IFS Cloud Integration

IFS's distinctive industry focus

IFS is unusual among ERPs in being deeply specialized for project-based and service-intensive manufacturing — aerospace, defense contractors, energy and utilities, complex industrial equipment. The data model reflects this: heavy use of project pegging, configurator-driven BOMs, and integrated field service. Horizon's integration approach respects these characteristics rather than forcing IFS data into a generic ERP model.

IFS versions supported

• IFS Cloud — the modern cloud-deployed version of IFS, with REST-based Aurena APIs. Primary integration path for new IFS customers.
• IFS Applications 10 — the version most existing IFS customers run. Aurena REST API support plus the older IFS Connect integration framework.
• IFS Applications 9 and earlier — for customers still running these, IFS Connect with database views provides the integration backbone.

Aurena REST API as primary integration path

Aurena is IFS's modern OData v4-compliant API layer, providing entity-based access to most IFS objects. For Horizon integration:

• Inventory parts with their planning method, lot size rules, safety stock parameters
• Inventory balances by site, location, lot/batch, and project pegging
• Customer orders with their project linkages
• Purchase orders and supplier data
• Manufacturing structures (BOMs) including configurator-driven variants
• Routings with operations, work centers, and resources
• Sales statistics for demand history

Project pegging — the IFS distinctive

IFS customers in project-based manufacturing track inventory and orders against specific projects. A part can be available in stock but pegged to Project A, meaning it's not really available for Project B. Generic ERP connectors miss this and treat inventory as fully available, producing planning recommendations that ignore project commitments.

Horizon's IFS integration explicitly captures project pegging. Available-to-promise calculations and planning recommendations respect project commitments. For customers in EPC, aerospace, or defense, this is critical for the planning to be operationally credible.

Configurator-driven BOMs

IFS customers often produce highly configured products where the BOM is generated per order based on customer specifications. The integration captures both standard BOMs and configurator-generated BOMs for in-flight production orders.

Alternative integration path

IFS environments with restricted external network access — common in defense and aerospace customer environments — can use scheduled SFTP delivery of extracts produced by IFS reporting or IFS Connect. The flat-file path is well-tested in regulated industries.

Authentication and connection

• IFS Cloud: OAuth 2.0 with service account. Aurena security configured by the customer's IFS administrator.
• IFS Applications 10 on-premise: OAuth or basic authentication depending on the customer's security configuration. Network connectivity through VPN.
• IFS Applications 9: Database access through the customer's IFS DBA team's recommended pattern.

What Horizon writes back to IFS

• Planned purchase requisitions through Aurena
• Planned shop orders for production execution
• Planning parameter updates on Inventory Part records
• Demand forecast records consumed by IFS's own MRP processes

IFS-specific planning scope considerations

For IFS customers, the typical planning scope includes:

• Demand planning — both standard demand patterns and project-based demand
• Inventory optimization — respecting project pegging and considering critical spare parts for service operations
• Supply and production planning — with awareness of project priorities
• Finite capacity scheduling — particularly valuable for configurator-driven discrete manufacturing

The integration scope reflects which of these planning functions the customer is deploying first. For project-based manufacturers, demand planning alone is often less valuable than inventory and supply planning that respect project commitments.