In its quest to become an ever more global enterprise software company, IFS recently announced a partnership with Infosys, a global provider of consulting and technology services. The global partnership covers joint sales activities toward targeted industries in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific, as well as development of skills in the IFS Applications software suite within Infosys, which should aid in the delivery of successful projects.

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IFS, the global enterprise applications company, recently announced that Emirates, an airlines with one of the youngest fleets in the sky, has selected IFS Applications 8 to manage its new engine overhaul facility in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Emirates is one of the fastest-growing airlines in the world, flying to 132 destinations in 77 countries across six continents.

The airline operates 198 wide-body Airbus and Boeing aircrafts and has orders for an additional 200 aircrafts, worth more than $71 billion (USD). In 2011, the airline announced the construction of Asia’s most technically sophisticated engine overhaul facility in Dubai. The facility will cover 90,000 square meters and will serve as Emirates’ in-house engine overhaul facility. IFS Applications will support all operations at the overhaul facility, which, when fully operational, will service up to 300 engines per year.

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Adding to its ongoing array of wins in the realm of filed service management (FSM), IFS recently announced that Spencer Technologies, a provider of network design, infrastructure installation, and technology deployment services for retail locations, has selected IFS Metrix Service Management as its FSM solution. Spencer Technologies, of Northborough, Massachusetts, will use IFS Metrix Service Management software to support its more than 150 technicians across five locations.

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While many might have been aware of IFS’ prowess in asset and project intensive industries as well as in field service management (FSM) of late, many might not be aware of the fact that the automotive industry is one of IFS’ targeted markets. IFS’ Automotive solution provides the tools for managing the interaction between automotive dealers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), suppliers, and subcontractors in networks of varying complexity. IFS’ automotive customers include Volvo, BMW, Scania, Linamar, Borgstena, HUF Hülsbeck & Fürst, Toyota, and Finnveden Group.

Most recently, DTR Industries, a leading supplier of automotive components, has selected IFS Applications to support its complex multi-mode production with enterprise resource planning (ERP). DTR engages in a broad range of manufacturing operations for automotive anti-vibration and hose products that include rubber mixing, metal stamping, welding, aluminum die casting, painting, rubber curing, rubber extruding, plastic injection, and assembly operations. DTR’s main customers include Honda, Nissan, and Toyota.

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While it may not be surprising that IFS has lately had a streak of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and enterprise asset management (EAM) wins in its traditional asset-intensive industries, it is interesting to note that some recent wins and expanded project footprints are in the realm of field service management (FSM). IFS has tackled this attractive software category via the recent acquisitions of Metrix and 360 Scheduling (see the related article for more details).

In late 2012, IFS won an Asian telecom company. In January 2013, IFS announced that the seventh largest Pepsi-Cola franchise company in the US is expanding its footprint with the IFS Metrix Service Management Mobile solution. Read the rest of this entry »

IFS’ win streak continued with Atlas Pipeline Mid-Continent Holdings, LLC (“Atlas Pipeline”), active in gathering and processing natural gas for transportation to commercial, industrial, and residential markets, recently choosing IFS Applications as its new enterprise solution. The oil and gas industry is one of IFS’ core markets. Based on a single product line, IFS Applications delivers component-based business solutions that manage the entire lifecycle of contracts, projects, assets, and services. Read the rest of this entry »

IFS’ win streak from late 2012 seems to be flowing into 2013. On January 16, 2013, the global enterprise applications company announced that Vantaa Energy Ltd., one of Finland’s largest urban energy companies, has selected IFS Applications 8 to streamline its business processes.

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In late November 2012, IFS announced that a major North American offshore oil & gas drilling company had signed a contract to implement IFS Applications as its enterprise asset management (EAM) software system. The unnamed offshore drilling company will implement the IFS Applications for Offshore Service edition to support maintenance operations. The deployed solution will include projects, maintenance, and IFS Instant Replication, a special solution for rapid replication of data between offshore rigs or vessels and onshore facilities. Read the rest of this entry »

In a flurry of product announcements at the IFS World Conference 2012 in Gothenburg, Sweden, last week, IFS announced the launch of it reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) toolkit. Based on IFS’ long experience and heritage in asset-intensive industries, the solution is optimized for any industry that implements complex or capital-intensive assets and is delivered through a flexible cloud-based model. Read the rest of this entry »

While day 1 of the IFS World Conference 2012 in Gothenburg, Sweden was mostly about mobility, day 2 expanded into some other interesting themes and topics. IFS has long positioned itself as a single-instance global enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution alternative to SAP and Oracle. The realm of corporate social responsibility (CSR) presents notable challenges for organizations due to the intricacy of global and local laws and regulations and the difficulty in navigating them. In his keynote presentation (which he mostly repeated in his subsequent presentation to the press/analysts), IFS CTO Dan Matthews pointedly stated that CSR is difficult to manage at a global level. Read the rest of this entry »

At the IFS World Conference 2012 in Gothenburg, Sweden, it was interesting to notice that Microsoft was the diamond sponsor of the conference, while IBM and Oracle were platinum sponsors.

Currently, IFS Applications runs solely on Oracle database, while the presentation (client) side and prepackaged business intelligence (BI) are Microsoft-centric (the IFS Web client also supports Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome browsers). Where IFS offers more openness and choice is in the middleware/app server layer by supporting IBM WebSphere, Oracle Weblogic, and Red Hat’s JBoss products based on the Java Enterprise Edition standards. Microsoft Windows, Unix, and Linux are supported OS platforms. Read the rest of this entry »

After having announced the launch of a number of cloud mobile apps, and in keeping with the mobility theme, IFS announced the new IFS Touch Apps Partner Program at the IFS World Conference 2012 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The program, which is aimed at delivering new smartphone apps to IFS customers, will officially launch on November 15, 2012, and five partners have already signed on. Read the rest of this entry »

Mobile computing (mobility) has been the major theme of the ongoing IFS World Conference 2012 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Given that the sales of smartphones and tablets have recently exceeded the sales of PCs, this path of discussion is logical. IFS has embarked on the following three-step path to workforce mobilization:

• Reach—when people are out of office, reach them via notifications, reminders, etc.
• Act—enable transactional users to use full ERP suite remotely via IFS Touch Apps for smartphones and tablets, in the same manner as when they are in the office. The look-and-feel will be the same as using IFS Enterprise Explorer on the desktop, with the addition of “touch” capabilities for tablets.
• Transform—with the input of professional ERP users and roles (e.g., road warriors), IFS hopes to transform some industries’ best practices via mobile devices (e.g., field service tasks)

At the conference, IFS launched seven new smartphone apps in the IFS Touch Apps series. Read the rest of this entry »

IFS, the global enterprise applications company (whose World Conference 2012 is currently taking place in Gothenburg (Sweden), announced that Merrill Technologies Group (MTG), a leader in the machining, fabricating, and systems integration fields, has selected IFS Applications as its new enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. Read the rest of this entry »

Apparently, Prince Minerals’ short list came down to IFS, Microsoft Dynamics AX, and Oracle JD Edwards. Some of the primary reasons IFS was selected were for the same as those I mentioned in my recent alert about IFS and Saab. While Saab is already a global company, Prince has aspirations to continue to grow a global footprint and saw IFS as the partner best able to help accomplish its goals. Read the rest of this entry »