Case studies

Oracle solution drives competitive edge

Sooner Pipe client spotlight

​[With Deloitte AMS] we have all the resources we need to take care of our day-to-day operations and, also, plan for any enhancements that may be required.
- Randy Rea, Director of IT Systems and Administration, Sooner Pipe

Choosing the right tool for the job

Technology certainly plays an integral role in this process. But, according to Randy Rea, Sooner Pipe’s Director of IT Systems and Administration, the company’s IT environment has not always been as strong as its OCTG distribution know-how.

“We know all about the pipe, but on the technical side, we were way behind the times,” explains Rea.

In light of this realization, Rea determined that implementing an Oracle solution may likely be the preferred way to bring Sooner Pipe’s IT capabilities up to speed.

There was just one catch: Rea and his small in-house IT team couldn’t do it all themselves.

“We understood immediately that the only way to get this done was to pick the proper helper,” recalls Rea. “We quickly identified Deloitte Consulting LLP as being able to take care of our needs better than anyone else out there.”

Sooner Pipe chose Deloitte’s Application Management Services (AMS) to oversee its Oracle implementation. Deloitte AMS supplemented Rea’s in-house team with the local and global experience required to make the deployment as smooth and efficient as possible.

And, Rea also chose Deloitte AMS to provide ongoing support and advice for post-implementation enhancements.

“Since Deloitte was the implementer, it was an automatic that they would also be our support help,” Rea explains. “We count on the experiences they’ve had with other companies to help us look at the things we want to do from a different angle.” 

Impacts from Transformation

  • Oracle deployed throughout the company with zero impact on customers and vendors
  • Multiple units of measure standardized for easier inventory management
  • The agility to respond to changing business and IT requirements with ease

The month we went live was one of our busiest of the year. But, no one outside of our company knew that we had this transition. Our customers and vendors were not impacted.
- Randy Rea, Director of IT Systems and Administration, Sooner Pipe 

Reaping the benefits of standardization

Following the implementation Sooner Pipe and Deloitte worked together to enhance the Oracle solution to suit the company’s different operational needs. This effort included standardizing the disparate units of measure assigned to raw materials — such as tons, feet and joints — within Oracle, which made it easier to track and manage inventory.

In addition to streamlining its inventory, the standardization project won Sooner Pipe a Titan Award at the Oracle OpenWorld conference for its innovative work in the area of supply chain management.

“We are not here without Deloitte’s guidance. We just could not have done it without them,” Rea says. 

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