Likelihood to Recommend Order to cash processes and scenario are implemented natively in IFS. An HR module exists for career management also (objectives, comportments, training, mobility) but may be improved in terms of workflow validation (e.g. training to validate by a manager) or reporting.
Read full review SAP Manufacturing Execution is suitable for desecrate manufacturing. For the complex routing of the product, this software ensures users do not by mistake start executing the wrong steps. This is the best tool to track and work on nonconformance and rework scenarios. This is most suitable when the landscape has SAP ERP in place.
Read full review Pros Accounting Finance Complex Inventory Read full review Visual routing ensures the production line layout is as appropriate as shown on the application. Production house needs a lot of data to do an in-process inspection of the product. ERP might not need that. SAP ME provides that place to do every data collection. Nonconformance functionality ensures when needed the product goes to the appropriate station to get repaired. Also, data collection can raise NC and can move the product to a particular station to get an issue corrected. All the information is well integrated with SAP ERP and makes SAP ME more valuable for the organization. SAP MII also comes along with SAP ME helps to get the application well integrated with the shop floor equipment. Read full review Cons The speed of bug fixes should be improved by the IFS after sales teams. We saw the difference of responsiveness prior to Go Live and after Go Live, with a change of teams. IFS France is working on that point, and strategically wants to innovate by acting now with two other third-party companies in early 2017, to improve the after sales experience for customers. There is no license model between the full licenses, which gives access to all IFS features, and the light licenses, to get access to a specific module like expense sheet. As a consequence, you must acquire a full access license for one team working only with a dedicated module (e.g. general ledger). Maybe an intermediate type license would be welcome to balance the budget. IFS tries to make prices competitive but you have to consider full upgrades of the product too, where requiring full licenses can be hard on the budget. When you have an Active Directory ecosystem with a trust relationship, users from domain B can't natively access IFS, even if AD sync is in place with domain A. It's important to improve that functionality because many companies have a merge and acquisition context, with SOX constraints sometimes, and avoiding maintaining contacts or local accounts simplifies SOX compliance, or to management of accounts within the company. Read full review ODS or the BI part of the ME needed more improvement. The archiving job needs to be more robust. Database indexes need to me more analyzed and setup as per the organization requirement. SAP MII UI integration plugin to be developed for increased usability of this application. Read full review Usability The system is very difficult to use, overly complex, and difficult to learn. It also has limitations that are hard to overcome.
Read full review Support Rating We have been unable to get answers to our questions, solutions to our problems, and they don't seem interested in working in the construction industry.
Read full review Alternatives Considered Microsoft AX, QAD (in continuation of our previous ERP), Sage X3 was an out of the box ERP that was part of initial RFP. We have chosen IFS based on the compromise between costs & budget, functionality, technical features, and feedback from similar customers that gave their feedback. The project manager team and qualification level of technical or consultant teams were differentiating factors too. Finally IFS application was named in the Gartnerās mid-market ERP Magic Quadrant, along with SAP, and helped us to finalize our choice
Read full review There was no product evaluated before using SAP ME. This replaced the custom homegrown MES system. The custom MES system had a lot of issues with the integration with SAP ERP. While evaluating the situation, SAP MII was the initial tool used to create the integration of the custom MES. We later found the fully functional tool SAP ME off the shelf had several functionalities out of the box.
Read full review Return on Investment Reporting is now centralized and managed. Previously, reports were outside the information systems and there was a risk of incoherence. Accounting controls are now in place on the overall processes, including production, which helped the company to reduce closing periods or to produce more easily official mandatory accounting files yearly. Interfaces between the CRM forecast tool and IFS helped to keep the tools in sync, and to decrease the processing times prior to production launch. Read full review Production house is more efficient now. Less paperwork improved means less unproductive work on the shop floor. Regulatory audits are more efficient. Read full review ScreenShots IFS Applications Screenshots