  Issue 1.2, December 2020
Welcome Spectacular Six!
The Transition Team is pleased to welcome the “Spectacular Six” to the Integrated Food Management System (IFMS) in January. Each of the following Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) are engaged in transition activities to prepare for their upcoming transition to IFMS.
- Colorado River Indian Tribes
- Inter-Tribal Council (ITC)
- Prairie Band Potawatomi
- Pueblo of Zuni
- Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
- Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe
This is the third group to transition to IFMS, joining the 12 ITOs from the October and December launches. Congratulations to each of these ITOs on the progress made so far!
At the start of each month through 2021, a new group of ITOs will move from AIS to IFMS. The Transition Team is actively recruiting ITOs who are ready to transition to IFMS. Please contact the Transition Manager to reserve your spot today!
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IFMS Website Updated to Support Transition Activities
Did you know the IFMS website has been updated to provide the latest news and resources? Features include IFMS Background Info, IFMS Activity-at-a-Glance, Transition Status, System Features, Release Updates, Preparing for IFMS, System and Browser Requirements, User Accounts, Resources, and IFMS Contacts. Additional information and resources will be added on a regular basis.
IFMS Activity At-a-Glance
Since IFMS launched on October 1, 2020:
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12 ITOs using IFMS
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148,226 items issued to customers through 1,896 order transactions
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209,697 items updated in inventory through 584 inventory transactions
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336 household certifications updated
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43 new households created
As of 12/16/2020
The following charts show a breakdown of IFMS issuance transactions for October 1 - December 15, 2020.
Issuances by Delivery Model
From October 1 - December 15, there have been 813 Issuance transactions for Manual (Pick & Pack) ITOs. There have been 982 Issuance transactions for Store-concept ITOs.
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Volume of Issuance by Month
ITOs have completed 683 issuance transactions in the first half of December. By comparison, in October there were 527 issuances, with 336 in the first half and 236 in the second half of the month. In November, ITOs completed 547 issuances, with 306 in the first half and 241 in the second half of the month.
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IFMS is under continuous improvement with Release 1.2 going live on December 18, 2020. Additional information about these updates can be found on the FNS webpage for IFMS and in the published Release Notes in the IFMS Learning Academy (login required).
All updates will be applied automatically; no user actions are required to use the latest version of IFMS.
Highlights from Release 1.2 include the following:
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Issuance Receipt (Store and Manual Issuance) – The Issuance Receipt will now display the materials issued by category and sub-category. As a result, fruits, vegetables, and grain sub-categories are now split out.
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Last Item Scanned in Shopping Cart (Store Issuance) – For Store-concept ITOs, the shopping cart will automatically scroll down as items are scanned and added. The last item scanned will display at the bottom of the shopping list. Users will be able to review the most recent item added without having to scroll.
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In-Stock Materials Only (Manual Issuance) – For Manual-concept ITOs, the Issuance process will limit the materials displayed to those with a quantity greater than zero. Users will see only materials from their in-stock inventory, streamlining the selection process during an Issuance.
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Task Notification to Resubmit FNS-152 Report– At the start of the month, FNS Operations Analysts will receive a task notification email, prompting them to rerun the FNS-152 Report for the previous month when an ITO user has submitted a backdated Inventory or Issuance transaction in IFMS. FNS Operations Analysts will receive separate task notifications for each ITO within their region.
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Session Time Out – IFMS has improved its monitoring of user activity to include any mouse click or keyboard entry. When the screen has been idle for more than 15 minutes, the application will time out.
Full Screen Mode
When using IFMS, users can press the F11 function key on the computer keyboard to view IFMS in full screen mode. This may provide a clearer view of important information within IFMS. To exit out of full screen mode, press F11 again.
Adjusting an Issuance
Forget to issue an item for a household? Does the household want an additional item after the issuance has been completed?
IFMS allows multiple issuances in a month as long as they are within the FDPIR Guide Rates for the household. IFMS keeps a record of all the issuances and shows the cumulative remaining balance. There is NO need to adjust the previous issuance for a household. Simply start a new issuance for the household and issue the missing items.
Need to reduce item quantities or remove an item from a completed issuance transaction?
The Adjust button in IFMS must be used only to reduce or remove items from a completed issuance transaction. For example, a user has completed an issuance transaction for four cans of mixed fruit to a household; however, the customer received only three fruit cans, and the ITO needs to correct the issuance transaction to reflect three cans.
 Click the Adjust button for a completed Issuance transaction to reduce or remove quantities.
Access to IFMS
Please note that IFMS requires all users to have a unique login. In preparation for an organization’s upcoming launch, the 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 their own eAuth account (such as for FFAVORS or WBSCM) 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.
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