawn from a number of operational divisions. MRO can aid in such activities as component lifecycle tracking, fleet- and unit-focused maintenance planning and scheduling, inventory management, regulatory documentation and data storage, according to Oracle.

The Web-based application, built atop a database, will be marketed at organizations such as airlines, maintenance companies, armed forces and government contractors, Oracle said.

Oracle Complex MRO will be available as part of Oracle’s SCM suite or as a stand-alone application. Pricing has not yet been determined, according to an Oracle spokesman.

SAP also offers an MRO application, but breaking into the aerospace and defense market has been tough for such suite-focused vendors because of their tight integration with their own back-end infrastructures, according to a research note from AMR Research analyst Marc McCluskey.

“The pressure will be on Oracle to allow Complex MRO to stand alone as a leader in deals where the opportunities look much bigger,” McCluskey wrote.

Still, Oracle’s Complex MRO release puts pressure on smaller vendors including Manugistics Group and Avexus to keep pace with Oracle’s development and capabilities, he noted.