Infor unveils new AI and automation tools

Infor has revealed new artificial intelligence (AI) and process automation innovations aimed at enhancing its CloudSuite portfolio.

These updates, announced at the 2024 Infor Velocity Summit, focus on improving decision-making, driving efficiency, and helping customers meet their regulatory goals.

New features introduced include the GenAI Assistant, process mining capabilities, and ESG Strategy Management. These tools are designed to aid in business transformation across various industries. According to Infor, the enhancements offer out-of-the-box capabilities, resulting in reduced risk and higher efficiency for organisations. "I am excited about the immense value these solutions will drive for our customers," said Soma Somasundaram, President and CTO of Infor. "Infor's deep industry expertise is showcased through thousands of best-practice, micro-vertical processes built into the product. With each release, we increase the volume of pre-built experiences that harness the power of transformative technologies. For example, with embedded process mining capabilities, customers can quickly examine process efficiencies, optimise, and automate with minimal disruption to business operations."

The GenAI Assistant, which will be available in October, is set to turn conversations into actionable business insights. It aims to ease the user experience by managing tasks such as manufacturing project oversight, requisition analysis, and product tracking. According to Elisabetta Venezia, Group Director, ERP System & Data Management at GMM Pfaudler, "With the assistance of Infor GenAI, we have significantly accelerated our project with greater accuracy and consistency. The initial plan to cleanse our item master data would have taken several years with a two-person team manually grouping and updating over 800,000 items. We now expect to complete the project within the next six months. By eliminating duplicates with a cleaner database, we anticipate at least a 5% reduction in inventory costs, which translates to EUR €1-2 million in savings."

Infor's process mining tools offer enhanced visibility into business processes, from data definition to insights analysis. These tools aim to streamline operations and improve decision-making effectiveness. Steve Turner, Director of Information Systems for Oberg Industries, commented, "This transformative tool [process mining] provides visibility into business process events within our daily order-to-cash operations, highlighting areas for improvement and actionable opportunities. We anticipate by addressing these process inefficiencies and bottlenecks we will be able to increase our business throughput with existing resources over time."

Additionally, Infor has introduced new ESG Strategy Management modules to help organisations meet compliance and sustainability goals. These modules are designed to integrate ESG data and improvements into everyday workflows. The company has also made advancements in supply chain management, incorporating AI to improve accuracy and reduce manual intervention. Infor claims that these enhancements will accelerate the time to value for businesses, with industry-specific features like supply planning, warehouse management, and demand forecasting.

Infor will discuss these innovations further at its Velocity Summit customer events, scheduled in Las Vegas and Amsterdam.