Pricing
contact sales
Best For
Aerospace and defense manufacturers with complex project manufacturing
Rating
7.2/10
Last Updated
Mar 2026
TL;DR
Infor LN is built for the most complex discrete manufacturing scenarios — think aerospace contractors, defense suppliers, and heavy industrial equipment builders. It handles multi-level BOMs, project manufacturing, and after-sales service better than almost anything else. Not for the faint of heart or small of budget.
What is Infor LN?
Built for Manufacturing Complexity
When your bill of materials has 15 levels and 3,000 components, most ERPs choke. Infor LN doesn't. This is an ERP designed from the ground up for complex discrete manufacturing — the kind where a single product takes months to build, involves hundreds of suppliers, and must meet military-grade quality standards.
LN traces its roots to Baan, the Dutch ERP company that once competed head-to-head with SAP in the manufacturing space. Infor acquired the product and has steadily modernized it while preserving the deep manufacturing DNA that made Baan famous.
Manufacturing Depth That Matters
Project manufacturing is where LN truly differentiates. You can manage an entire product lifecycle from engineering change orders through production, assembly, testing, and delivery — all within a single project structure. Earned value management tracks schedule and cost performance against baselines. This is functionality that aerospace and defense companies need and rarely find outside SAP.
Multi-level BOM management handles configured products with thousands of components. Engineering change management propagates revisions across all affected orders automatically. Serial number tracking follows individual units from production through 30 years of after-sales service.
The after-sales service module deserves special mention. For companies selling capital equipment worth $500K-$50M per unit, managing warranties, service contracts, spare parts, and field service is as important as manufacturing. LN handles this entire lifecycle natively.
Who Should Consider LN?
Aerospace and defense contractors. Automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. Industrial machinery manufacturers. Shipbuilders. Companies where the phrase "complex discrete manufacturing" actually describes their daily reality.
Does your company make standard products in high volume? LN is probably overkill. You'd be better served by Epicor Kinetic or even Infor's own SyteLine product. LN's strength — and its complexity — comes from handling engineer-to-order and configure-to-order scenarios where no two products are identical.
The Reality Check
LN implementations are not for beginners. Plan 12-24 months and $500K-$3M. The system requires skilled consultants who understand both the software and your manufacturing processes. The consultant pool is smaller than SAP's, which can drive up implementation costs and extend timelines.
The cloud version (Infor CloudSuite Aerospace & Defense) runs on AWS and includes the standard Infor OS platform. But many LN customers still run on-premise due to security requirements in defense and government contracting. Infor supports both models.
Subscription pricing typically runs $250-500 per user per month. On-premise licensing is negotiated based on user count and modules.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Handles multi-level BOMs with thousands of components that would overwhelm other ERPs
- Project manufacturing and earned value management rival SAP for aerospace and defense
- After-sales service module manages warranties and spare parts across 30-year product lifecycles
- Engineering change management propagates revisions automatically across all affected orders
- Deep heritage from Baan — over 30 years of complex manufacturing expertise
Cons
- Implementation costs of $500K-$3M and timelines of 12-24 months are significant barriers
- Smaller consultant pool than SAP drives up implementation costs and limits options
- Overkill for standard high-volume manufacturing — too complex for simpler operations
- User interface has improved but still carries legacy complexity in deeper modules
- On-premise to cloud migration is complicated for defense contractors with security requirements
Who is Infor LN Best For?
- Aerospace and defense manufacturers with complex project manufacturing
- Automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers managing multi-level BOMs
- Industrial equipment companies needing after-sales service lifecycle management
- Engineer-to-order manufacturers where no two products are identical
Technical Details
The Bottom Line
Infor LN scores 7.2/10. It stands out for handles multi-level boms with thousands of components that would overwhelm other erps. Best suited for aerospace and defense manufacturers with complex project manufacturing. Keep in mind that implementation costs of $500k-$3m and timelines of 12-24 months are significant barriers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Based on editorial analysis
