IFS talks tracking at IFS Connect

(Photo by On-Site Staff)

The touchdown passes and field goal attempts by attendees may have been a little wide of the goal, but IFS Connect 2023 was right on the mark as it brought partners and customers together at U.S. Bank Stadium in mid-June.

The event, hosted by the global enterprise software company, included a program full of speakers illustrating how technology can be used in numerous industries, including construction, to make companies more efficient and agile, two qualities that are particularly beneficial when a sector is feeling pressures from a limited labour pool and supply chain constraints.

“We always look at how we can help our customers provide better moments of service for their customers,” stated IFS group chief operating officer Michael Ouissi as he welcomed everyone to the event.

The company’s platform, which uses an enterprise resource planning (ERP) base, allows for industry-specific customizations, which its teams of experts can modify to suit a company’s structure and business needs.

“We don’t want to be everything for everybody; we want to be a lot for somebody,” said Christian Pedersen, the company’s chief product officer.

One of the tools within the platform that is attracting the attention of potential users, he said, is the ability to work with digital twins. Not only can digital twinning be used for the construction of a structure, but the tool can also be used to optimize the organizational structures of other aspects of a company as well, including streamlining of manufacturing steps, or the flow of communication and financial information. “Being able to simulate ‘what-ifs’ before implementing them is very powerful,” he explained.

Kevin Miller, chief technology officer for North America, added that the flexibility of the platform allows IFS to provide construction clients a single entity to handle multiple aspects of their operations.

“We can easily include things like supply chain inventory, purchasing, the related approval, flows and forecasts,” he said. “One of the newer features that’s gaining a lot of traction is our integration for BIM where I can take a Revit file, as an example, and build out a floor plan.”

The system also allows for a general contractor to have portals for use by subcontractor partners on a project, and even to provide the building owner with additional information when handover happens.

As Chris Knight, global industry director for the construction and engineering division of IFS, put it, “It’s taking all of that design information to physically construct the building, but then having done that, how can we hand that over to the person who actually operates and maintains it?”

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