Enterprise software vendor IFS acquires Canadian provider of “connected worker” software
IFS says deal positions it to address forecasted manufacturing skills gap through employee training, development, and profitability tools
Cloud enterprise software vendor IFS has acquired Poka Inc., a Quebec-based provider of “connected worker” technology that supports employee training, development, and troubleshooting.
Poka says its technology enables factory and field workers to be more efficient, while helping businesses to measure productivity across machinery and operators, improving insight into profitability, worker safety, and environment, social, and governance (ESG) goals.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
According to IFS, the acquisition positions it as the only vendor with enterprise resource planning (ERP), enterprise asset management (EAM), and field service management (FSM) capabilities. That combination now allows IFS to digitally connect workers across the end-to-end value chain in its core industries, the company said.
“The concept of a connected worker is synonymous with the augmented worker because of the direct impact on improving productivity and operational efficiency. With a potential manufacturing skills gap in the U.S. alone which could result in 2.1 million unfilled jobs by 2030, closing this gap, it is as much a technology need as it is a change management and worker empowerment need,” IFS CEO Darren Roos said in a release.
“Improving access to information and knowledge means workers can become part of an integrated continuous improvement cycle. The concept of connecting every single worker was historically overlooked as part of digital transformation journeys yet, giving workers the ability to get information whenever and wherever they are in the factory not only improves their experience, it is fundamental to building manufacturing agility—something we understand very well at IFS,” Roos said.
IFS provides software for transportation and logistics providers as well as other industry sectors including aerospace and defense, energy utilities and resources, construction and engineering, manufacturing, service industries, and telecommunications.