SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE REVIEWS  

INFOR GLOBAL SOFTWARE REVIEW

COMPANY OVERVIEW
InFor is a private company founded in 2002 under the name Agilisys. In 2004 the company changed its corporate name to InFor Global Solutions with the acquisition of InFor Business Solutions. Other significant acquisitions by the company include MAPICS in 2005 and SSA Global 2006. MAPICS is an ERP software solution developed by IBM. Through the SSA Global acquisition, InFor acquired Bann ERP software and Epiphany CRM software. Both were originally acquired by SSA Global. InFor is the tenth largest software company and the third largest ERP software company with 2006 revenues of $2 billion. Revenues from SCM systems for 2007 were $225 million.

VERTICAL MARKETS
InFor Global supply chain management software customers include midsize to large companies, predominately in the aerospace, chemical, automotive, high-tech and industry equipment sectors.

SOFTWARE PRODUCTS
InFor software suites include Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, PLM, SCM and Financials.

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE FEATURES

SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE AND CROSS APPLICATION SOLUTIONS
InFor’s Open SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) platform provides support for:

• IT Deployment Tools
• Business Processes and Event Management
• Application Interfaces
• Master Data Management

SALES AND OPERATION PLANNING
InFor can monitor published demand, inventory, and supply plans; and can analyze the impact of promotions, events, and new products on demand. The supply chain software solution does not support a full featured S&OP solution.

DEMAND MANAGEMENT
InFor forecast modeling is self adjusting to shifts in trends. Forecasting uses demand history and multiple sources of inputs, such as causal forecast and promotional plans. Both internal stakeholders and external trading partners can collaborate in the planning process.

The company's ERP, WMS and Distribution Planning solutions address order fulfillment.

SUPPLY MANAGEMENT
Strategic Network Planning – For planning mid-term and long-term sourcing decisions, the network design component models and performs what-if analysis on the number of locations, location sizes, transportation modes and production capacity. Optimization features address sourcing, inventory strategies, mitigating risk factors and cost analysis.

Distribution Planning – Planners can:

• View the Global Positioning of Inventory
• Set Replenishment Policies
• Establish Services Levels by Product and Location
• Redistribute Inventory According to Customer Demands

Replenishment – Flexible inventory levels are maintained based on demand plans and service levels. Different scenarios can be modeled to analyze the impact to inventory, transportation, manufacturing and procurement plans.

Vendor Managed Inventory – VMI replenishes customer inventory based on stock and sales data sent to the inventory supplier.

Procurement Management – Purchase orders are generated in InFor’s ERP software solutions. SCM Event Management and WMS solutions provide tracking and visibility to procurement milestones and exceptions, such as delays, receipt of ASNs and physical receipt of goods.

WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT
Yard Management – InFor features include:

• Checking Trailer Arrivals and Departures
• Tracking Yard Locations
• Providing Visibility to Inventory in Trailers
• Scheduling Trailers Movement to Door Locations

Inbound Processing – The receiving process supports both planned and unplanned receipts. Pallet and carton auto-identifications are matched to the supplier’s ASN and a receipt is auto generated. Put-a-way process is based on user defined rules with support for multiple storage locations types.

Outbound Processing – Inventory picks are planned for outbound orders with wave process support that allows the planner multiple selection criteria and priorities. Standard paperwork is generated such as bill of lading, container pack lists and manifest.

Cross Docking – InFor supports flow through operations for planned cross docks and opportunistic cross docks that can be identified during inbound receiving.

Value Added Services – InFor’s features includes:

• Kit to Order
• Configure to Order
• Special Packaging and Labeling
• Add Accessories
• Postponements

Storage – Multiple storage types can be configured to support diverse product requirements such as oversized items, frozen foods, and hazardous materials. The supply chain management software system supports common inventory valuation schemes such as FIFO or LIFO.

TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT
Planning – InFor’s planning includes:

• Optimizing Schedules
• Least Cost Planning
• Shipment Consolidation
• Multi-Modal Planning
• Carrier Solicitation and Bid Selection

Dispatch – Based on customer sale orders, pickups, modes of transportation, and route zones, the dispatcher may perform the following:

• Assign carriers to routes
• Produce Shipment Documents
• Generate EDI transactions

Visibility is provided throughout the shipment lifecycle.

Freight Charges and Settlements – InFor’s freight settlements support automated freight audits, invoice matching and payments.

Fleet Management – A key feature of fleet management is optimizing the mix of private assets and common carriers.

SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
Not supported.

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
Not Supported.

SUMMARY OF STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
InFor software strengths include its company size and a full lineup of enterprise software solutions, except for S&OP and SRM.

The InFor Open SOA product addresses the critical functionalities expected for an SOA platform for SCM. The Supply Management system has a full set of robust planning features from long-term planning to short-term execution planning. When integrated with their ERP software, procurement is provided multiple options to aid productivity and improve overall quality of information. The features, usability and functionality for WMS and TMS are enabled with best practices and promote a positive user experience.

InFor has acquired application software systems from SSA Global and MAPICS. It appears that there was a lack of investment to support several new trends in SCM. Two major trends in SCM systems are demand management and relationship management. SRM is missing and CRM is addressed as a standalone product. The demand planning and forecasting at the executive level is not on par with best in class SCM vendors; although the features are robust at the operational and tactical level. InFor demand management lacks demand shaping functionality that comes with fully integrated Customer Relationship Management software solutions.

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