Infor LX
| Vendor | Infor |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | New York, NY, USA |
| Ownership | Infor (Koch Industries); acquired with SSA Global in 2006 |
| Deployment | On-premises on IBM i; partner hosting possible, no SaaS |
| Support status | Actively maintained on release 8.4.2; REST APIs and IBM i 7.6 support planned for 2026; no announced end of life (as of August 2026) |
| Target market | Existing BPCS/LX install base: process and mixed-mode manufacturers on IBM i |
| Industries | Food and beverage, consumer packaged goods, pharmaceuticals, general manufacturing |
| Pricing | Not published |
| Website | infor.com/products/lx |
The short version
Infor LX is an ERP system for process and discrete manufacturers running IBM i. It descends directly from BPCS, one of the most widely installed ERP products of the AS/400 era, and it still holds a loyal base in food and beverage, consumer packaged goods, and pharmaceutical plants. Infor maintains the product actively, but the pace is deliberately slow: development is concentrated on the current release, 8.4.2.
Where Infor LX comes from
BPCS, the Business Planning and Control System, came out of Chicago-based System Software Associates in the 1980s and grew into one of the best-selling ERP systems in the world during that platform's heyday. When SSA's assets moved to SSA Global, the code line continued under the LX name. Infor inherited it with the SSA Global acquisition in 2006.
Today LX is one of three IBM i ERPs at Infor, alongside XA and System21, and the three share a modernization track. REST APIs are expected in 2026, as is support for IBM i 7.6. Infor has said it will step from release 8.4.2 to 8.4.3 only if changes warrant a disruptive release, which tells you a good deal about how the product is managed.
Modules and capabilities
Mixed-mode manufacturing is the core, and the process side is where the depth sits: formula and recipe management, lot traceability, and quality functions run alongside MRP, scheduling, purchasing, inventory, order management, and financials. EDI is well established, a legacy of decades spent supplying large retailers. Browser access runs through System i Workspace. The planned REST APIs would open up integration scenarios that have historically required middleware.
Who buys it
Almost nobody new. The practical market is the install base: US and multinational manufacturers in food and beverage, CPG, life sciences, and general manufacturing that have run BPCS or LX for decades on IBM Power. These companies tend to value stability and traceability far above rapid feature change. When Infor sells into those industries today, it leads with a CloudSuite rather than LX.
Licensing, hosting, cost
LX is an on-premises IBM i product. Partner hosting is possible; a SaaS edition is not. Infor publishes no pricing, so existing customers budget around annual maintenance and periodic update projects, and any additional licenses or modules are quoted through Infor and its channel.
Where it wins, where it loses
This is a maintained legacy system, and both words matter. It gets functional enhancements, security updates, and platform commitments; it is not a strategic growth product, and Infor does not present it as one. For a stable process manufacturer on IBM i with working traceability and no pressing integration deadline, sitting on release 8.4.2 and taking the API and operating-system updates planned for 2026 is a defensible, low-risk position.
Anyone buying a first ERP, or planning a genuine generational change, should look elsewhere. Investment flows to the CloudSuites, and taking on an IBM i platform dependency in 2026 is a decision that needs a strong reason behind it. If an exit is on the cards, treat the data migration of decades of lot and formula history as a first-class workstream, not a phase-three task. The saving grace: no end of life has been announced, so the install base can plan instead of react.
What the Infor LX website looks like
Current view of the vendor homepage, captured by our editorial team.
