IFS Applications

IFS Applications is unique in that it allows you to select from over 100 business components which in turn are made up from more than 6,000 smaller software components. Each component has a well-defined purpose and interface that describes what the component does. This allows change and evolution within a component without affecting other components. You benefit by being able to choose only the business components you need and add others as needed without affecting other components.

IFS Applications is based on open architecture so you can choose a BI solution that can be integrated into a fully-fledged ERP suite with minimum difficulty and minimum integration issues.

IFS works just like a web browser with features like “favorites”, “back arrow”, and other shortcut tools. You can surf your enterprise system as easily as searching the web.

For those novice users, IFS Applications allows you to customize the user interface by user, giving a more simplistic look and feel but also allowing you to add more and more features and screen elements as the novices skills progress.

IFS provides support from the time you select their software, through implementation and beyond. You have access to online tech support but also have the ability to call highly professional product experts.

Accounts Payable

IFS/Accounts Payable simplifies supplier invoice and payment routines. Integration with accounting rules and purchasing functionality minimizes errors and simplifies routines. Support for self-billing minimizes invoice handling. A variety of currency and payment options contribute to the flexibility of the component, while the follow-up and analysis capabilities ensure full control.

Accounts Receivable

IFS/Accounts Receivable" simplifies invoicing and payment routines. It automatically handles coding of regular transactions and is integrated with customer order and accounting rules functionality to minimize errors and simplify routines. The component offers multi-currency capabilities and enables a variety of payment options. Follow-up and analysis capabilities ensure optimal control.

Asset Data Management

IFS/Asset Data Management" is an engineering framework that creates and maintains information about objects in plants, power grids and fiber-optic networks, with powerful tools for engineering processes and support for Internet-based project collaboration. The tool supports large revamp projects without disrupting the maintenance processes. Asset information is updated immediately, and project and maintenance staff can easily access data and documents via a convenient navigator. Project information from suppliers and consultants can also be imported directly. Integration with IFS Document Management, IFS/Purchasing and IFS Maintenance ensures comprehensive lifecycle management.

Batch Process

IFS/Batch Process" introduces batch balancing and recipes to IFS Applications. The recipe functionality opens up new opportunities for companies for whom weight-percentage and density are important parts of the business. Recipes include functionality for yield, revision control and alternates, making it a powerful tool. Batch balancing is a perfect planning tool for organizing and optimizing the production of restricting batches. The component can be combined with other planning tools such as IFS/Demand Planning and IFS’ master scheduling functionality. Typically, the functionality is used in the paint & adhesives, food & beverages, and pharmaceutical industries.

Budget Management

IFS/Budget Management"is a powerful tool for managing the planning, budgeting, and forecasting work flow in IFS Applications. It can be used to set your corporate strategy with enterprise-wide drivers and assumptions for the budgeting process, and to set targets for the scorecard and budget templates. Support for continuous planning and rolling forecasting allows the user to monitor and update the process at all stages. It is designed for integration with Microsoft^® Excel®.

Call Center

The IFS/Call Center"component enables you to effectively provide call center services to your customers for field service or product support. The component enables support agents with a broad view of the client, swift registration of cases, flexible routing with queues or direct dispatch, and rapid search for existing solutions in the built-in knowledge base. Support contracts including Service Levels Agreements (SLAs) are used as a basis for all work. Cases can seamlessly be entered and verified against the customer’s support agreement. Clients can monitor progress through multi-channel interaction via the Internet with the easy-to-use IFS/Personal Portal, or by mail or SMS using IFS/Event Management. Cases are thoroughly tracked, easily hooked up to business object such as equipment, a product or an invoice, and detailed journals can be kept for each step to ensure traceability and compliance. Calls in the queue can be escalated to other individuals for resolution if required. A case can easily be handed over to other business process objects, allowing agent to automatically create and plan service requests or place a customer order. IFS/Call Center also provides support for thorough analytics by bundling a set of prepackaged measures for all parts of the process.

Cash Flow

IFS/Cash Flow"offers flexible liquidity analyses based on varying scenarios, using input data from areas such as purchase and customer orders and from accounts receivable and payable. Single or repetitive manual cash flows, including currency contracts, can also be added. For individual companies, cash flow can be analyzed for optional periods, divided according to currency, project, region or customer.

Complex MRO

IFS/Complex MRO " enables you to gain detailed insight into the cost structure of your maintenance, repair & overhaul activities. The component helps you reduce costs through leaner, more efficient operations and provide superior customer service by reliably meeting due dates and improving turnaround times. This helps customers increase utilization of their complex equipment. The solution covers customer agreements, work scope planning, shop visit execution, and shipping and invoicing. IFS/Complex MRO is part of a fully integrated MRO solution for independent MRO shops, OEMs and operators of complex assets.

Consolidated Accounts

IFS/Consolidated Accounts" manages all companies within a group, regardless of number, code structure or base currency. Both actual and budget values can be handled, periodically for legal purposes or whenever required for internal purposes. Subsidiaries’ code structure can be transferred in full or aggregated, with or without translation to a parent code structure. When required, currencies are translated according to user-defined rates. Follow-up and reporting are enabled by the general ledger’s regular query and reporting tools.

Constraint-Based Scheduling

IFS/Constraint-Based Scheduling" optimizes the production schedule based on the critical resources that limit production capacity, such as material, equipment, tools and personnel. It centers on an interactive Gantt chart with sophisticated drag-and-drop planning. Scheduling can be done both manually and with the help of advanced algorithms, with or without finite capacity.Multi-site multi-level capability check, i.e. enhanced capable-to-promise (CTP) functionality, provides the user with an advanced tool for accurate delivery time estimation.

Costing

IFS/Costing" supports various cost schemes, from traditional to activity-based costing. The powerful graphical tools provide advanced analysis such as break-even and optimal price based on elasticity. For product costing, users can work with an unlimited number of historical, current and future cost sets, with user-defined buckets for materials, labor, machines and overhead. Order-based estimates, standard and actual, are created for each manufacturing order, and variances are analyzed. There is also strong functionality for Kaizen costing and value engineering.

Customer Orders

IFS/Customer Orders" effectively handles customer orders at one or more locations, including picking and distribution with user-defined order flows. IFS/Customer Orders suits both companies with single-site operations and diversified multi-site enterprises. Full multi-site interoperability and global sourcing are available without add-on components. Deliveries can be handled order based or consolidated in shipments. This is a fundamental component of the IFS Supply Chain Management (SCM) solution.

Configure-to-order (CTO), multi-site, multi-level capability check, i.e. enhanced capable-to-promise (CTP), available-to-promise (ATP), and return material authorization (RMA) functionalities, are included. The component provides advanced pricing options for your business, e.g., extensive price list handling, customer agreements, and consolidated group accounts.

Customer Quotation

IFS/Customer Quotation" creates customer proposals and quotations to which users can add technical information or diagrams as needed. Prices are calculated automatically, with support for multiple currencies and price lists. Once accepted, a quotation can be directly transformed into an order, saving time and eliminating errors. Reminder dates can be set, and users can add information about competitors’ offers and reasons for win/loss, for a complete picture of how each quotation performs.

Customer Schedules

IFS/Customer Schedules" efficiently manages repetitive demand schedules, i.e., a continuous, ever-changing, high-volume flow of order information from repetitive manufacturing partners. The fast and accurate information flow minimizes delays in the supply chain and, consequently, the need for unnecessarily large inventory reserves.

Built-in reconciliation automatically aligns schedule differences, adjusting the schedule to reflect actual customer needs.

Features include cumulative and bucketed schedule tolerance, cumulative call-off, and schedule receipt and reconciliation. IFS/Customer Schedules also facilitates planning by helping you receive forecasts from your customers.

Demand Planning

IFS/Demand Planning",a highly collaborative, graphical and interactive tool for forecasting and collaborative demand planning, helps create both short-term and long-term forecasts/demand plans as a basis for sales planning, budgeting, master scheduling and inventory control, etc. Advanced Internet-based collaboration capabilities, a vast array of statistical methods, multiple forecasting scenarios and tight integration with the rest of the IFS/Planning processes are also available.

eInvoice

IFS/eInvoice" improves and automates the supplier invoicing workflow by reducing the amount of invoices needing manual registration. Invoice scanning is enabled, and advanced rules for authorization significantly speed up the invoice authoring process. Events messages and history logs further improve the process and make follow up easier.

Employee Development & Certification

IFS/Employee Development & Certification" defines the organization’s requirements and then maps them to the available resources. This is transformed into a recruitment plan, employee development needs, and a listing of outdated or overrepresented competencies. This information then forms the basis for the strategic HR processes. Comprehensive support for continuous work with self-assessment, employee development, career planning, and succession analysis completes the human capital management component.

Engineer to Order

IFS/Engineer to Order"makes customer-specific design easier to handle by integrating projects and product structures. The ordered product structures can be a combination of standard products and project-specific structures. Procurement is initiated by the project plan, and every change can be registered, ensuring optimal flexibility, control and cost-effectiveness in the delivery project.

Engineering Change Management

IFS/Engineering Change Management"makes engineering change processes easier. The component lets you receive, check, and approve change requests before converting them into change orders. You can also analyze change impact, which minimizes the risk of making unnecessary or incorrect changes, and can access a complete revision history. Single-entry of data and seamless integration with other components in IFS Applications, such as IFS/PDM Configuration and IFS/Document Management, make this a powerful tool for product design.

Equipment

IFS/Equipment" manages physical information about machines, buildings, ventilation systems and/or transport systems, whether they are part of a production facility or a complex delivery facility. The equipment register uses company-specific terms and concepts, which is especially beneficial when many infrequent users utilize the system. For complete lifecycle management, IFS/Equipment is fully integrated with IFS’ plant design software to be able to handle both new constructions and plant rebuilds.

Equipment Metering

IFS/Equipment Metering" enhances profitability and improves the control of how equipment that requires service is used. Meters are important since they enable service to be scheduled and invoiced according to how much the service object is used.

Equipment Monitoring

IFS/Equipment Monitoring" fills the gap between the collection of real-time information from the machine to transferal of that information to management for analysis. Current equipment status, stop reasons, and produced and rejected quantities can be tracked.

Expense Management

IFS/Expense Management" replaces traditional forms and simplifies reporting. The system contains current regulations, and calculations are done automatically. Travel expense functionality manages per diem expenses, tickets, mileage and allowance as well as other types of costs involved in traveling. Registration and approval are done directly on-screen. Employees who travel frequently can report via the Internet, allowing them to access the system wherever they are located.

Field Service

IFS/Field Service" enables service operations to streamline their customer- focused business processes from quotation and order taking to invoicing and analysis. It also enables field service and work force scheduling as well as correct pricing within and/or outside warranty periods.

Fixed Assets

IFS/Fixed Assets" is an integrated accounting tool for strategic management of your fixed assets. For example, when purchases are made, the acquisition values of fixed assets are updated automatically, if required. Moreover, the system supports a comprehensive range of depreciation methods that can be used simultaneously, a perfect tool if your operations are global and ideal for simulation.

General Ledger

IFS/General Ledger" provides a solid base for financial analysis and reporting by gathering and recording financial events from all the systems and subsidiaries in a corporate group. The component facilitates project accounting, integrated with IFS Project Management", currency handling and voucher updates. Internal ledgers in parallel with the official general ledger, together with periodic cost allocation functionality that enables complicated accounting processes to be done in minutes, offer powerful simulation capabilities. The budget functionality allows for an optional number of parallel budget versions that can be compiled into one to ensure efficient support for decentralized budgeting. Powerful budget simulation options are also available throughout the entire code string. Integration with IFS/Consolidated Accounts" allows any number of subsidiaries to be handled. The system can also handle an optional third currency.

Inventory

IFS/Inventory" streamlines your entire inventory process. Extensive statistics functions are built into the system for detailed analysis. Multi-site environments are fully supported, and designated clients facilitate movement of goods between sites.

IFS/Inventory enables full control over externally owned stock and project-related material. Through secure Web interfaces, the supplier can monitor and update stock balances and consumption for vendor-managed inventory (VMI). Also, all inventory valuation methods are supported in standard as well as advanced multi-level actual costing functionality, including detailed cost specifications and cost updates.

Invoicing

IFS/Invoicing" enables you to seamlessly generate customer invoices and enter supplier invoices from IFS/Customer Orders and IFS/Purchasing, respectively. The highly automated and integrated processes provided by IFS/Invoicing ensure fast and accurate handling of invoices. Statistical tools for detailed follow-up and analysis, combined with advanced credit management tools, provide the framework necessary for the efficient operation of any financial department.

All invoice types for payables and receivables are easily handled, and both manual and automatic invoices can be created. Advance invoices, collective invoices and credit invoices are included.

IFS/Invoicing has extensive capabilities for invoice matching against purchase orders and continuous monitoring of customer credit limits and accurate credit management. The component is integrated with IFS/Accounts Receivable and IFS/Accounts Payable, both part of IFS Financials.

Make | Configure | Assemble to Order

IFS/Make | Configure | Assemble to Order" manages and simplifies production to order, from advanced MTO to simple ATO, and for order-unique design as well as characteristics-based configuration and standard products. Based on the Seiban philosophy, it supports full-level pegging to any user-definable structure level together with a partial MRP calculation. The pegging is utilized for actual costing, progress monitoring and up- or downstream propagation of changes in supply and demand, in dates or in quantities. Combined with IFS/Constraint-Based Scheduling, full APS functionality with both material and capacity constraints is supported. For configured products, a hierarchical structure allows you to define configured products that consist of other configured products on many levels. The structure and routings for each specific case are then calculated based on defined configuration rules and given characteristics for the actual order. Unique order structures, with unique routings, can also be created and maintained based on standard BOMs/routings or custom engineering. The structures can be reused and graphically compared to standard or other unique order structures. Order promising functionality helps determine when the finished product will be ready, based on prevailing conditions.

Make to Project

IFS/Make to Project provides a unique concept for manufacturing in a project context through the flexibility to connect shop orders, DOP structures, purchase orders, etc. directly to project activities. This allows you to efficiently plan both demand and supply of material and track project costs in details. Project inventory enables efficient material handling within projects. When the material is received to inventory, it belongs to specific project activities and the material planning can be performed within project activities, within the entire project or by using planned netting groups by defining specific activities, subprojects etc. to be planned together. Most inventory functionality can be performed in the project context, and material can be transferred between project activities, and between project inventory and standard inventory.

Multisite Planning

IFS/Multisite Planning" manages materials and capacity planning over single or multiple sites, using planning networks, master schedules and supply/demand data. It generates action lists and messages with direct links to supply/demand details. Material and capacity data can be displayed graphically at various levels of aggregation. Master schedules can be produced in tabular or graphical formats, with multi-level scheduling allowing finished products with similar requirements to be arranged in product families. Standard Sales & Operations Planning format is also supported.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness

IFS/Overall Equipment Effectiveness" provides functionality for gathering production/operational information and powerful analysis tools to assess equipment availability, and the performance and quality of the production process. It provides easy-to-use interfaces for operators and process engineers in their daily activities. Operators can communicate between work shifts and process engineers to quickly analyze the impact of short stops, performance drops and how critical they are depending on where they occur. With OEE, you can follow up production goals on a theoretical maximum level and goals set on practical levels depending on the orders backlog, equipment status, and the quality of raw materials.

Payroll Administration

IFS/Payroll Administration" is a flexible tool that minimizes the amount of manual registration and control, allowing users to freely search for and compile information. From small companies to very large organizations with subsidiaries and thousands of employees, the component manages all payroll procedures. The reporting functionality complies with official accounting requirements, providing reports adapted to the demands of the respective authorities. Although only available for some markets in Europe and Asia, the IFS/Payroll Interface component ensures easy integration with third-party payroll solutions in all markets.

PDM Configuration

IFS/PDM Configuration"supports design, configuration control and follow-up of items and products. Its powerful search-and-copy functionality facilitates reuse and contributes to standardization of items. Changes in status are recorded, handling such issues as what, why, when and by whom design changes were made. Finally, advanced revision management provides an overview of changes made to the product, furnishing data for adapting to quality norms.

Preventive Maintenance

IFS/Preventive Maintenance" is used to set up schedules for regular preventive maintenance. The component organizes and prepares all types of tasks in the facility, regardless of whether they are controlled by the condition of the machine, events or a calendar schedule, or whether staff or contractors perform them. IFS/Preventive Maintenance also manages tests required by various authorities as well as general, recurring tasks.

Process Automation Integration

IFS/Process Automation Integration" manages the interaction with automation equipment from different vendors. The communication is built on the vendor-independent communication standard, OLE for Process Control (OPC), using IFS eConnect as a platform. IFS acts as an OPC client and demands a connection via TCP/IP to an OPC server on the automation side (e.g., a SCADA station). IFS/Process Automation Integration opens a wide range of possibilities (e.g., proactive maintenance based on real-time data, OEE fed with real-time data directly from the plant, and interaction between customer orders and the production line). The setup environment is an easy-to-use Windows-based interface. We also provide support to access IFS’ business system information directly in the operator system via IFS Personal Portal.

Project Delivery

IFS/Project Delivery"facilitates the coordination of complex deliveries through their lifecycles, from tendering, detailed design, procurement, manufacturing and/or assembly to testing, delivery, after-sales support and maintenance. It also enables quicker, more accurate estimates and better control of progress and cost.

Purchasing

IFS/Purchasing" offers a unique set of capabilities to help you develop your purchasing process, such as supporting your strategic choice of suppliers, assortment, and markets. All types of purchasing activities are handled, from procurement to supplier invoice matching.

The component handles multi-site companies as well as centralized purchasing, and is a fundamental component in the IFS Supply Chain Management (SCM) solution.

All standard routines can be run automatically, with minimum effort, enabling you to focus on managing exceptions. A wide array of statistical functions allows detailed analysis of supplier performance as well as part quality analysis.

Recruitment

IFS/Recruitment" supports the workflow from the preliminary personnel requisition to the final transfer of data on the hired candidate into the employee files. Based on the requisition, various activities can be coordinated and streamlined, such as internal recruitment, advertisements and labor market days. Job applications can be sorted automatically by using the matching motor, making it easier to arrive at a manageable number of suitable applicants. After recruitment, all information concerning applicants is transferred automatically to the employee register in the HR core, saving a massive amount of work on registration.

Repetitive Production

IFS/Repetitive Production" allows you to create production schedules manually or automatically using data from the IFS/Planning component. With IFS/Planning a hybrid pull/push system is created, using MRP to generate a supplier schedule plan and dimension the Kanban circuit. Schedules can span multiple production lines. Takt time calculation and production line management and analysis are included. The component also provides full support for manual or electronic Kanban systems.

Sales & Marketing

IFS/Sales & Marketing" is a scalable solution for handling information about one of the most important factors for the organization - its customers. To be able to accommodate customers, you have to know who they are, what they need, and how to communicate with them. This component facilitates the marketing and sales processes while conveniently providing management with compiled data as a basis for decision making. It helps sales teams track, manage and execute activities that are important to securing sales opportunities and keeping existing customers satisfied. Selection and marketing campaigns are made easy, so the marketing department can quickly and smoothly identify and communicate with customers. Tools that track progress and view business-critical information give management the complete picture.

Sales Configurator

IFS/Sales Configurator" guides the seller and customer smoothly and conveniently through the selection of products, product characteristics and accessories. Customers receive the optimum alternative with respect to requirements, properties and prices. Products and related information can be visualized by using photos, videos, drawings and other media. Configurations are built incrementally, either via a product advisor’s series of questions that define customer requirements or by using drag-and-drop techniques, in which the available options are displayed and used to assemble the desired product step by step.

Sales Contract Management

IFS/Sales Contract Management" provides lifecycle management of a sales contract from bid and tendering through completion and handover. It contains functionality for payment terms, mark-up and retention rules, contract revisions including baseline control, and contract status with staged workflow and detailed change history logging. It also has links to projects on a granular level including cost roll-up from projects. The component also includes Application for Payment functionality, which handles a cumulative valuation payment process by which the company applies for money on a regular basis based on work progress. It keeps control of defined mark-up and retention rules, certificates and payments.

Scheduling and Resource Allocations

IFS/ Scheduling and Resource Allocations" contains functions that enable graphical work order scheduling for resource and activity planning. Changes can be easily made using drag-and-drop functions. There is a common way of planning preventive maintenance along with corrective maintenance activities. It also easier to see availability and get direct information about the total resource load on the various types of resources required for the work. Close links to IFS Human Resources and IFS Project Management components enable personnel resource needs to be automatically compared with various competencies, skills or license requirements available.

Self Service

IFS/Self-Service" provides a concept within the Personal Portal framework. Access to relevant parts of employee files lets individuals take responsibility for maintaining information accuracy, which means less work for the HR department. Web-enabled travel expense registration, time reporting, self-assessment, registration for training events, internal job applications, etc. supplement the functionality and further increase the overall effectiveness of ordinary administrative tasks.

Service Contract Management

IFS/Service Contract Management" allows you to specify and control the service level for each customer and for each service object as precisely as possible. Once the service pricing and invoicing of services are agreed with a customer, they can be set up in the contract management component and automatically controlled and followed throughout the contracted period. Services can then be invoiced periodically, after each service activity or as a combination of both. You can also set up fixed prices. Furthermore, the extent and scheduling of preventive maintenance activities, modifications and compliance with service bulletins can be specified for each service object. The component can also be used to set up MRO service contracts. During the entire lifecycle of the contract service, orders will be automatically generated just in time with the specified content.

Shop Floor Reporting

With IFS/Shop Floor Reporting" automatically collects shop floor data by using various clients. Reported time is reconciled with time and attendance data, and approval screens allow tight control.

Shop Order

IFS/Shop Order" manages the execution of manufacturing and assembly with support for many production models. In addition to the extensive support for all stages in the shop order flow and handling of material, machine and labor operations, there is advanced functionality for handling tools and bar codes as well as balancing divergent order flows. Multi-level serial and lot/batch tracking is fully supported. Both BOMs and recipes can be used with date or serial effectivity. Shop Order is closely integrated with IFS/Costing and IFS/Inventory ensuring proper cost control and efficient use of different inventory valuation methods for manufactured parts.

Supplier Schedules

IFS/Supplier Schedules" is ideal for high-volume manufacturing environments with a continuous and high-volume flow of order information. The component improves administrative efficiency by reducing the number of transactions requiring user input. For example, the component allows users to communicate up-to-date material requirements to suppliers with a minimum of transactions. In addition, the component makes it easier to generate, approve, and release schedules, with several delivery pattern options.

Normally, a supplier schedule includes a business agreement, or contract, and a regular schedule of requirements that extends to a future date. In IFS Applications, these requirements are automatically generated by MRP, based on net demand.

Time & Attendance

IFS/Time & Attendance" handles information on the presence and absence of employees in a company. It also handles authorizations at various levels with complete authorization control. Times are easily reported, checked and verified in real time. Wage code distribution and the calculation of flextime overtime, shift premiums, etc., are completely automatic and are checked against central rules. Registration and control are generally done via user-friendly graphics.

Training Management

IFS/Training Management" provides comprehensive support for organizations with extensive internal and external training operations. From an internal perspective, the total training requirements are compiled from the individual development programs and used as input in planning training events. Web interfaces for training registration and mail integration for communicating with participants affect overall performance positively. Training history and competency profiles are automatically updated to the employee files after training has been completed.

Vehicle Information Management

IFS/Vehicle Information Management" is the key to IFS’ solution for the aerospace and defense industry. Integrating fleet management and configuration management, it lays the foundation for maintenance, repair & overhaul. The MRO functionality is designed to cover a wide spectrum of operations, including line maintenance, base maintenance, shop repair and independent full-service repair centers.

Web Store

IFS Web Store" is an out-of-the-box solution based on ePages 5 Merchant platform for Web-based order management and an ideal tool for spare parts sales. The component provides a variety of ways of searching for and selecting products, as well as price and availability checks, customer registration, and order tracking. Your Web shop can be up and doing business within a few weeks.

Work Order

IFS/Work Order" manages all tasks affecting the maintenance organization: fault reports, preparation, planning and final reporting. Traceability via information access layers provides complete follow-up and analysis management. The result is more efficient maintenance work, reducing both direct and indirect maintenance costs as well as loss of revenue caused by standstills. The work order information can be handled in different kinds of clients, such as PDAs, and Web portlets.