  Issue 2.4, May 2022
To ensure that the Integrated Food Management System (IFMS) meets the needs of Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) in supporting operations for the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), the IFMS User Group was formed in early 2022.
Over the past four months, the User Group had the opportunity to provide feedback on the functionality and system features of updated issuance receipt and household issuance claims report, which were both included with Release 1.9.0. As of May 3, 2022, the User Group has addressed and closed 12 of the original 32 CRs!
The User Group has been busy working on the following CRs:
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Updated issuance receipt (available in May’s Release 1.9.0)
- Address and telephone number are included in header to facilitate home deliveries.
- The IFMS Org Admin can customize the order of food categories/groups on the receipt.
- IFMS issuance receipt can be printed with food category/group sub-headers or without these sub-headers (similar to AIS report).
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Household issuance claims report (available in May’s Release 1.9.0)
- ‘Food cost per unit data’ is available in IFMS and will be used to generate a report for household claim actions.
- The report includes all USDA Foods issued for each month covered in the claim determination, and the cost data will be calculated by each USDA Food item per month with a grand total of the entire claim period at the bottom of the report.
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Shopping list (in progress)
- IFMS will generate a shopping list based on inventory available at the time that the list was generated. This is planned for the next release.
- Display order for food categories/groups will be customizable. This will be included with a future release.
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Certification Module (planned for later in calendar year 2022)
- Currently, FNS and CACI are collecting system requirements per FDPIR regulations and policy. FNS Regional Office Food Distribution staff have also been identified to provide support, as needed.
- Next, the Certification Module subgroup will begin meeting to provide user stories and collect feedback on the proposed system features.
This IFMS User Group typically meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month from 1:00pm to 2:30pm ET to discuss proposed solutions related to CRs and provide feedback on how these changes will be implemented. IFMS User Group members also have the opportunity to share new issues and requests for the group to discuss.
To participate as a member of the IFMS User Group, please send an email to Katie Clifford at katie.clifford@usda.gov.
A new ITO has launched! The Transition Team congratulates the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe on their successful onboarding to IFMS.
As of April 2022, there were 75 ITOs using IFMS to conduct food distribution issuance for their communities and manage inventory and household records for FDPIR. To date, over 11 million food items have been issued to over 21 thousand households through IFMS.
 Fig 1 - As of April 2022, IFMS was being used by 75 ITOs at 97 sites.
IFMS Activity At-a-Glance
As of April 27, 2022, IFMS activity since launch included:
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75 ITOs deployed IFMS with 359 active users
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44,628 individuals in 23,049 households received food
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12,889,077 items issued through 167,367 order transactions
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21,743,027 items updated through 64,684 inventory transactions
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29,853 household certifications updated
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4,911 new households created
Release 1.9.0 Highlights
Release 1.9.0 went live on May 6, 2022. The following enhancements were included:
Household Certification
- The Household list view will now display the last issuance date for a household.
Issuance Management
- When ITO Issuance Specialists print the issuance receipt, the address and phone number will be printed on the header of the first page.
- A new issuance receipt format will be available that will list materials without the category description.
- The ITO Org administrator will be able to select one of two issuance receipt formats for each site in their ITO.
- The ITO Org Administrator can define the order in which the food categories will appear on the issuance receipt at each site.
Reporting
- ITO users can now generate a Claims Determination Report.
Release Notes can be found in the IFMS Learning Academy (login required).
Hot Tips
Avoiding Inventory and Issuance Data Entry Loss When Switching Tabs
If the user switches to another IFMS tab, any unsaved data will be lost. When they return to the previous data entry screen, they will need to enter the same data again.
To avoid data loss while in the middle of data entry, follow the steps below to open a duplicate browser tab:
- Using the mouse, right-click the IFMS internet browser tab at the top of the screen.
- Select Duplicate.
Another tab is created for the IFMS session. The user does not need to log into IFMS again.
Now, the user can perform a different transaction on the new tab without losing their data on the other tab. Simply select the original tab to return to data entry.
 Fig 2 - Screenshot of creating a Duplicate tab in IFMS
Update to Internet Speed Requirements
Required internet speeds for IFMS have been reduced from 10 mb/s to 0.5 mb/s. For reference, a YouTube video plays at a speed of about 4 mb/s.
ITOs who currently use the tailgate feature in the Automated Inventory System (AIS) may be able to transition IFMS when they are ready to do so. In some areas, ITOs may be able to operate IFMS at a tailgate site if internet and/or cellphone reception is available. The purchase of a hot spot and/or cellular plan would be an allowable use of FDPIR administrative funds. Please reach out to the FNS Regional Office to discuss internet or cellphone data plan options.
Transition Support
The IFMS Transition Team is available to provide assistance to ITOs who are preparing for IFMS and to answer questions about the transition process. Contact the Transition Manager to learn more. The transition program is designed to support ITOs, considering their unique needs, from initial planning through the Go Live event at a pace that minimizes disruption to daily operations.
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
- Manuals, quick reference guides, and exercises for each functional area
- Access to the IFMS training environment to reinforce and build upon training sessions
- Discussion of ITO data needs and guidance on using IFMS reporting tools
- Post-transition support with timely response to questions or issues
- Feedback sessions for continuous improvement of transition program and system features
Additional Training Opportunities
The Post-launch Support Program offers training opportunities for the IFMS user community in the form of refreshers, updates, and advanced topics. These sessions are intended to build user skills and help improve efficiency with IFMS. Upcoming events will be announced.
Interested in other training opportunities for new and existing users? The IFMS Training Request Form, located in the IFMS Learning Academy. Upon receipt, the IFMS Training Manager will follow up to discuss scheduling and tailoring the session(s) topics to the needs of the ITO.
IFMS Public Webpage
The IFMS webpage provides announcements, general information about IFMS, and a variety of other resources for the user community and other interested parties. These include:
IFMS Learning Academy
The IFMS Learning Academy (login required) contains a variety of self-service resources for IFMS. User manuals and quick reference guides (QRGs) provide helpful instructions for a variety of common business tasks and functions as well as tips for using additional system features when needed. Other resources include release notes and guide rate information.
After selecting a topic, refer to the Details tab for a description of available materials and links to external resources, as applicable. The Related tab provides all files available to view or download.
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