New White Paper: ERP & Environmental Footprint Management for Manufacturers

Green supply chains are hot because of mounting pressure from investors and regulators. ERP can help manufacturers document their environmental impact including contributions of supply chain partners. What should you look for in an ERP package to meet green supply chain requirements and green your own supply chain? Read more and find out!

Top
 

Podcast: Manufacturers Need Serious Project-Based ERP, IFS Study Shows

In this month's edition of the IFS Radio Network podcast, a look at exciting survey results that shed light on how manufacturing in the western hemisphere has changed dramatically, taking on a project-intensive business model that requires dramatically different management techniques and business software.

Due in part to competition from overseas, North American manufacturing can no longer be characterized by long production runs or identical products. The study, based on a survey conducted by a third-party research firm of 341 executives from mid-market to large manufacturers, indicated that 77 percent of respondents were with companies that were extremely reliant on projects due to their focus on short-run, engineer-to-order, and highly regulated manufacturing of high-value products.

However, respondents reported low levels of integration between project management software and the enterprise software like enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems used to run their business. A full 59 percent said project management software was completely separate from ERP, and another 29 percent reported varying degrees of partial to full integration.

In this month's interview podcast, IFS North American Vice President of Marketing Steve Andrew and IFS AB Product Director for Project Based Solutions Kenny Ingram offer their insights on these data points.

Top

IFS Ensures Project Success with Enhanced Project-Based Solutions 3.0

IFS launched its latest project-based solutions software, PBS 3.0, designed specifically to give organizations greater visibility and control of their business-critical projects, helping secure competitive advantage as they are ready for economic recovery. The solution has been developed in cooperation with IFS' project-oriented customers and experienced IFS consultants delivering Project-Based Solutions to customers worldwide for many years.

The solution offers project-driven organizations an application that incorporates all the benefits of a fully integrated ERP suite with specialized functionality for Project Control, Project Financial Control and Project Materials Management. PBS 3.0, which can also be integrated with third-party planning tools such as Primavera P6, dramatically improves customers' ability to manage projects throughout their lifecycle and ensures vital project data is captured at the heart of core business systems.


 

Top

IFS Featured Brochures

Brochures:

Top

Welcome New IFS Customer: Royal Navy

The UK Royal Navy has selected IFS Defence to provide support and application hosting for the UK MoD Navy primary Maintenance Management System, (UMMS). The contract outlines plans and options to procure services for up to five years.

The UK Royal Navy uses UMMS as the primary onboard maintenance management and scheduling tool for all major surface and subsurface vessels; it is also being deployed across the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. 
 

Top

New IFS Study Offers Snapshot of Manufacturing Industry and its New Dependence on Project Management Software

This new IFS sponsored study was conducted by a third-party research organization on the state of Project Based Solutions (PBS) in the manufacturing space. This study is based on a survey of 341 manufacturing executives from companies between $100 million and several billion dollars in revenue. Respondents were asked to categorize themselves based on how project-dependent their business was and the degree to which their project management tools were integrated with their ERP solution. They also described their capabilities in the important areas of risk management, their degree of awareness about PBS and the benefits they expect or receive from PBS solutions. Respondents also answered questions about how they plan to ramp back up during the economic recovery, and the role they see for PBS in managing that process.

"Many of these respondents commented about the integration projects necessary to get project management and ERP tools to talk to each other," IFS North America President and CEO Cindy Jaudon said. "As project management becomes a more and more central discipline for manufacturers of all types, we feel that project management needs to be a built-in part of ERP. Custom integration projects are expensive and risky, so implementing standard software that meets project management needs with few to no modifications will be an appealing option to our customers and prospective customers."

The survey data suggests that manufacturers will be increasingly reliant on a new type of ERP software, project-based solutions (PBS). PBS is designed to help manufacturers gain real-time visibility and control of projects they are running, and allows them to manage their entire business more like a project. Download the full report below!

 

Top

Events: Visit IFS This Fall

Top

IFS Express RFI, certified by Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC), is the industry's easiest and quickest way to create an RFI for enterprise applications. It provides a template of more than 3,000 functional specifications, organized by department. IFS Applications 7.5 functionality has already been identified within the RFI, and each response has been reviewed and certified by a TEC industry analyst. For more information about IFS Applications call 1-888-437-4968 or download a free copy now!

Top