You can apply Data Mesh in IFS Cloud procurement by treating each procurement process (like Procure-to-Pay or Procure-to-Receive) as a data product domain with its own owners, contracts, and KPIs. In practice this means shifting from central reports to decentralized, governed data services that procurement teams can own and evolve. Let me break it down:
1. Define procurement as a data domain
Procurement covers suppliers, purchase orders, receipts, invoices. In Data Mesh, this becomes a domain where buyers and procurement analysts are the product owners. They are accountable for the quality, timeliness, and usability of procurement data.
2. Wrap procurement data in products
Use IFS Cloud OData v4 projections to expose key entities such as PurchaseOrder, PurchaseReceipt, Supplier, Invoice. These are not raw tables but curated products with a contract (schema, SLAs, versioning) so consuming teams can rely on them. Example contract items include freshness of ASN (advance shipping notice) timestamps or SLA for purchase order update latency.
3. Add event-driven procurement signals
IFS Connect can broadcast procurement events like delivery date change, late ASN, receipt exceptions. These events make procurement data active and allow downstream automation. For example, a late ASN can trigger alerts in buyer Lobbies or update supplier performance scorecards.
4. Build procurement lobbies for KPIs
Procurement teams use Lobbies (role-based dashboards in IFS) to track KPIs such as:
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POs at risk by supplier
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Late ASN trend
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Dock-to-stock time by site
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OTIF (on-time in full) delivery rate
These dashboards are directly tied to data products and contracts, so governance and daily work stay aligned.
5. Apply federated governance
Procurement data owners run monthly quality reviews and quarterly access recertifications. Standards are light but consistent: every procurement data product must have an owner, a contract, lineage records, and permission checks (separation of duties for buyers vs approvers). This ensures audit-readiness while giving procurement flexibility.
6. Start small with one slice
The recommended entry point is the Procure-to-Receive slice, focusing on supplier delivery performance (OTIF). You expose PurchaseOrder, Supplier, and Receipt projections, publish events for delivery delays, build lobby tiles, and monitor outcomes. Once this works, expand to Procure-to-Pay and sourcing.
Expected benefits
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Earlier detection of supplier delays
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Faster resolution of exceptions
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Higher OTIF and fewer penalties
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Lower cost per delivered unit
What next?
Roadmap for Implementing Procurement Data Mesh in IFS Cloud