Jennifer Leatherman, IT Business Solutions Director at CTB, Inc. spoke with us about their decision to migrate from JD Edwards World Software to Oracle ERP Cloud.
“By moving to a fully functional, fully integrated system, we are able to lower ongoing cost by reducing the third-party software we had added over the years. This included maintenance and support along with licensing.”
—Jennifer Leatherman, IT Business Solutions Director at CTB, Inc
About CTB
CTB, Inc. is a global manufacturing company founded in 1952 with headquarters in Milford, IN. CTB has 3,000+ employees globally, 1,000+ distributors, 46 manufacturing and warehousing facilities and customer located in 110+ countries.
CTB manufactures the following livestock and agricultural products:
- Grain Storage, Handling, Conditioning and Drying, and Structures
- Poultry Care and Management
- Sow and Pig Care and Management
- Laying Hen Care and Management
- Food Processing, Weighing, Packaging and Software
- Industrial Equipment and Applications
CTB Inc.’s Move from World to Oracle ERP Cloud
What is your history with JD Edwards?
CTB went live with JDE World in February 1998, with an upgrade to A7.3, cum 16 in 2009 and an upgrade to A9.3 in 2013. The most recent upgrade to A9.4 base was completed in 2016 at 11 domestic locations. In 2019, a decision was made to move from JDE World to Oracle ERP and SCM Cloud.
What is your JD Edwards footprint?
CTB implemented Financials, A/R, A/P, Purchasing, Product Data Management, Manufacturing, Order Management, Advanced Pricing and Payroll in 1998 and added functionality as it became available in release updates.
What were your main challenges using JD Edwards World software?
In recent years, our biggest challenge became the lack of automation with many manual processes, shortage of RPG programmers to support our existing customizations, and the added cost of supplementing functionality by adding third-party software to fill the gaps.
Please take us through your decision-making process to upgrade/migrate.
With the end of support for World software looming, we did not want to wait until the last minute to make a decision. In 2019, we decided to spend 2020 working on a roadmap of where we wanted to be as a company in 5-10 years, and the technology needed to support that growth. We spent weeks interviewing potential partners and chose CSS International as our partner to work with us over the life of our project.
Our next step was completing an in-depth discovery workshop to identify our current processes and identify gaps and requirements. We looked at four or five ERP software systems that were reviewed, demonstrated, and analyzed for best fit. Oracle ERP Cloud was the best fit to meet our requirements and allowed us to grow into the future.
What was the main benefit and deciding factor?
CTB made the decision to upgrade our JDE World software to Oracle ERP Cloud for many reasons. Our beginning reason for the upgrade was to replace our software that was at end of life. What we eventually realized is that there were many benefits to the upgrade. By moving to a fully functional, fully integrated system, we are able to lower ongoing cost by reducing the third-party software that we had added over the years. This included maintenance and support, along with licensing.
Although it’s a paradigm shift for us to accept quarterly updates, that frequency keeps the software current, adds functionality when available, and promotes standard software content with few to no customizations. This move should take us into the future.
What Oracle Cloud solutions will you implement?
We are implementing the full HCM suite, the full Oracle ERP and SCM Cloud, EPM, GTM, and OTM modules. As part of this migration, we moved from JDE Payroll to ADP, and we had already begun a project to roll out Oracle CPQ.
What is the time frame of the migration?
We began our project in November 2020. We had a planned go-live of HCM at the end of March 2021, EPM and GTM/OTM in May, and Phase 1 of ERP and SCM Cloud in November 2021. We plan to complete Phase 2 in mid-2022.
What is the business value of moving to Oracle Cloud?
We will recognize cost reduction by eliminating various third-party solutions that are included standard functionality in Oracle ERP. We will also lower support costs, reduce manual processes that are being replaced by automation, and improve efficiencies. Cloud also brings better visibility of integrated data for proactive decision making.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
This migration is a big deal. You need support from the top down—not only in change management but in providing resources to make the project successful. The best team members are typically the same ones that keep your business running. They are the hardest to give up to the project, but the most important for a successful project. Also, choosing a good partner is vital to getting you to the finish line.
How long have you been involved with Quest and how have you benefited from the community?
It seems like I’ve been a part of the Quest group forever. I remember when JDE was new to me and the World User Group was created. Yes, that long ago!
I feel so fortunate to have dear friends that I have met through Quest. As members, we have learned from each other, shared our successes and things not so successful, but that is how we’ve supported each other over the years. If one of us has been through it, by sharing our experiences, we can help the next group taking on a new adventure. Being a part of Quest in the past has been my go-to group for answers and help during my JDE years.