  Issue 1.1, December 2020
IFMS Is Here!
The Integrated Food Management System (IFMS) is a reality with an initial roll-out to five Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) on October 1, 2020 and seven ITOs in early December, 2020. The next set of ITOs will transition to IFMS in early January. The IFMS Transition Team has developed a tentative ITO monthly launch schedule that will continue through 2021.
This schedule is dependent on several technical and operational factors critical to ensuring the program’s success. Approximately two months prior to an ITO’s designated launch date, the Transition Team will reach out to an ITO to confirm availability and readiness to start transition activities. The Transition Team’s goal is to empower users with the confidence to use IFMS for the same activities as the already-familiar Automated Inventory System (AIS) and to introduce new features that will allow users to work smarter, not harder.
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IFMS Activity At-A-Glance
There are currently 41 active IFMS users from 12 FDPIR organizations.
Users have entered 1,302 order transactions, including 73 adjusted orders, to issue 100,114 items to customers through IFMS.
Inventory has been updated for 137,364 items through 434 transactions, including 188 receipts and 120 physical count transactions. There have also been updates related to unfit condition, concealed damage, shrinkage, and issuance adjustments.
258 household certifications have been updated, and 29 new households have been created.
 IFMS Activity Report as of December 3, 2020
Here are some of the features IFMS provides:
- No more software installations
- Multiple users can perform issuing and receiving at the same time
- On-demand reporting
- Informative data dashboards to help manage day-to-day operations
- Data aggregated at the ITO level, eliminating need to manually combine data from each site
- Enhanced search capabilities
- Enhanced data entry error proofing
- List views for households, inventory, and transactions
User Technology Requirements
IFMS is a cloud-based application that requires access to the Internet and the following:
- Minimum of 10 Mbps download speed
- Wired or wireless Internet connection
- Web browser
- Preferred: Chrome
- Supported: Firefox and Safari
- Not supported: Internet Explorer and Edge
Internet-capable computers are recommended for each location for Customer Registration and Inventory Management. Store concept ITOs must also have internet connectivity at food checkout.
A mouse (or similar device) is recommended at each computer station.
IFMS Access
Each user will be provided with their own account in IFMS and must have a unique login to access it. In preparation for an organization’s upcoming launch, the IFMS Transition Team will collect information for each staff member to create the user account(s) in IFMS.
Each user will also need their own active eAuthentication (eAuth) login, which provides the user name and password to access IFMS. Users who do not currently have an eAuth account will receive instructions to create one when their IFMS user account is ready. Please note that eAuth requires a unique email address, and users must be able to access this email account to complete the activation process.
To help ensure a smooth and successful transition to IFMS, please confirm that each staff member has their own email account and that they can access it.
The Transition Team has developed tutorials, presentations, and training curriculum along with reference materials to support ITOs as they become familiar with IFMS. These resources will be provided throughout the transition period and are available to users through the Learning Academy in IFMS.
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