Into the limelight: A manufacturer's journey to IFS Cloud with Baker Tilly

A century-old chemical manufacturer with operations across the United States faced a digital crossroads. This industry leader produces essential lime-based products that keep water treatment facilities running and food manufacturing safe. Their production facility processes hundreds of rail cars and truck shipments daily, serving customers who depend on the highest purity standards. Despite their operational excellence, the company’s technology foundation had not kept pace with their growth ambitions. The manufacturer successfully completed an IFS Cloud implementation, transitioning from a 25-year-old legacy system. The project was executed alongside Baker Tilly’s IFS Solutions team over multiple phases.  

In a recent conference, Baker Tilly’s Brian Wilson, Director and the manufacturer’s Business Lead for the implementation, discussed the rewarding IFS Cloud implementation, demonstrating how detailed planning, strategic use of customizations and change management can deliver transformational results in complex industrial environments.

Implementation approach 

The IFS Cloud implementation rollouts followed a deliberate six-stage phased approach over eight months, designed to minimize risk and allow for progressive learning. The rollout began with the first manufacturing site and corporate support services, progressed through smaller proximity sites with enhanced functionality and culminated with the largest facility featuring complex operations across 15+ loading locations. The manufacturer successfully ran legacy and IFS systems concurrently for approximately eight months during the progressive transition to IFS Cloud which allowed the team to work through issues and enhancements to the solution to reduce risk, gain buy-in and build self-sufficiency.