One of the earliest and most consequential decisions in an IFS Cloud manufacturing implementation is how you model production. Get it right and the system flows with your operation. Get it wrong and you'll spend years fighting the software — or papering over it with spreadsheets.
Start with how you take an order
The cleanest way to choose is to look at what exists when a customer order lands. In engineer-to-order, the product doesn't fully exist yet — it's designed or configured per order. In make-to-order, the design exists but you build on demand. In make-to-stock discrete, you build to a forecast and ship from stock. Most real manufacturers are a blend, and that's fine — but you need to be honest about the mix.
Engineer-to-order: embrace the project
ETO businesses often try to force bespoke work through a standard manufacturing model and end up buried in manual workarounds. IFS Cloud's project-based manufacturing exists precisely for this. If a meaningful share of your work is genuinely one-of-a-kind, model it as such rather than pretending it's repeatable.
The goal isn't to pick the 'most advanced' model. It's to pick the one that matches reality with the least friction.
Make-to-order: get change control right
MTO manufacturers usually have solid product structures but live with constant engineering change and demand volatility. The setup that matters here is the one around bills of material, routings and revision control — because that's where the daily pain lands.
Discrete make-to-stock: planning is everything
If you build to forecast, your model stands or falls on planning and inventory. MRP settings, safety stock policy and demand management deserve real attention — a discrete setup with lazy planning parameters quietly ties up cash and floor space.
Don't force one model on the whole business
The most common mistake is insisting on a single manufacturing model across a plant that genuinely runs several. IFS Cloud can support different models for different product lines. Mapping each product family to the way it's actually made — before you configure — is an hour of conversation that saves months of rework.
If you're at the start of an IFS journey, this is exactly the kind of decision worth getting a second, independent opinion on before it's locked in.
Written from hands-on IFS Cloud delivery experience. Every engagement is confidential — this article contains no client names or project specifics.