  Issue 1.7
June 2, 2021
The Transition Team congratulates the seventh group of Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs), who are now using the Integrated Food Management System (IFMS). As of May 2021, there are 54 ITOs using IFMS to conduct food distribution transactions for their customers.
The IFMS Transition Team is actively recruiting ITOs for upcoming launches. Contact the Transition Manager to discuss options.
|
Why transition? IFMS is the future of food distribution, replacing a three-decades-old inventory system that is increasingly challenging to maintain in order to meet evolving program needs. IFMS is a modern, innovative, and flexible system. The Transition Team supports ITOs from initial planning through the Go Live event at a pace that minimizes disruption to daily operations.
IFMS provides:
- Enhanced household and member search capabilities
- Role-based user access
- Simultaneous login for multiple users
- Different functionality for Store and Manual (Pick and Pack) operations to streamline issuance processes
The transition program includes:
- Support Specialists assigned to each ITO for the duration of the transition process
- Self-Paced e-Learning Introductory Course
- Flexible virtual training sessions
- Access to the IFMS training environment to reinforce and build upon training sessions
- Post-transition support with timely response to questions or issues
IFMS Activity At-a-Glance
As of May 26, 2021, IFMS activity since it launched on October 1, 2020:
-
54 ITOs using IFMS with 220 active users
-
17,733 individuals have received food distributions through IFMS
-
2,313,458 items issued to 9,492 households through 27,374 order transactions
-
3,293,249 items updated through 8,725 inventory transactions
-
9,492 household certifications updated
-
544 new households created
 Fig 1: April Issuance Volume by Date for All ITOs
In April, across all ITO issuance is fairly consistence on most business days through the month, with expected low volume early and towards the end of the month. This corresponds with the expected slowdown in issuance while inventory and month-end activities are underway. The highest volume of issuance for a single day was 412 on both April 15 and April 21.
Each newly transitioned ITO’s experience is unique, and their stories may help those who are still considering the decision to transition to IFMS. ITOs who have chosen to move away from the familiar to IFMS is now working with a more flexible, nimble, and cutting-edge system for managing FDPIR issuance, inventory, and certification records.
The Transition Team would love to share more successes with IFMS. Please send comments to the Transition Manager.
Take a look at some of the feedback recently received from ITOs:
Inter-Tribal Council of Oklahoma reopened in May, and they have switched from manual to store model. They also had new employees starting during the transition period. Katrina Williams, Acting Director, feels the training prepared them well for IFMS, reporting, “We have had no issues and the team is great about helping us.” She noted that IFMS has a lot of significant improvements over AIS, which is “so old,” and IFMS is easier to use. One improvement her team has really appreciated is that they can access IFMS at the same time.
Pueblo of Zuni transitioned to IFMS in January. Director Beatrice Panteah reported that they have no trouble with Household certification, and it is “going well.” They find it easier to look up client names and validate with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). She also shared their appreciation for the support and service received from the Transition Team and that they were planning to take advantage of upcoming training and open phone line sessions to expand on their IFMS knowledge.
Stockbridge-Munsee Community has been using IFMS since May, and the Transition Team reached out to Supervisor, Jill Duffek, for her thoughts on IFMS. Although IFMS “took some getting used…things are going good.” Jill reported that the transition program--especially the training environment and the exercises provided after each training session—really prepared them for IFMS. When asked what she likes best about the new system, Jill stated that she really likes the set up for entering orders and that the continuous updates are helpful “so you know what you have.”
Training Schedule Updated
In response to ITO feedback, the Transition Team has adjusted the training schedule to now provide two sessions daily for the same training topic. This promotes flexibility for transitioning ITOs to choose the time(s) that best suits 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 training session, participating ITOs receive self-paced exercises for use in the IFMS training environment. The goal of these exercises is to provide real-world scenarios to reinforce the training that was conducted that day.
Release 1.3.2
IFMS is under continuous improvement, with Release 1.3.2 deployed on April 27, 2021. Additional information about these updates can be found on the IFMS webpage and in the published Release Notes (login required).
Note: All updates are applied automatically; no user actions are required to use the latest version of IFMS.
Release 1.3.2 includes the following enhancements:
-
Users can now submit corrections for issuance orders that are in Attention Required status by using the Rerun button.
- ITO Users have a new report in the “Direct Certification” folder that displays school-age (3-22 years old) household members of households with an active certification.
Hot Tips: Attention Required Status
When an issuance transaction encounters an error after saving, it enters Attention Required status. This occurs when IFMS does not contain enough inventory at the time of issuance to complete the transaction. The issuance order for the household is saved, but the material is not updated.
Users can now resubmit the issuance in IFMS after entering corrections with the new Rerun button. If successful, the item will be processed, removing the transaction removed from the Attention Required list. For additional information, refer to the Appendix A – Resolve Attention Required Transaction Errors in the Issuance User Manual (login required).
Note: To minimize the chances that an issuance transaction goes into an Attention Required status, avoid performing inventory adjustments or physical counts while performing issuance transactions.
Use the following steps to resolve an issuance in Attention Required status:
1. Open the Issuance Transaction tab in IFMS and look for the Attention Required list on the left-hand side of the screen.
 Fig 2: Select the link in the Issuance ID column for the issuance to be updated.
2. Click on a Issuance ID hyperlink to open the Order Details page for the selected issuance.
3. Click on the Related tab to view the list of materials that were in the order.
4. Review the Order Products list for the Product issued. Items with the Error status are the ones that failed to process.
5. Click on the Product hyperlink to open the Product Details page. There will be two buttons above the Material details: Void and Rerun.
 Fig 3: Select the Rerun button to submit the issuance again for processing.
6. Click on the Rerun button.
-
If there is enough inventory: IFMS displays a green success message, and the status of the order will be updated to Issued-Adjust. The Household will now be open for more issuances.
-
If there is not enough inventory: IFMS displays a red message noting the failed Rerun. The user will need to adjust inventory levels or return to the Transaction Details page and use the Adjust button to make changes to the issuance before using Rerun again. Alternatively, use the Void button to cancel the issuance and start a new one.
For more information, see the related Hot Tips for Resolving Issuances in Attention Required Status (login required).
|
