If you are an Oracle user, you must be aware of the 24A release. The release is across various modules including Supply Chain Management. If you are an Oracle Cloud Supply Chain Model, Oracle SCM 24A release notes might be knocking on your door. You might be unaware of the release and what it might be making into your system. We present you this guide to make you aware of the Oracle SCM 24A release notes. Additionally, we will also see the importance of testing that needs to be validated after the release.
What’s New in Oracle SCM 24A Release Notes
Oracle SCM 24A release notes introduce several enhancements and new features across various modules, focusing on improving supply chain orchestration, procurement, sourcing, self-service procurement, and more. Here’s a detailed look at the key updates:
Supply Chain Orchestration
- You can now manually reduce or cancel the quantity remaining open on a transfer order or purchase order, even when only part of the supply is available. This helps reduce errors that might occur when making these adjustments.
- Post-processing days can be added to the supply’s requested delivery date when modifying the sales order’s scheduled ship date. This feature helps ensure reliable meeting of the ship date in your back-to-back flow.
Procurement
- When acquiring materials for projects, the system in project-driven supply chains verifies the availability of funds. It sets aside money against control budgets and considers encumbrances.
- Procurement checklists can be created to collect and track compliance documentation required for audit purposes, providing a structured approach to compliance management.
- Several enhancements have been made to purchasing, including the ability to assign supplier contacts for requisitions and purchase orders by specifying their email IDs, configuring in-application and email notifications for purchase orders and change orders, and more.
Sourcing
- Throughout the negotiating lifecycle, category managers and members of the cooperation team can be tracked, increasing transparency and accountability.
- It is now possible to reopen an awarded and completed negotiation and change the award decision to pick another supplier, even after purchasing documents are created.
Self Service Procurement
- Various enhancements have been made to the Responsive Self-Service Procurement application, including the ability to change information for catalog items during shopping, request overrides for failed funds check processes, and more.
Inventory Management
- Improved search functionality is now available for category names before defining or editing counts per year and variance percentages in the cycle count definition, ensuring more accurate adjustment values.
- Min-Max planning now has the option to exclude unreleased or completed maintenance work order demand, preventing the overstocking of extraneous parts.
Shipping and Receiving
- The Restrict Usage of Goods Pending Recall Counts feature provides more control over which shipping documents are included in the signature process for compliance with regulations.
- To comply with tax authority regulations in Portugal, a unique QR code can now be generated and printed on packing slips, bills of lading, and commercial invoices for drop-ship orders.
Cost Management
- You can now define plant overheads using a new absorption type to absorb component overheads.
- It is now possible to add overhead associated with parts used in a maintenance work order in the maintenance expense.
What is the Importance of Thorough Testing?
Ensuring Existing Functionalities
Automation testing plays a crucial role in conducting comprehensive regression testing to verify that the existing functionalities of Oracle software remain intact after updates. By executing automated test suites quickly and consistently, organizations can ensure that no regressions occur due to the changes introduced in the quarterly updates.
Validating Security Patches
Oracle’s quarterly updates often include critical security patches to address vulnerabilities. Automated security testing can help validate these patches, ensuring that the security measures implemented effectively safeguard the software against potential threats.
Evaluating System Performance
Automation testing is utilized to perform performance testing after updates. This involves assessing the impact of the changes on system responsiveness, resource utilization, and overall performance. Automated performance tests help identify any degradation or improvement in system efficiency.
Verifying Compatibility
Automated tests are crucial for verifying the compatibility of Oracle software with different environments, databases, and operating systems. This ensures that the updates do not adversely affect the interoperability of the software in various deployment scenarios.
Ensuring Data Integrity
Automated tests play a vital role in validating data integrity within Oracle databases. This is particularly important when updates involve data storage or retrieval mechanism changes. Automated tests can confirm that data is stored and retrieved accurately.
Validating End-to-End Workflows
Automation testing helps validate end-to-end workflows within Oracle applications. This ensures that the updates do not disrupt the smooth flow of processes, especially in complex enterprise systems where various modules interact.
Integration with CI/CD
Automated tests are integrated into CI/CD pipelines to facilitate continuous testing and delivery. This ensures that with every update, automated tests are triggered, providing quick feedback on the quality of the changes and allowing for early detection of issues.
Adapting to Changes Quickly
Automated tests are designed to be easily maintainable and adaptable. When Oracle quarterly updates bring changes to the application, automated test scripts can be updated efficiently to accommodate these changes, reducing the time and effort required for testing.
Why Should You Automate Testing?
- Save Time and Money: Automate repetitive tests to free up your team for more strategic tasks.
- Increase Testing Coverage: Run more tests in less time, leading to more comprehensive test coverage.
- Improve Accuracy: Automated tests reduce human error and ensure consistent testing execution.
- Faster Feedback: Receive quicker feedback on bugs or regressions after code changes.
- Improved Scalability: Easily scale your testing efforts to accommodate new features or functionalities.
Validate Functionality with Opkey
Opkey stands out for its codeless approach and use of artificial intelligence. Its no-code feature enables individuals with varying levels of technical expertise to participate in automation testing. Opkey provides extensive support for over 15 packaged apps and 150 technologies. This allows organizations to automate tests and validate Oracle SCM 24A releases.
Visit Opkey’s website to learn more about Oracle SCM 24A release notes!