Global shipbuilder Austal selects IFS Applications in the cloud to support expansion in maritime and defense industries

December 18, 2019 – IFS, the global enterprise applications company, announces that Austal, Australia’s global shipbuilder and defense prime contractor, has selected IFS Applications™, deployed in the IFS Managed Cloud, as a key enabler of its digital transformation program to support the company’s global and domestic expansion.

Austal designs, constructs and supports revolutionary defense and commercial vessels for the world’s leading operators.

By consolidating data previously held in a number of separate applications, sharing information across the business, and taking advantage of IFS Applications’ integrated functionality, Austal expects to improve efficiency. Cost savings and increased throughput, resulting in fewer delays, are expected to deliver value to customers more quickly.

Improved forward visibility in the procurement of materials – a large part of Austal’s project costs – will both aggregate demand and ensure that the right materials are delivered to the right place at the right time. Improved work execution is also expected to substantially improve labor productivity, allowing Austal to expand more rapidly than before.

The solution will be deployed in the IFS Managed Cloud, a fully managed service hosted on Microsoft Azure. This will offer Austal reduced system administration costs compared with its current systems, flexible capacity as the company expands, and easy upgrades to take advantage of regular functionality enhancements.

“IFS’s business value engineering approach was a key factor in the selection of IFS Applications over other competing tier-one solutions,” said Patrick Gregg, Chief Operations Officer for Austal. “IFS worked with us to identify what success looks like on our own terms. From there, IFS demonstrated how its implementation methodology would realize business value by enabling Austal’s growth, mitigating risk and reducing costs while building a foundation for continuous improvements.”

“We are proud to be working with an innovative, leading-edge company like Austal to provide a technology platform for their business expansion,” said Warren Zietsman, Managing Director for IFS Australia and New Zealand. “With improved efficiencies in resource planning, operational planning and customer engagement, Austal is set to be a real challenger in the global maritime and defense industries.”

IFS Applications will support the operation of Austal’s Henderson, Western Australia headquarters, including the management of tendering, projects, design, procurement, work execution, commissioning and handover. Other supported functions include finance, supply chain, human capital management, quality assurance, risk management and document management.

Learn more about how IFS supports businesses in the global shipbuilding industry at www.ifs.com/corp/industries/engineering-construction-infrastructure/shipbuilding-maritime/.

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