Machinery Manufacturing

Standard questions manufacturers get from machinery and equipment buyers every day are “When can I get it?” and “How much will it cost?”. When the product is a complex machine tool or other piece of machinery, determining cost and delivery time can take many hours or days of engineering time. So often the only response is “Can we get back to you on that?” With IFS Applications for configure-to-order or make-to-order products, Sales can enter the customer requirements, calculate the cost and price, and determine the planned delivery date based on current shop load, material availability, and supplier lead times—without involving Engineering or Manufacturing. Engineering is free to focus on tasks that do require their attention.

Adopting a lean approach

IFS recognises how lean concepts can be applied to a complex engineer-to order-business, like machinery manufacturers who make small quantities of each specification and one-offs. With 20 years’ experience in developing applications for complex engineered products, we have created a business solution for machinery manufacturers that supports lean thinking across the enterprise to give you a complete real-time overview of your operations.

IFS’ total lean solution supports and transforms your business into a lean, high-performance company that consistently outperforms the competition by continuously improving.

Manage One-Time Engineering Changes

In today’s competitive environment, no matter how much you try to anticipate your customers’ needs, they will often want to order something that is not part of your standard catalogue. With IFS Applications, engineering can quickly make one-time engineering changes as part of the customer order entry process. Sales can calculate the cost for the one-time change and determine the selling price. This one-time change is also carried throughout the manufacturing and procurement process—even if it affects multiple levels of the product structure.

Real-Time Access Ensures Agility

Customer requirements change, and customers expect you to react. They don’t want to wait until you run MRP at night to know whether you can deliver what they need, when they need it. With IFS Applications, you can quickly assess the current status of the manufacturing and procurement process to determine whether you can meet their new requirements. You can quickly review all the shop orders and purchase orders that are required to produce the order. Purchase order and shop order dates are automatically changed and synchronised.

Expand Business into After-Sales Support and Service

For many machinery manufacturers, after-sales support and service are among the fastest growing and most profitable areas of the business. After the product is sold, a timely installation is necessary to ensure quick payment, and afterward there is a further opportunity to increase profits by selling spare parts and service. IFS Applications offers an integrated after-sales solution that lets you track service and warranty information, perform maintenance and repair, and process spare parts.

Product Lifecycle Management

Reducing costs, improving quality, and reducing time to market are three goals that every machinery manufacturer strives to attain. Our solution offers integrated product lifecycle management (PLM) and is designed to help manufacturers to achieve these goals by integrating engineering, manufacturing, and service. 

IFS Applications supports total product configuration management—that is, knowing what is delivered to whom and when—as well as collaboration throughout the enterprise, enabling you to reuse and share information and do everything right from the beginning. IFS provides cost reduction opportunities, integrated change management with fast impact analyses, and total project control. It also provides solutions for collaborative design, which use web technology to transcend organisational boundaries. The end result is enhanced product and service quality, and enhanced customer loyalty.