Infor provides process manufacturers with a complete 'Idea to Invoice' solution

Jane Thomson, Managing Director at local Infor partner Softworx.

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Infor, a leading provider of business application software serving more than 70 000 customers, recently announced the integration of Infor Optiva and Infor M3, creating a complete process industry-specific application that enables customers to bring products to market faster, at a lower cost, and with greater confidence in their ability to navigate regulatory and statutory requirements.

Jane Thomson, Managing Director at local Infor partner Softworx, says: "With the integration of Infor's PLM software and Infor M3, customers will experience far more support from the point the concept comes alive, right through to the sourcing, manufacturing, sales and finance of the product."

This integration delivers on Infor's commitment to speed and innovation through the extension of two best-in-class applications. Infor10 ION technology provides the platform that enables the applications to seamlessly share data and information, bringing new levels of speed and visibility to companies in process manufacturing industries, such as food and beverage, chemicals, cosmetics, and personal and household goods.

"Another key element is the sharing of data across systems and between brands, which means there is no longer duplication and, ultimately, the development and procurement processes are substantially more effective."

Infor Optiva and Infor M3 are brought together preconfigured using Infor ION technology, Infor's lightweight integration platform that executes business processes and operates with a standard business language to provide a connection that is "unbreakable" by software upgrades, patches or enhancements. Additionally, Infor10 ION Workspace provides a common, sleek user interface across PLM, ERP and other Infor applications, creating a consumer-grade experience that helps customers make better, faster, more-informed decisions.

The integration of Infor Optiva for M3 helps ensure product safety by providing a roadmap that focuses on the needs of companies in the process manufacturing industry, including the connection between PLM and ERP to help minimise the risk of a recall, manage compliance and labelling, and reduce the impact of any product issues. Additionally, by leveraging application features that manage ingredients, specifications, recipes, allergens and nutritional information, customers are able to alleviate many of the challenges faced in both product development and production, such as compliance checks, quality control, labelling, potency and attributes, shelf life, catch weight, and traceability.

"Market pressures demand that companies launch products in an increasingly short time-frame, causing manufacturing, design and regulatory complexities," says Thomson. "Savvy process manufacturers have identified PLM as the answer to getting ahead of the competition by bringing products to the market faster, safer and at lower cost. The integration of PLM and M3 delivers an unprecedented level of product safety and compliance tools, reducing the business risk posed by product recalls."