Modern technology means rapid implementation
IFS Manufacturing is built entirely using modern technology, with ready-made e-business solutions to rationalise collaboration with partners and suppliers.
IFS Manufacturing also enables step-by-step implementation. Start with the most important applications and take the rest when and as you need them. You can even do it in parallel at several plants. The projects are small and take very little time. This way, it’s also easier to incorporate new units into the system.
We even support global projects, since we’re represented in more than 40 countries worldwide.
Accuracy from the very start—and lower costs
IFS Manufacturing helps you get things right from the very beginning in addition to supporting continuous cost reductions. You can eliminate an enormous amount of administration without diminishing the traceability of your products. Our guiding principle is that work should be done correctly from the very beginning. So IFS Manufacturing supports quality control systems such as QS-9000 and Six Sigma.
Simplified planning and control
With the help of orderless and rate-based manufacturing, you eliminate much of the administration associated with traditional production orders. At the same time, rescheduling is simplified considerably. Instead of the traditional “push” principal that MRP entails, you can achieve “pull” with the aid of Kanban. IFS Manufacturing supports the entire range of Kanban solutions, from manual Kanban with cards to fully electronic Kanban via the Internet.
Continuous cost reduction
IFS Manufacturing provides powerful support for analysing where reductions can be made, Value Analysis, as well as support for administering and planning cost reduction programmes, Kaizen Costing.
Better planning with more streamlined production
With better tools for forecasting and planning, as well as new methods of creating what-if scenarios, IFS Manufacturing provides the conditions for streamlined, cost-effective production.
Create scenarios
The only certainty with forecasts is that they are never exactly correct. That’s why we have equipped our system
with functionality that enables you to create various what-if scenarios and then see how they will affect your production schedules.
Smarter use of historical data
By using historical data you can also increase cost-efficiency when you phase products in and out. Replacement products very often share common characteristics with items that are on the way out.
Planning against finite capacity
We also offer smart analysis functionality that enables you to plan against finite capacity to ensure that production does not start too late. With this to help you, it’s easy to estimate whether it’s worth producing goods so as to win a deal, or whether it might be better to let it go because production would simply be too expensive.
Automation made easy
Our eConnect component provides you with the functionality to easily integrate with automatic inventory systems.
New business opportunities with smarter descriptions
With IFS Manufacturing, you don’t have to describe a product with an item number. You can use properties or parameters instead. So rather than having to deal with millions of different item numbers, you have just a few that can be varied infinitely. This also means you can use a configurator to allow customers to configure their own products.
Describe items by property
For some products, an item number is enough; for others, you simply give the length, width and color, then the system itself calculates how the product is manufactured.
Customers do the configuration
This creates new capabilities that allow customers to configure their products themselves. It also means that you can offer a considerably wider range of products without incurring a penny more in the cost of maintaining the system.
More aggressive quotes give better profitability
With IFS Manufacturing, you significantly speed up and improve the quotation process. By creating a more flexible method of describing products and linking these to a configurator, sales representatives can directly inform the customer about price and delivery dates. The more competitive your promises, the more deals you can win.
Better quotes—faster
If you continuously need to configure and change your basic designs in order to stay competitive, you need a system that does more than just run your production. It’s equally important to be able to coordinate the different manufacturing and purchase orders that each customer order generates. Better control of these enables you to make faster quotes more easily.
Complete traceability
You also get the capacity to trace all the material used so that you can meet in full customer requirements on this score. In IFS Manufacturing, you quickly see what your product consists of at all levels, where each part is directly linked to the pertinent documentation, such as a material certificate.
Enhanced after sales profitability
IFS Manufacturing is the perfect tool for enhancing repeat sales among your customers. When the product is ready and delivered, all the product data are retained in the system. Using these data, you can make forecasts about what the product will require in terms of spare parts as well as service and maintenance.
Your web store is ready and waiting
IFS/Make to Order offers you a ready-made web store solution that is fully integrated with IFS Applications. This is an Internet portal that enables customers to place and configure their own orders. It also allows them to track the status of their order until the day it’s delivered.
Knowledge recycling cuts lead times
IFS Manufacturing makes it easier for companies who manufacture specially engineered equipment to speed up the design and production processes. The solution enables you to re-use your previous design and production competence, which means that the time between design and finished product is shortened considerably.
More efficient quotations
Using the experience gained from previous projects, you can also make cost estimates and analyses at an earlier stage, which means quotations can be made faster and more accurately.
More efficient quotations to suppliers
Handling requests for quotations (RFQ) to suppliers is time-consuming. If you publish your RFQs on a special Internet portal instead, you can rationalise the process dramatically.
Joint development on the Internet
Many major projects include suppliers in the development of new products. So collaborating via a common Internet portal rationalises the work and solves a multitude of practical problems in addition to saving a lot of money.
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