IFS Cloud and UPS integration

What moves between them

The main flow runs from IFS into UPS. When a sales order is ready to ship, ml-connector reads the shipment details from IFS, calls the UPS rating API to calculate freight cost, and then creates the shipment in UPS with the order's weight, dimensions, and destination address. UPS tracking events are either pushed to ml-connector via Track Alert subscription or polled via Quantum View, and the tracking status is written back to the IFS shipment record. Reference data such as shipping methods and address validation is aligned so UPS shipments use valid addresses before creation.

How ml-connector handles it

ml-connector stores OAuth2 client credentials for both IFS and UPS encrypted and refreshes the IFS token every 60 minutes and the UPS token every 3.5 hours before expiry. On the IFS side, it accepts the customer's tenant subdomain and queries the OData API with $filter on modified timestamp to find new shipments. When creating or updating records in IFS, ml-connector reads the target first to capture its ETag, then sends the ETag header on the PATCH to ensure the record has not been edited by another user. For UPS, it refreshes the token before the daily limit of 250 requests can be exhausted, monitors the 14-day Track Alert subscription window and renews tracking subscriptions before they expire, and handles UPS rate-limit responses with exponential backoff. Every shipment and tracking update carries a full audit trail and can be replayed if a downstream call fails.

A real-world example

A mid-sized apparel manufacturer runs IFS Cloud for production and supply chain planning, and ships to 500+ retailers worldwide via UPS. Before the integration, the logistics team printed shipment details from IFS orders, re-keyed address and package weight into the UPS portal to rate and book shipments, and then manually copied UPS tracking numbers back into IFS order records. With IFS and UPS connected, each order-to-ship transition automatically creates the UPS shipment with address and weight from IFS, the freight cost from UPS is captured and allocated to the order's cost center in IFS for accurate margin tracking, and tracking updates flow back into IFS automatically so the customer service team can see real-time shipment status without leaving their ERP.

What you can do

• •Create shipments in UPS from IFS sales orders with accurate weight, dimensions, and destination address.
• •Retrieve UPS shipping rates and allocate freight cost back to IFS orders for margin and GL costing.
• •Sync UPS tracking events back to IFS shipment records via Track Alert webhooks or Quantum View polling.
• •Authenticate both IFS OAuth2 Client Credentials with tenant-specific token endpoints and manage UPS token refresh within its daily request limit.
• •Poll IFS sales orders on a schedule with ETag-based concurrency enforcement and maintain a full audit trail on every shipment and tracking update.

Questions

Which direction does data move between IFS Cloud and UPS?

The main flow is IFS into UPS: shipment creation and rate quotes. UPS tracking events flow back into IFS via webhooks or polling. IFS does not write tracking data back to UPS, and UPS does not send shipment changes back into IFS.

How does ml-connector handle IFS ETag concurrency and UPS token renewal?

ml-connector reads the IFS record first to capture its ETag header, then includes that ETag in the PATCH request to ensure optimistic concurrency. For UPS, it proactively refreshes the OAuth2 token every 3.5 hours to stay well within the 250-request-per-day limit and avoid token expiry during a shipment creation.

What happens if a UPS Track Alert subscription expires or shipments go untracked?

Track Alert subscriptions expire after 14 days and must be renewed. ml-connector monitors the subscription window and renews tracking subscriptions automatically before expiry. If tracking is disrupted, shipments can be re-queried via Quantum View polling as a fallback.