What is Infor VISUAL? Modules, integrations and alternatives
Infor VISUAL is an ERP system aimed at small and mid-sized discrete manufacturers, especially job shops and make-to-order or engineer-to-order companies. It is also known as VISUAL Manufacturing. It covers estimating, orders, engineering, shop floor, planning, purchasing and financials.
Also known as: VISUAL Manufacturing, Lilly VISUAL, Infor VISUAL ERP, VISUAL ERP
VISUAL is a manufacturing-focused ERP built around the idea that each order may have its own bill of material and routing. It handles quotes and estimates, customer orders, work orders with engineering structures, shop floor labour and material, MRP, purchasing, inventory, and accounting. Its roots are in the Lilly Software product, and it is often still called VISUAL Manufacturing.
Typical users are small to mid-sized manufacturers building custom or low-volume products: machine shops, fabricators, tooling makers, equipment builders and similar job-shop style operations. Strong estimating, work order level costing and flexible engineering structures are what differentiate it from more make-to-stock oriented systems.
VISUAL generally runs on a Windows client-server architecture with a relational database. Integrations with CAD or PLM tools, shop floor data collection, EDI and reporting are usually built through the product's available interfaces and database-level exchange, and many sites use third-party add-ons for areas such as quality, scheduling and document management. As part of the Infor portfolio it may sit alongside other Infor products, although many customers run it as a standalone ERP.
Modules and capabilities
Estimating and quoting
Build estimates from engineering structures, materials, operations and outside services, then convert them to orders.
Customer orders
Order entry, line items, pricing, shipping and invoicing linked to work orders.
Engineering and work orders
Per-order bills of material and routings, with revisions and engineering changes.
Shop floor control
Labour and material reporting against operations, with job costing against estimate.
Material planning
MRP-style planning of purchased and made items, with requirements tied to work orders.
Purchasing and receiving
Requisitions, purchase orders, receiving, and outside processing.
Inventory
Stock locations, lot or serial tracking and transactions.
Financials
General ledger, payables, receivables and cost accounting.
Integrations and data access
Database and reporting
Data is held in a relational database, and reporting tools are commonly used against it, subject to what the vendor supports for your version.
CAD and PLM
Part, BOM and routing data from CAD or PDM tools is typically imported through supplied interfaces, files or custom integration.
Shop floor data collection
Barcode and terminal-based data collection can post labour and material transactions to work orders.
EDI
Trading partner messages usually pass through a separate EDI translator that creates orders or reads invoices and shipments.
Add-on products
Third-party tools for scheduling, quality and document management are common in VISUAL estates.
Infor platform services
Where the customer uses other Infor products, platform services may provide some shared integration options, depending on version.
Strengths
- Estimating tied to work order costing suits custom and low-volume manufacturing well.
- Flexible per-order engineering structures instead of a rigid master BOM only.
- Right-sized for small and mid-sized shops compared with large enterprise suites.
- Focused on discrete manufacturing without much unused functionality.
- Established user community among job shops.
Limitations
- Architecture and user interface are older than newer cloud-native ERP products.
- Scalability and multi-site capability may be limited compared with larger suites.
- Modern API-based integration may be less straightforward than in newer products.
- Advanced scheduling, MES and quality often rely on add-ons.
- Future direction within the vendor portfolio should be confirmed before long-term commitments.
Where AI helps Infor VISUAL users
- - Estimate assistance: retrieving similar past jobs and actual costs to support quoting, with the estimator making the final call.
- - Natural-language questions over open work orders, due dates, margins and job cost variances from read-only data.
- - Reading drawings and customer purchase orders to prepare draft quote or order lines for review.
- - Shop floor exception summaries, such as late operations and material shortages, for supervisors.
- - Private retrieval over drawings, setup sheets and inspection records on locally hosted models.
Evaluating Infor VISUAL? Check these
- Run a real quote through the system, from estimate to order to completed work order and variance.
- Confirm supported deployment and the vendor roadmap for your version before choosing.
- Check how engineering changes affect open work orders and costs.
- List the add-ons you would need for scheduling, quality and document control.
- Test how your CAD or PDM data would load, including revisions.
- Compare with job-shop ERP products on estimating depth and shop floor data capture.
Common alternatives: ProShop ERP, Epicor Kinetic, JobBOSS2, Global Shop Solutions, DELMIAworks, Infor SyteLine.
Frequently asked questions
Is VISUAL the same as VISUAL Manufacturing?
Yes, in everyday use. The product originated with Lilly Software as VISUAL Manufacturing, and is now branded Infor VISUAL. Searches, job postings and user groups use all of these names for what is essentially the same product line.
Who is Infor VISUAL for?
It targets small to mid-sized discrete manufacturers, particularly job shops and make-to-order or engineer-to-order companies. Its estimating, flexible per-order engineering and work order costing are the main reasons shops choose it over simpler make-to-stock systems.
Can VISUAL integrate with CAD or other systems?
Yes, though the approach depends on version and tooling. Common routes include file imports for parts and bills of material, barcode data collection for shop floor transactions, and database-level reporting. Newer API-style integration may be more limited than in recent cloud ERP products.
How does VISUAL compare with SyteLine?
Both are Infor discrete manufacturing ERPs. VISUAL is generally positioned for smaller job shops with strong estimating, while SyteLine targets a broader mid-market with multi-site, MRP and configurator depth. The better fit depends on size, complexity and growth plans.
Can AI be used with VISUAL?
Yes. Typical uses are estimating assistance from historical jobs, read-only natural-language reporting, and document intake for purchase orders and drawings. Because integration options are more limited, a read-only data replica is a common starting point, with any write-back gated by human approval.
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