  Issue 1.4, February 2021
The Transition Team congratulates the fourth group of Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs), who are now using the Integrated Food Management System (IFMS). As of the February 2021 launch, there are now 25 ITOs conducting their food distribution transactions in IFMS.
At the start of each month, 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 IFMS Transition Manager to reserve your spot today!
Overview of the Transition Program
IFMS transition is designed to be an easy process to ensure a successful implementation of IFMS for the ITOs. It follows clear step-by-step instructions, a hands-on approach, and constant guidance and support from the Transition Team. Some features of the transition process include the following:
- Self-Paced e-Learning Introductory Course
- Access to the IFMS training environment to reinforce and build upon the training sessions and practice using IFMS to prepare for Go Live
- Flexible virtual training sessions, offered at least twice a day to make it easier for different staff members to attend, reducing the impact on daily operations
- Support Specialist assigned to each ITO throughout the process to ensure a smooth transition
- Post-transition support plan, so ITOs continue to receive timely responses for any questions or issues they may have after Go Live
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IFMS Activity At-a-Glance
As of 2/25/2021, IFMS activity since it launched on October 1, 2020:
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25 ITOs using IFMS
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7,476 individuals have received food distributions through IFMS
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671,315 items issued to 3,983 households through 8,097 order transactions
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823,668 items updated through 3,063 inventory transactions
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1,388 household certifications updated
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137 new households created
With its more modern design and approach, the purpose of IFMS remains the same: issuing food to people who need it the most. Since going live in October 2020, nearly 4,000 households have been issued their food through IFMS. As of February 25, 2021, there have been over 8,000 order transactions!
 This chart shows the breakdown of IFMS Issuance transactions for October 1, 2020 – February 24, 2021. There have been 8,097 orders created, including 7,629 new issuance orders, 355 orders adjusted, and 107 orders voided. Additionally, at the time this data was captured, there were 2 active orders and 4 orders flagged for attention.
Continuous Enhancements
IFMS is a new software application, which initially replaces the functions of the Automated Inventory System (AIS). Additional features will be introduced in future releases.
The IFMS development cycle is designed to produce a quality solution that is thoroughly tested and defect-free. In addition to previously planned activities, the development team continues to evolve and enhance IFMS based on feedback from the user community. Release cycles have been shortened to respond quicker to user feedback; however, each release cycle has limited capacity. All suggestions for enhancements are reviewed for complexity, user impact, and relationship with other tickets when planning for upcoming releases.
Release 1.3.0 Highlights
IFMS is under continuous improvement with Release 1.3.0 deployed on February 24, 2021. Additional information about these updates can be found on the IFMS webpage and in the published Release Notes in the IFMS Learning Academy (login required).
All updates are applied automatically; no user actions are required to use the latest version of IFMS.
Highlights from Release 1.3.0 include the following:
Exceeds Inventory Error (Issuance) – Users are provided with options on how to correct inventory errors before saving the transaction. This allows the user to continue scanning without interruptions. Once all scanning has been completed, the user then corrects the error just once, resulting in a much more streamlined process.
Sort Shopping Cart (Issuance) – Food issuance specialists have a new option that allows them to sort the shopping cart by the food category. Previously, the shopping cart only allowed for sorting in the order that the material was added. The shopping cart now displays two buttons at the top of the cart labeled Order Added and Category.
Donations to Food Banks (Inventory) – Users can now record donations to community food banks using inventory transactions. An ITO called Community Donation has been set up for this purpose.
Availability Report – This new report shows materials and quantities in stock for each material grouped by Category and Subcategory for each site within the ITO.
IFMS Logo Update – The latest version number of IFMS is displayed within the logo, located at the top left-hand corner of the Navigation Bar.
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Training Schedule Update
After careful consideration of feedback received regarding training, the Transition Team has adjusted training session offerings to now provide two daily sessions of the same training. This promotes flexibility for transitioning ITOs to choose the times that best suit their needs, accommodating ITO operating schedules and giving additional staffers the opportunity to participate in the training.
All transitioning ITOs also have access to the training environment, where they can get hands-on practice and become familiar with IFMS before Go Live. After each of the Household Certifier, Inventory, and Issuance training sessions, participating ITOs receive self-paced exercises, which can be completed in the training environment. The goal of these exercises is to provide real-world scenarios to reinforce the training that was conducted that day.
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Create New Tasks
Did you know IFMS can assist you with managing your To Do lists? Tasks are easy to create in IFMS to help you manage daily activities. Users can create tasks for themselves or assign tasks to each other. See Section 9.2 in the Basic User Navigation Manual (pp. 18-20) for step-by-step instructions to create, edit, and delete tasks (login required).
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Auto-fill Last Monthly Issuance
During a new Issuance transaction, ITOs that use the Manual issuance method can quickly enter the material selections and quantities a household received in the previous month.
Select the Auto-fill Last Monthly Issuance option for the Fill Method. This will pre-fill the order with information from the previous month. Additional updates can be made as needed.
IFMS automatically calculates the food limits based on household size. Materials can be added or removed using the Search bar or by selecting from the Guide Rate Limit categories.
Refer to the Issuance Quick Reference Guide (QRG) (pp. 20-21) for step-by-step instructions (login required).
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