Integrations / ERP / IFS Cloud
IFS Cloud Integration Guide for Production Scheduling with SkyPlanner APS
This IFS Cloud integration guide shows partners and IT teams how to connect IFS Cloud to SkyPlanner APS. SkyPlanner integrates with IFS Cloud in both directions, using IFS’s own APIs:
- Shop orders with operations and materials, routings, product structures, work centers, labor classes, tools, inventory part availability and purchase orders flow in.
- Planned start and finish times and the chosen work center resource go back to the shop order operations.
- SkyPlanner webhooks push schedule changes as they happen.
The SkyPlanner team configures the integration to your IFS Cloud setup during onboarding and supports it after go-live. This guide is for partners and developers who want to take part, or to build on SkyPlanner’s documented REST API (API reference) themselves.
IFS Cloud integration options
OData projections (RESTful APIs).
IFS Cloud exposes its business logic as OData projections. “Projections are exposed in the /ifsapplications/projection/ endpoint,” in the main, int or b2b endpoint depending on the projection type. A typical path runs from /main/ifsapplications/ through the projection version to the projection’s .svc service and its entity set. Each projection publishes OData metadata, “a machine-readable description of the data model of the APIs.” (source)
API Explorer.
The IFS Cloud web client lists every projection with API docs and an OpenAPI spec for your environment. Use Premium APIs and Entity Service APIs for integration, not the UI projections behind client pages. Premium APIs are versioned: “The old version of the projection will still be retained along with the new version till the next release.” (source)
IFS Connect.
The integration broker handles message routing to HTTP/REST, file and other addresses. IFS: “Modern integration use web services together with IFS Connect and/or 3rd party integration tools.” (source) IFS also documents middleware routes such as Boomi.
Files.
Data Migration Manager, File Migration and Excel Migration jobs cover bulk loads. During the trial, a plain Excel export is enough.
Authentication
External integrations authenticate through IFS Identity and Access Manager (IAM) with OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect:
- Register an IAM Client for SkyPlanner and use the Client Credentials flow. It “allows for a non-interactive authentication of a service account” and “yields an access token associated with a service user.”
- Request tokens at
POST https://<SYSTEM_URL>/auth/realms/<NAMESPACE>/protocol/openid-connect/token. - Give the service user permission sets for the projections the integration reads and writes, and nothing more.
(source)
On the SkyPlanner side, the REST API authenticates with an API token (SkyPlanner Settings > API) and is documented in Swagger/OpenAPI. The integration tutorial walks through the first calls.
Events and change detection
IFS Cloud has an event framework: “Events can be used to automate actions within IFS Cloud.” Custom events fire when an entity is created, updated or removed, and their actions run through IFS Connect. (source)
The outbound side is the REST Sender: “Outbound messages can be sent either synchronously or asynchronously,” with routing configured in IFS Connect. (source) Workflow Manager can call REST endpoints as well.
Two patterns work:
- Event-driven. A custom event on shop order and shop order operation changes triggers a REST Sender message to SkyPlanner’s REST API.
- Polling. SkyPlanner reads open shop orders from the projections every few minutes, filtered to changed records.
Start with polling and add events for the objects that change most. SkyPlanner sends webhooks when state or the schedule changes, so the write-back side is event-driven.
Data mapping
Projection names vary by release. Take the exact names from your API Explorer.
| IFS Cloud object | SkyPlanner object | Direction | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory Part (site level) | Products and materials | IFS → SkyPlanner | Initial load, then on change |
| Product Structure (header, alternate, lines) | Product structure, subproducts, materials per product | IFS → SkyPlanner | Initial load, then on change |
| Routing, Routing Operations: setup, run, move time, efficiency | Process steps with durations, setup and teardown times | IFS → SkyPlanner | Initial load, then on change |
| Work Center, Work Center Resource: calendar, utilization, efficiency | Workstations, workstation groups, efficiencies | IFS → SkyPlanner | Initial load, rarely after |
| Labor Class persons; labor crew size on the operation | Personnel with shifts; operators per job | IFS → SkyPlanner | Initial load; shifts maintained in one system |
| Manufacturing Tool, tool groups | Tools as finite shared resources | IFS → SkyPlanner | Initial load |
| Shop Order (Released, Reserved, Started) with Shop Order Operations and materials: Need Date, Earliest Start Date, priority | Orders and jobs with due dates and material needs | IFS → SkyPlanner | Event or polling every few minutes |
| Inventory part availability | Stock balances | IFS → SkyPlanner | Polling, hourly or on schedule run |
| Purchase order lines with planned receipt | Purchase orders with expected delivery date; stock updates when marked Delivered | IFS → SkyPlanner | Polling, hourly or on schedule run |
| Shop Order Operation: start, finish, work center resource | Planned start, end and workstation per operation | SkyPlanner → IFS | On schedule change, via SkyPlanner webhook |
| Operation reporting (machine time, labor time, quantity) | Timelogs and operator confirmations | SkyPlanner → IFS | Per confirmation or per shift, if chosen in scoping |
| Set up in SkyPlanner | Setting time matrix, alternative machines and personnel | Maintained in SkyPlanner | Set up during onboarding |
Integration patterns
1. Initial master data load. Pull inventory parts, buildable product structures, routings with operations, work centers and work center resources, labor classes and tools. Map each work center resource to a SkyPlanner workstation deliberately. Decide whether a work center with three resources becomes one workstation group or three workstations.
2. Shop order sync. Read Released, Reserved and Started shop orders with their operations and materials. Leave Planned shop orders to MRP; they change on every planning run. Add inventory part availability and open purchase order lines, so the schedule checks both stock and incoming purchases. SkyPlanner treats ordered material as available on the PO delivery date.
3. Schedule write-back. For every operation the engine placed or moved, SkyPlanner writes the planned start and finish and the work center resource to the shop order operation. The write goes through the shop order operation projection listed in your API Explorer, so IFS runs its own validation. IFS keeps quantities, status and costs.
4. Shop-floor confirmations. Choose one channel per site. Operators can keep reporting in Shop Floor Workbench, and SkyPlanner reads the progress. Or operators log work with SkyPlanner Mobile Confirmations and the Production Timer, and the timelogs post to IFS through the operation reporting projection agreed in scoping.
5. Ownership and conflict rules. Write them down before go-live:
| Data | Owner |
|---|---|
| Inventory parts, product structures, routings, quantities, shop order status | IFS Cloud |
| Operation sequence, start and finish times, resource assignment | SkyPlanner |
| Setting time matrix, tool and operator requirements, alternative resources | SkyPlanner |
| Shifts and absences | One system, chosen in scoping |
| Operation reporting and receipts | IFS Cloud, from Shop Floor Workbench or SkyPlanner timelogs |
The main conflict source is rescheduling inside IFS. If a planner reschedules a shop order with the Infinite Scheduler, treat it as a new version, re-sync it and let SkyPlanner replan. With Autopilot, SkyPlanner reschedules automatically when production changes. Sites that also run MSO decide which work centers each scheduler owns.
Typical project steps
Implementation is normally completed within weeks after onboarding starts, even for large companies. Before that, the 30-day free trial runs on your own data: export work centers, routings and open shop orders from IFS Cloud to Excel and import them.
- Mapping. Fix the mapping table, ownership rules, sync frequencies and the reporting channel.
- IAM and permissions. Register the IAM client, create the service user and grant the projection permission sets. Sandbox first, then production.
- Initial load. Inventory parts, product structures, routings, work centers, labor classes and tools.
- Shop order and purchase order sync. Polling first, custom events where change volume is high.
- Constraint setup in SkyPlanner. Setting time matrix, tools, operator counts and alternative machines or personnel.
- Schedule write-back. Operation dates and resources to the shop order operations.
- Parallel testing. Run SkyPlanner beside the current plan, compare dates, fix master data.
- Go-live. Switch on write-back once the data matches.
What to plan for in an IFS Cloud integration
- Machine time vs labor time. Shop order operations carry separate machine and labor setup and run times plus a crew size. Decide which one drives the duration on each workstation, or every operation is wrong.
- Utilization and efficiency counted twice. Work center utilization, operation efficiency and resource efficiency all shorten available time in IFS. Map them to SkyPlanner workstation efficiency once.
- Stale capacity. Resource capacity exists only after Calculate Work Center Resource Capacity has run. Check calendars and validity periods before the initial load.
- Preferred Resource is a preference. Model real alternatives explicitly as SkyPlanner alternative workstations.
- UI projections change. Build on Premium or Entity Service APIs, which keep the previous version until the next release. Re-test at each twice-yearly release.
- Shop Floor Workbench projections are UI flows. Projections built for the Shop Floor Workbench assistant are not meant for direct transactional integration. Pick the reporting projection in scoping.
Who configures the integration
The work covers mapping to your routings, work centers and IFS setup. It also covers the constraints SkyPlanner schedules finitely: setting time matrix, tools, operator counts and alternative resources.
- The SkyPlanner team configures it during onboarding and supports it after go-live, covering the SkyPlanner side and the agreed IFS projections. Every plant runs IFS Cloud differently, and this is where that know-how goes.
- Your IFS partner can take part. The partner knows your configuration and can set up the IAM client, permission sets and events alongside the team. SkyPlanner provides the REST API, Swagger/OpenAPI documentation and webhooks.
- Your own developers can build on it against the same documented REST API with an API token. An API token is enough to start, and the SkyPlanner team assists when needed. Public documentation is in the SkyPlanner integration docs.
SkyPlanner starts from 199 € per month with 5 workstations included, billed monthly. The integration is quoted up front for your process and needs, together with your plan, so you see the full cost before you start. See how IFS’s own scheduling compares in IFS Cloud finite capacity scheduling. The overview is on the IFS Cloud page, and other ERPs are in the ERP integrations hub.
SkyPlanner reviews from manufacturers
2 hsaved every week
“SkyPlanner has taken our production planning from Excel spreadsheets to real-time production optimization.”
Kalle Kalliomäki, Supply Chain Specialist
UTU · Electrical switchboards and switchgear
Production planning saves 2 hours of working time every week, and a new work queue reaches the line in seconds.
+90%production efficiency
“Efficiency has gone up 90% in production.”
Abdul Rucyinga, Head of IT
Laboratory & Allied · Pharmaceutical manufacturing
Production efficiency is up 90%, and a three-month optimized plan across all workstations takes under 30 minutes.
99.2%delivery reliability
“SkyPlanner has brought visibility to identifying bottlenecks and clarified production management.”
Toni Tuori, Production Manager
Piristeel · Roof safety and rainwater systems
Delivery reliability reached 99.2% this year, and scheduling saves up to four hours of working time per day.
Fewerstoppages from material shortages
“The value SkyPlanner brings us is that it is a tool that works in daily use, especially for setting delivery dates.”
Tommi Männistö, Production Planning Manager
Eskomatic · Contract machining
Automatic load scheduling gives more accurate delivery dates, and production stoppages caused by material shortages have fallen sharply.
FAQ
Which IFS Cloud API should a scheduling integration use?
The OData projections under /ifsapplications/projection/, preferably Premium or Entity Service APIs listed in your API Explorer. They come with OpenAPI specs per environment and keep the previous version until the next release.
Who builds the IFS Cloud integration?
The SkyPlanner team configures the two-way integration to your IFS setup during onboarding and supports it after go-live. Your IFS partner or your own developers can also build on SkyPlanner’s documented REST API, and an API token is enough to start.
Which authentication does the integration use?
An IFS IAM client with the OAuth 2.0 Client Credentials flow, tied to a service user with permission sets for the needed projections. SkyPlanner’s own API uses an API token.
Can IFS Cloud push shop order changes in real time?
Yes, with custom events on entity changes and the REST Sender, both configured in IFS Connect. Start with polling every few minutes and add events where change volume is high. SkyPlanner’s webhooks push schedule changes as they happen.
Do we need MSO or PSO for this integration?
No. SkyPlanner reads shop orders, operations and work centers directly from IFS projections and builds the finite schedule itself. You skip MSO access, a PSO Cloud Service or IFS.ai Activation Pass, and token budgeting, and Autopilot replans automatically on every change.
Can we test SkyPlanner before building the integration?
Yes. The 30-day free trial supports up to 20 workstations with Excel or CSV imports from IFS Cloud, no credit card needed. Start the trial, or talk to sales to scope the integration.
