03 Aug Infor ERP gets boost from new AI platform
Enterprise resource planning is a necessary part of any business operation, and these solutions are continuing to evolve to support more sophisticated needs. Staff require accurate information to be available at anytime on any device, and some legacy systems don’t have the functionality that modern organizations expect. Without the right data, leaders can’t maintain visibility into inventory levels, project progress and overall productivity. However, artificial intelligence is emerging to innovate ERP features and deliver better results. Infor recently released Coleman, an AI platform for its CloudSuite ERP applications, and it’s expected to bring the solutions to the next level.
How it works
AI platforms can be fairly complex programs, aimed at learning from past interactions and delivering prescriptive insights for strategic business decisions. The trick is designing the AI to be user-friendly and improve overall operations. Coleman does this by using natural language processing and image recognition to hear, talk and identify images, DC Velocity stated. The AI develops a conversational relationship with the user and automate search and gather functions to process vast data stores that often occupy a worker’s typical week. This functionality will give employees time to pursue other tasks.
“Infor spent many years automating processes that followed clear rules, such as accounting and manufacturing processes,” Infor CEO Charles Phillips said at the company’s annual user conference. “We are now leveraging machine learning and our access to large amounts of data to assist users with less structured processes such as complex decisions, conversations, and predictions.”
“AI helps optimize human work potential by delivering interactions that are more efficient and natural.”
Benefits of Coleman
Coleman takes mission-critical information from CloudSuite as well as supplier, logistics and finance data to provide recommendations and enable smarter decisions. The AI helps optimize human work potential by delivering interactions that are more efficient and natural, amplifying employee work capabilities, automating repetitive tasks and delivering intelligent insights. TechTarget executive editor David Essex noted that Coleman would enable staff to focus on value-adding activities like identifying patterns in information. Workers can use the AI to find the data they need quickly and link relevant pieces together.
AI can be an overwhelming prospect to a number of employees, particularly those that do not have experience using these types of systems. As a result, Infor aimed to make the inclusion of Coleman as seamless and unintrusive as possible. In an interview with Diginomica, Phillips noted that Coleman will be infused within the ERP application as an enhancement, ensuring that workers won’t have to learn a new framework. This subtlety will help make AI inclusion more efficient and viable within IT networks. It might take time for the technology to be widely adopted within an enterprise, but applying it to low-level processes and labor intensive tasks could be a great foothold for future rollouts.
AI is still a widely unexplored opportunity for businesses that is rising quickly in popularity. Infor’s recent foray into the space with Coleman promises to innovate ERP functions and business management capabilities. To keep up with Infor advancements and leverage them yourself, team up with a certified partner like Pinnacle Business Systems.