Project Enterprise - IFS

IFS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
IFS APPLICATIONS OFFERS THE COMPLETE SOLUTION FOR
TODAY’S PROJECT ENTERPRISE
The Project Enterprise—which manages services, or builds products or facilities using project management
techniques—has a unique set of business requirements. But traditional ERP systems lack the functionality and
flexibility to meet the needs of today’s project-centric organization.
IFS Applications is the solution. With its open, component-based architecture and rich project management
functionality, IFS delivers an integrated business solution that helps the Project Enterprise to improve project
management, boost profits, and take advantage of new business opportunities.
WHAT IS THE PROJECT ENTERPRISE?
Design &
The Project Enterprise is an organization that
Estimating
Cost
Re-use
uses a project management system to control
Management
and manage the complete lifecycle, from
Commissioning
Finance
quotation, design, procurement, construction,
Project
and commission—and often the service
The
maintenance of the end product. The
Build /
Document
Bid
Manufacture
Management
organization strives to reuse as much
Contract
knowledge as possible from one contract to
Change
Management
Collaboration
the next, enhancing the bid management
Management
process, improving customer service, and
Resource
delivering repeatable operational profitably.
Procurement
Management
Sub-contract
The Project Enterprise needs visibility to
ensure that it designs and produces products
that meet contractual obligations. So when there are changes in the complex interrelationships between
activity dates and resource constraints, the project manager must reassess supply and demand needs, and then
adjust the balance to optimize delivery capability and minimize costs.
In complex projects, the Project Enterprise must constantly balance the demand for resources, facilities,
cash, and skills. Too much or too little of any resource affects the bottom line. Financial reporting must be
interactive. Although period-end routines are adequate for regulatory compliance, they mean little to the
project manager, who needs real-time data.
Timely, accessible information is the key to a project’s success. Therefore, it is critical that project
management drive all activities.
WHAT DOES IFS OFFER THE PROJECT ENTERPRISE?
By integrating enterprise resources planning (ERP) with project management capabilities, IFS Applications
gives the Project Enterprise visibility and control at both the local and global levels. The IFS solution is
appropriate for companies that control and manage their brand and design portfolio while outsourcing
production. Such companies are found in a variety of industries, including shipbuilding, complex
manufacturing, construction, and aerospace and defense. In the future, more organizations will be touched by
the project-driven economy, including make-to-stock businesses, which must identify project-specific
manufacturing and inventory during product development.
The IFS solution is built on open standards, with a set of components that provides a complete projectcentric
business solution. It offers both internal and external users centralized, real-time visibility of all project

IFS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
information. This information ranges from project-related key performance indicators (KPIs) to detailed work
assignments and tasks for individual team members, embracing design, manufacturing, build, installation, and
supplier and subcontractor deliverables.
The work breakdown structure (WBS) acts as an umbrella connecting all business activities and
deliverables. It integrates production, people, materials, procurement, physical deliverables, expenses, time,
electronic documents, and specifications within the project. The WBS drives and controls the project’s time
line, providing the framework needed to ensure that all accountable project members have access to their own
responsibilities and deliverables.
ACCESSING PROJECT DATA
The project or program manager can review progress by clicking any connected project activity, including
designs, specifications, change requests, resource time bookings, expense charges, supply requisitions,
purchase orders, build orders, service or installation orders, documents, drawings, health and safety profiles,
invoices, and credit notes. By having access to the current status of every task, the manager can focus time and
effort only on activities falling outside predetermined parameters. This allows for timely corrective action and
risk mitigation.
OPTIMIZING PROJECT MANAGEMENT RESOURCES
By focusing on key issues, project managers can spend quality time reviewing and ensuring adherence to
contractual obligations, avoiding costly penalties. They can analyze areas of underperformance and initiate
timely, effective cost containment actions.
Because a project may contain hundreds of parallel activities, the project manager must be able to view
the project at both macro and micro levels. By analyzing the status of subprojects, the manager can pinpoint
tasks that threaten timely completion.
REPLANNING PROJECT DATES
In the perfect world, the completion date of a project would never change once released. But all too often a
project requires rescheduling, and the project manager must adjust all tasks and deliverables accordingly. In
many project organizations, the design is far from complete when it is time to place orders for items with long
lead times and to reserve key resources or capacity. Therefore, a best guess is often made early in the project
lifecycle.
To ensure that demand and supply are synchronized, the project manager must be able to make changes
that cascade down to all levels of the project plan. In the Project Enterprise, the project manager can test the
impact of rescheduling a complete project or a subproject. Once a decision has been made regarding the
change of dates, physical design attributes, or any other contract details, the impact is automatically calculated
and cascaded down the plan with immediate visibility.
INTEGRATING ENGINEERING
Taking information directly from the CAD system to create the engineering specifications for procurement,
subcontracting, and build activities reduces effort and removes any risk of error. It becomes easy to track
changes, and the differences between as-ordered, as-designed, as-built, and as-commissioned are managed in
the same system.

IFS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
REUSING PROJECT DATA
The ability to copy information from previous projects or use predefined project templates improves bid
quality. Reuse reduces effort in the resource-consuming bid process as well as in the planning and budgeting
phases. Web portal technology enables collaboration so that designs, engineering data, specifications, and
drawings can be exchanged and approved directly, speeding up the process and eliminating transcription
errors.
IFS Applications allows the transfer of as-commissioned design specifications into the software
components that manage the in-service lifecycle of the asset, minimizing effort and risk by eliminating the
need to re-create the data. In maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) organizations, the as-commissioned
and as-serviced technical specifications and appropriate drawings can be made available to the overhaul
process automatically, increasing quotation reliability, improving quality, and minimizing risk.
LEARN MORE
For more information on how IFS Applications helps the Project Enterprise increase efficiency and
profitability, enhance customer loyalty, and take advantage of new business opportunities, call (888) 437-4968,
or visit www.ifsworld.com.