Project Production Management

Let’s imagine a company that produces unique products. First, it has to design them, then during production it sends the elements for assembly at a location indicated by the customer, who performs the assembly partly on their own and partly through outsourced subcontractors. Let’s also assume that the company uses a good quality ERP system.

In consulting practice, we will often have to answer the following questions:

• Why does the company use so many Excel sheets, if it has an ERP system?
• Why does it incur such high costs of adapting ERP to its profile (plus the costs of maintaining it)?

After all, this is not some unusual company, maybe the ERP is not adapted to its specifics?

In our opinion, these problems result from the fact that ERP systems were created in a completely different context than the one in which the company in question operates:

• Production and purchase planning – this is the case in ERP systems, but… without SKU and BOM, it is difficult to talk about effective planning in the system.
• Project management – yes, but… it is most often limited to Gantt charts and planning of project activities, which are something different than production and logistics planning.
• Shipments to the customer – yes, but… it usually involves shipping items ordered by
  the customer, while we want to plan transport for internal needs.
• Assembly and service – yes, but… these are usually separate modules, data to and from them must be manually transferred.

IFS Cloud is one of the few ERP systems that has an appropriate solution tailored to
companies dealing with project engineering and unit production. A key advantage of IFS
Cloud is that it is fully integrated with all supporting processes, including project finance and accounting, project cost control, planning, engineering, procurement, production, inventory, quality, subcontracting, sales, installation and start-up, after-sales support, service management, spare parts and repairs, and finally human resources and document management.

The IFS Project Based Manufacturing concept is presented in the following diagram, which shows the system capabilities from customer acquisition through execution to service:

A project can start as a Business Opportunity in CRM and then move to a Sales Agreement,
which defines its contractual and commercial scope. The system supports different versions of contracts and contractual changes. Contract Change Management enables control of modifications at various levels – from customer changes to internal changes. All data is integrated
with budgeting and forecasting, providing a full picture of their financial impact.

IFS Cloud enables management of multiple versions of the Bill of Materials (BOM) – from initial design, through production, to the final service model. The material structure can change during the
project, and the system records these changes at every stage. Integration with CAD and PDM tools is possible, eliminating the need for manual data entry and allowing for smooth transfer to the production BOM. Technical files can be managed in the Document Management module, providing version tracking and easy access to change history. The BOM structure is linked to the project schedule, allowing for precise delivery and production planning.

Material planning in IFS Cloud includes both traditional models, such as Sales and Operations Planning for orders, Demand forecasting, MRP, Reorder Point and Kanban, as well as dedicated tools for projects, such as Project Deliverables and Project MRP. The system provides the ability to strictly assign materials to a specific project, which eliminates the risk of their reallocation. Purchasing is closely linked to other modules, such as finance, document management and resource
rental, which guarantees full control over the budget and on-time delivery.

IFS Cloud supports various production models, from Engineer to Order (ETO) and Make to Order (MTO) to Configure to Order (CTO) and Make to Stock (MTS). The system allows you to define
production routes, defining operations and work centers, and also allows for ongoing
monitoring of processes in real time. This allows you to track the status of orders, control operations and automatically report costs, taking into account differences between standard and actual costs. Production is closely integrated with supply and warehousing, ensuring a smooth flow of materials and eliminating unnecessary downtime.

After production, IFS Cloud enables service and maintenance management, supporting asset management, service contracts and work orders, among other things. By integrating the structure of delivered products with the service module, a smooth transition is possibleto maintain. This simplifies maintenance planning and execution and provides full visibility into the service
history of each component.

Supporting mobility, IFS Cloud offers Mobile Work Order (MWO), an intuitive mobile app that
enables service engineers to manage work orders online and offline. The app records status changes, reports work, and handles materials, enabling efficient field service management.

IFS Cloud is a comprehensive ERP solution that combines planning, procurement, production, and
service in one system. With an open architecture and advanced process automation, organizations can increase project control, optimize costs, and customize the system to their individual needs. IFS Cloud is a modern platform that allows engineering and manufacturing companies to effectively manage every stage of project execution.