CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
15 October 2007
Product News
IFS Endorses Project-Centric Approach With Applications for the Global Economy
IFS announced major functional enhancements supporting Project-Centric industries. The solution provides a comprehensive application for all aspects of project, contract and asset management.
The enhanced solution, developed with customers including Aker Yards and First Engineering, supports businesses operating in industries such as Construction & Contracting, Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI), Project-based manufacturing as well as asset-oriented companies. IFS' components for project-centric industries support the complete process, covering the whole project lifecycle.
The technology focuses on managing projects, contracting and subcontracting, risk management, cost management, resource allocation and payment processes, while also providing the tools to support project budgets and forecasting.
"There's a huge demand in the market from companies who are tired of trying to force-fit applications designed with a product focus into project-driven work," IFS CEO Alastair Sorbie said. "An essential element of project work is the ability to interact and collaborate with suppliers, partners and customers. Most traditional monolithic applications don't make this easy, whereas our project-centric approach enables companies to communicate and also measure success within a partnership.
"Since the mid-90s we've been developing components tailored to the needs of our customers in the project-based industries. As companies increasingly need to support enterprise-wide projects -- running simultaneously and often on a global scale -- these advances in application functionality are in demand outside of the original target industries."
Key features of IFS Applications for Project-Centric Business include:
Sales contract management enabling flexible contract numbering and improved support for copying contracts and retention management. Improved invoicing workflow and customer address selection on invoices and applications allow greater flexibility and speed.
Subcontract management supports all contractual stages and includes task management, change history and revision control along with multiple options for approval processes. Flexible payment processes, calculation and valuation methods enable agility and accuracy.
Project budgeting and forecasting allows the creation of project-specific budgeting and proactive budget control along with multiple project forecast versions. The Periodic Cost Graph allows a graphical view of project performance against time and budget, and users can also use Project Snapshot to view detailed information from any given date and time.
Risk management functionality provides a qualitative analysis of risk and the ability to manage risk throughout the lifecycle of the project, with constant review and evaluation through severity ratings. The progress of risk reduction can be tracked, along with the overall expenditure.
IFS Applications for Project-Centric Business also integrate with Primavera Project Management, which means information can be imported from, and exported to, this external project planning module.
More details can be found at http://www.ifsworld.com/ .
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