Breaking ground in the cloud: A mining transformation story with IFS

Client background

For more than a century, a North American mining and materials producer has played a critical role in supporting essential industries by supplying high purity limestone and lime products used in water treatment, food manufacturing and industrial applications. With large-scale quarrying, complex production workflows and a national distribution footprint spanning rail and truck, the business depends on precision, reliability and uninterrupted operations. 

The business challenge

Despite its scale and operational expertise, the organization relied on a heavily customized, decades old enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that limited visibility, constrained growth and required significant manual workarounds. Over time, many critical processes moved outside the ERP into a mix of custom tools, spreadsheets and disconnected applications, creating inefficiencies and increasing operational risk. 

The company’s complex operating environment, including a distributed network of sites, high shipment volumes, railcar logistics and continuous 24/7 operations, made system transformation particularly challenging and a single-phase ERP replacement impractical. 

The organization sought a cloud-based solution that could unify operations, improve visibility and support future growth without disrupting day-to-day performance. Key challenges included: 

• Replacing a 25-year-old system while maintaining continuous operations  
• Supporting complex, multi-modal logistics and railcar processes  
• Maintaining critical integrations during a phased transition  
• Driving adoption and ownership across geographically dispersed sites 

Strategy and solution 

Baker Tilly led an eight-month, multiphase deployment of IFS Cloud using a data‑driven rollout strategy that prioritized sites based on operational complexity, shipment volumes and change readiness. Sequential site deployments, starting with smaller operations and scaling to the most complex facility, helped mitigate risk while maintaining uninterrupted 24/7 operations. Legacy and cloud systems operated in parallel during transitions, alongside progressive knowledge transfer to build internal ownership of support and hypercare activities. 

IFS Cloud was configured to preserve proven mining and processing workflows while introducing modern, cloud based capabilities across sales, supply chain, manufacturing, logistics, finance and document management. 

Targeted enhancements extended standard functionality and replaced legacy customizations, including: 

• An integrated, user-friendly shipping solution with automated documentation, real‑time truck check-in/check-out and centralized shipment visibility 
• Cloud based load appointment management to replace Excel scheduling, improve cross functional communication and reduce missed or canceled shipments 
• Embedded freight and fuel rate management with automated charge application, carrier reconciliation and exception reporting 
• Railcar management with real-time inventory visibility, standardized data integration and error prevention controls 

Results

The implementation standardized operations across all sites, eliminated duplicate data entry, and significantly reduced manual processes through integrated workflows. Real-time visibility now supports faster, more informed decision-making. 

Shipment volumes scaled from approximately 30 shipments per day at the initial site to 300 shipments per day at the final rollout location, while maintaining continuous 24/7 operations and effectively managing complex, multimodal transportation. 

Key benefits include streamlined and mobile enabled user experiences, faster transaction processing, improved planning and reporting, optimized operations and sustainable training and support models. 

Look no further

This transformation succeeded through a phased, well-orchestrated approach supported by close collaboration and strong business ownership. The result is more than a system upgrade, it’s a shift to a connected digital environment that unifies data, enhances decision-making and enables smarter, more agile operations. With Baker Tilly and IFS Cloud, organizations gain the foundation needed to improve efficiency, respond faster to change and build lasting operational resilience