Social Media in ERP, Demand for Environmental Management Tools Focus of
Manufacturing ERP Survey Conducted for IFS
ITASCA, ILL.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IFS North America today released results of a study of ERP trends that
suggest strong demand for both social media and environmental management
functionality in business software used in manufacturing and other
industrial settings. The study is now available for download directly at www.ifsworld.com/us.
?The results of this study, some of which we are making public,
certainly make us feel we are on the right track with our enterprise
suite offering, IFS Applications?
The study, based on a survey of more than 260 U.S. manufacturing
executives conducted for IFS by a third-party research organization,
also asked manufacturers about how their ERP software could help them
adjust as large numbers of experienced managers and engineers retired.
Key findings include the fact that most manufacturers seem ill-equipped
to track their impact on the environment in the areas of carbon
footprint, solid waste, air and water pollution, product lifecycle and
product end-of-life impacts.
When it comes to the ability to measure environmental impacts,
middle-market manufacturers did more poorly than did companies with more
than $1 billion in revenue. Among companies with between $250 million
and $999 million in revenue, only 20 percent of respondents said they
were tracking some environmental measures but not others in their
enterprise software, while 36 percent of companies with $1 billion or
more in revenue said they had this capability.
In the area of social media, a minority of respondents said they were
interested in integrations between ERP and services like Facebook or
Twitter. Interest seemed stronger for back office management systems
that mirrored social network functionality. Sixty four percent of
respondents said, for instance, that they wanted their ERP to help them
with the shrinking workforce problem by capturing and recording the
knowledge of senior experienced engineers and professionals so that it
becomes part of a corporate knowledge base. Wikis, blogs and other
social networking applications are ideal tools for pulling tacit
knowledge from groups of people.
?The results of this study, some of which we are making public,
certainly make us feel we are on the right track with our enterprise
suite offering, IFS Applications,? IFS North America President and CEO
Cindy Jaudon said. ?Manufacturers responding to this survey, by a
sizable majority, said they want environmental footprint management
functionality embedded in their ERP system, and in February of 2009, IFS
was first in the market with our Eco Footprint Management tool. We
continue to evolve IFS Applications further and further towards the
intuitive look and feel of consumer software, and are planning to
include social media tools like wikis in the application so our
customers can capture information on their own business processes and
best practices.?
IFS continues to perform research on these topics. In 2010, IFS will
release an expanded global survey on social media in ERP, which will
augment responses of U.S. manufacturing executives with those of
executives from several other countries.
About IFS
IFS is a public company (OMX STO: IFS) founded in 1983 that develops,
supplies, and implements IFS Applications?, a
fully-integrated, component-based extended ERP suite built on SOA
technology. The company has more than 2,000 customers in more than 50
countries and focuses on seven main industries: aerospace & defense,
utilities & telecom, manufacturing, process industries, automotive,
retail & wholesale distribution, and construction contracting & service
management. IFS has 2,700 employees and net revenue in 2008 was $383
million.
More information on IFS is available at www.IFSWORLD.com.
IFS
Kristy Mills
Marketing Communications
Phone: 262 317
7476
kristy.mills@ifsworld.comor
Chuck
Rathmann
Marketing Communications Analyst
Phone: 262 317 7419
chuck.rathmann@ifsworld.comRead more