What is JD Edwards? Products and Technology, ERP Modules

What is JD Edwards?

In 1977, Jack Thompson, Dan Gregory and Ed McVaney formed a software company that specialised in midrange computing solutions. Initially, JD Edwards (abbreviated as JDE) developed software for several small and medium-sized computers.

Later in the 1980s, the company started focusing on IBM System/38. In this way, JDE pioneered the Computer-Aided Systems Engineering (CASE) software development and design tool. As JDE’s software business continued to flourish, servicing a large number of customers gradually became challenging.

JDE could either cease to expand and continue to serve customers on an individual basis or develop a breakthrough technology to become an industry leader in enterprise software. At this point in time, McVaney and Thompson began to design and implement Worldsoftware that showed them the path to success. By the mid-1980s, JDE came to be recognised as a leading supplier of applications software for the highly successful IBM AS/400 computer.

With the introduction of OneWorld in June 1996, JDE once again achieved a technological breakthrough. OneWorld provides organisations with the capacity to configure their systems and applications as their needs change.

JDE was however purchased by PeopleSoft, Inc. in 2003. PeopleSoft, in turn, was purchased by Oracle Corporation in 2005, and Oracle continues to sell and support the company’s applications successfully.

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JD Edwards Products and Technology

JD Edwards provides its solutions primarily for the AS/400 platform. The company has two application suites: OneWorld and WorldSoftware/WorldVision. OneWorld enables organisations to configure their systems and applications as their needs change.

WorldSoftware provides a comprehensive supply chain management functionality. Both can run parallelly on the same AS/400 platform, share data and interact with each other as a unified solution. Let us discuss these solutions in detail:

OneWorld

JDE’s OneWorld supports an extended solution by integrating with the existing, best-of-breed company products without sacrificing the security, integrity or consistency of the existing systems. OneWorld’s own APIs as well as industry standards, such as CORBA, ODBC and other packaged integration solutions, help to provide flexibility. Therefore, organisations are not limited to the existing technology and can benefit from future opportunities.

WorldSoftware

JDE’s WorldSoftware allows organisations to selectively mix, match and integrate software applications from among its diverse industry product suites. It helps them to conveniently modify ongoing business processes to suit industry-specific requirements. WorldSoftware can run parallel with OneWorld to gradually incorporate other computing platforms into an organisation’s network.

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JD Edwards Modules

JD Edwards provides its customers better control of their business functions. JDE modules have redefined the way organisations cope with the changing markets, customers and competitive conditions. The different product modules available from JDE are as follows:

Foundation Suite

Consists of Back Office, CASE Foundation, Environment/Toolkit, Financial Analysis Spreadsheet Tool and Report Writer, WorldVision GUI and Electronic Burst and Bind

Financial Suite

Consists of General Accounting, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Fixed Assets, Financial Modelling and Budgeting, Multi-Currency Processing, Cash Basis Accounting and Time Accounting.

Logistics/Distribution Suite

Consists of Forecasting, Requirements Planning, Enterprise Facilities Planning, Sales Order Management, Advanced Pricing, Procurement, Work Order Management, Inventory Management, Bulk Stock Management, Quality Management and Advanced Warehouse.

Management Suite

Consists of Equipment Management, Transportation Management, Job Cost and Service Billing.

Government, Education and Not-for-Profit Solutions

Consist of Financial Administration and Reporting, Budget Administration, Fund and Encumbrance Accounting, Grant and Endowment Management, Purchasing and Material Management, Warehousing and Central Stores Management, Human Resources Management, Service and Work Order Management, Capital Project and Construction Management, Contract Management and Plant, Equipment and Fleet Maintenance

Utility and Energy Solutions

Consist of Customer Information System, Human Resources Management, Work Management, Regulatory Reporting, Supply Chain Management, Project Management and Enterprise Maintenance Management

Services Suite

Consists of Contract Billing, Subcontract Management, Change Management and Property Management

Manufacturing Suite

Consists of Configuration Management, Cost Management, Product Data Management, Capacity Planning, Shop Floor Management and Advanced Maintenance Management.

Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Mining and Real Estate Suite

Consists of Procurement, Inventory Management, Equipment Management, Job Cost, Work Order Management, Subcontract Management, Change Management, Contract Management, Contract Billing, Service Billing, Homebuilder Management and Property Management.

Energy and Chemical Suite

Consists of Agreement Management, Advanced Stock Valuation, Sales Order Management, Bulk Stock Management and Load and Delivery Management