New ERP offering from global enterprise applications company IFS
June 5, 2012
IFS has
launches a new version of its extended ERP suite IFS Applications 8.
The Melbourne-based company says the upgraded solution includes advanced features in the fields of trade management, inventory planning and warehousing developed in close collaboration with early adopter customers.
“Supply chain is one of our core processes and one which represents a long-term product development focus for IFS,” says IFS Australia and New Zealand Managing Director Rob Stummer.
“We recognise price transparency requirements are driving the need for efficient and flexible business solutions that can handle segmentation of customers and prices, thereby ensuring consumer loyalty and profitable growth.”
The new Trade Management feature in IFS Applications 8 enables retailers, wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers to offer customers discount and rebate models that are becoming increasingly common within the industry.
“Companies can now influence customer purchasing behaviors by means of campaigns and promotional discounts,” Stummer says.
IFS Applications 8 is also equipped with features that support retroactive customer rebates, automatic calculation of freight charges, and the ability to handle pack size-dependent charges and discounts.
The new inventory planning component in IFS Applications 8 allows for differentiated planning to strike a balance between product availability and operational cost.
“For example, users can define a policy that stipulates that two weeks of inventory must be maintained at all times,” Stummer says.
“The Inventory Planning component is integrated with IFS Demand Planning, which means that the inventory levels will respond to seasonal changes, campaigns and trends.”
In IFS Applications 8, Stummer adds the warehousing component has been significantly enhanced to support advanced inventory put-away, efficient warehouse navigation, powerful warehouse reporting and serial reservation logic.
With the new feature for minimum remaining shelf life, companies handling products with limited shelf life are able to guarantee a certain shelf life when the products arrive at the customer’s.
In this way, the system ensures that there is time for the vendor to stock and sell the product, and for the customer to consume it.