What Comprises a Manufacturing Execution System Anyway? : Plant execution software systems have many different scopes, forms, and formats and mean different things to different folks. Although plant execution software is used widely in a number of industries, they are rarely described similarly, and their functions are rarely identical. An execution system used at an electronics discrete manufacturing facility is similar only in concept to one used at a food processing plant, and these differ substantially from that used by a pharmaceutical or chemical manufacturer. Time and experience have led the most successful vendors to pursue a "narrow-and-deep" strategy, and to devote their software development to the industries they know best. Even still, the names given to the various components of the execution systems vary greatly among industries and even among companies within an industry—if not between plants within a company.
To add further confusion, official definitions of manufacturing execution systems (MES) differ as well. APICS Dictionary defines it as
[p]rograms and systems that participate in shop floor control, including product lifecycles (PLCs) and process control computers for direct and supervisory control of manufacturing equipment; process information systems that gather historical performance information, and then generate reports; graphical displays; and alarms that inform operations personnel what is going on in the plant currently and a very short history into the past. Quality control information is also gathered and a laboratory information management system (LIMS—applications used to manage the collection of samples, collection and formatting of test results, and the reporting of results by sample or product category, whereas these applications may be environmental-, medical- or research-focused) may be part of this configuration to tie process conditions to the quality data that are generated. Thereby, cause-and-effect relationships can be determined. The quality data at times affect the control parameters that are used to meet product specifications either dynamically or off line. [italics added]
Gartner's IT Glossary defines MES as a
computerized system that formalizes production methods and procedures within the manufacturing environment, providing online tools to execute work orders. The term is generally used to encompasses any manufacturing system not already classified in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) or open control system (OCS—a manufacturing system that is based on a set of commercially available, standards-based technologies, and that permits the open exchange of process data with plant systems and business systems throughout a manufacturing enterprise, whereas "Control" refers to process control for discrete, batch and continuous-process manufacturing, as well as computer numerical control [CNC] and other motion controls) categories. In the broadest definition, MESs include computerized maintenance management systems (CMMSs), LIMSs, shop floor controls (SFC—a system of computers and controllers used to schedule, dispatch and track the progress of work orders through manufacturing based on defined routings), statistical process control (SPC) systems, quality control (QC) systems, and specialized applications such as batch reporting and control. [italics added]
What these lengthy definitions illustrate is that it can be difficult to easily identify or define the full range of applications used on the plant floor, let alone determine what falls exclusively under MES. Moreover, vendors never hesitate to add to the confusion by using creative labeling to suggest difference.
To put MES into perspective, it can be defined both broadly and specifically. Broadly speaking, MES can be regarded as a collection of business processes that provide event-by-event, real time execution of planned production requirements. For example, it can calculate what and how much to produce, based on information from the enterprise planning level. From electronic production management systems to shop floor data capture, MES functions manage operations from point of order release to manufacturing, to point of product delivery to finished goods.
A narrow definition of MES is that it serves as a work order-driven, work-in-process (WIP) tracking system that manages and monitors production events and reporting activities. It captures "live" information about setups, run times, throughput, yields, etc., allowing managers to better measure constraints, identify bottlenecks, and get a better understanding of capacity. It closes the loop for production management and helps ensure production is followed as planned.
MES Today :Seen as a bridge from the plant floor to the rest of the enterprise, MES has become the principal means of delivering real time order status to the supply chain, for available-to-promise (ATP) processing, and for "closing the loop" with sophisticated enterprise and supply chain planning systems.
As a result, and despite the disparities surrounding MES systems, some similarities exist regarding its general functional scope. The functions and information collected in these systems can be categorized similarly. Overall, MESes try to bring pervasive computerization to plant floors in a systematic way by placing diverse functions on a single platform, including quality management, document management, and plant-floor dispatching. The components of these systems can, in principle, be divided into two categories: 1) core functions, which are directly associated with managing the production process and are included in most vendor packages; and 2) support functions, which are somewhat peripheral to the central order management process, and are only provided as options.
An MES tracks WIP through detailed product routing and tracking, labor reporting, resource and rework management, production measurement, and automated data collection (ADC). In other words, it acts as a collection point, clearinghouse, and translator for data that is needed on or is generated by the plant floor. See The Why of Data Collection for more information. It also offers exception management, which provides the ability to respond to unanticipated events that affect the production plan, such as a bill of materials (BOM) item shortage for a work order in process. Most systems include the ability to react to exceptions following rules that are typically plant-centric, and exception management generally requires some level of configuration or customization in order to meet local requirements.
These core functions are fulfilled through modules like Order Management, which can accumulate and manage work orders that have been received from the planning system, often through some planning system interface that defines what and how information is exchanged. It performs common tasks such as quantity changes to orders; combining or splitting orders; running short-term what-if analyses to determine best current resource use; and prioritizing, dispatching, and scheduling.
A Workstation/Work Centers Management module can implement a work order production plan, and assign workstation scheduling. It is also responsible for the logical configuration of each workstation. The availability of current resources and current scheduling requirements, by operation, are normally maintained here.
Additionally, the Inventory Tracking and Management function develops, stores, and maintains the details of each batch, lot, or unit of inventory of the WIP. The Material Movement Management module, then logically, schedules, and manages the movement of material, either manually or automatically. Through such modules, an MES application can deliver a proven, reasonably justified, closed-loop systems for highly complex manufacturing environments that have high product mix; real-time, event-driven conditional workflows; and heavy ADC requirements (such as for lot/serial tracking)..
As explained in The Challenges of Integrating Enterprise Resource Planning and Manufacturing Execution Systems, MES and ERP do overlap to some degree. However, no ERP vendor has natively built real time production monitoring, warehouse management, time and attendance capture, and quality management in its solution. Even Invensys, which once had the respective ERP and MES products of Baan, Marcam, Avantis, and Wonderware, was never able to deliver such a solution. See The Name and Ownership Change Roulette Wheel for Marcam Stops at SSA Global—Part Three: Last-Ditch Effort by Invensys and Integrated Solutions: Look Before You Leap.
Nonetheless, despite the ambiguity of the MES market, companies such as IQMS are still attempting to bridge ERP and MES. IQMS is a privately-held, relatively small developer of EnterpriseIQ, a well-attuned extended-ERP system for small and medium plastic processors and repetitive manufacturers. The solution might very well be unique in the entire enterprise applications arena, because it offers modules with peripheral MES functions, some of which have traits of both enterprise applications and plant-level systems. See the IQMS Prospers by Helping Enterprises Work Smarter series.
Peripheral MES Functions:What may be a critical flaw of the MES vendor community is its failure to clarify the function of MES. When a provider declares itself to be an MES vendor, often all it is really saying is that it is not an ERP, enterprise asset management (EAM), or open control software (OCS) vendor, which leaves the user to guess what functionality scope the vendor really provides. MESes come in all shapes and sizes and can have one or more of the components outlined above, depending on the industry and user company. For instance, a company might call a single module—such as a statistical process control (SPC) or a physical infrastructure management system (PIMS) package—an MES system. Others may offer a wide assortment of systems and collectively referred to them as an MES, but have no tie between the packages. Also, in some instances, core functions will generally be well integrated, but most of the support functions will not. For example, while more modern applications pay more attention to data integration issues, most current plant-level execution systems still consist of disparate components.
In an effort to give readers clarity about MES systems, we have compiled the following list of key MES functionality. These also illustrate the overlap that can occur between enterprise applications and plant-level systems:
CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) or EAM systems manage production equipment maintenance and repair-related issues, including predictive and preventative maintenance; work order and labor scheduling; procurement and storage of the repair parts inventory; and equipment-record maintenance. For more information, see EAM Versus CMMS: What's Right for Your Company?
Time and attendance/clock systems usually include clock-in/clock-out information and labor and employee skills data. In the case of IQMS, its optional IQ Time & Attendance module is a time clock system that eliminates the need for a third-party time clock system, which would normally be implemented by partnering with an ERP competitor, such as Kronos or Kaba Benzing. Such systems minimize the time required for labor data input. The product generates payroll timecards or an output file for external payroll systems (since native integration with the IQ Payroll module is currently available only in the US). It also generates more accurate job costing information by tracking labor to specific tasks. IQ Payroll links labor reporting to production reporting and job costing in the JobShopIQ, IQ Project manager, and IQ Preventive Maintenance modules. IQ Time & Attendance also supports visual shift scheduling and multiple login devices, such as keyboard, "swipe" readers, and biometric scanners.
Warehouse management systems (WMS) are primarily used for monitoring and managing outbound inventory activities. Supply chain execution (SCE) tasks, for example, can also include logistics and other transportation management data, and some systems are also capable of inbound raw or purchased material management. Product location information and order fulfillment instructions are two of many on-line functions. In the case of IQMS, its wireless IQ Warehouse Management System (WMS) module supports hand held scanners, personal digital assistants (PDA), and radio frequency (RF) technology, and will likely improve plant floor communications and lower the cost of inventory data collection. At the same time, allows on-line updates in almost real-time. The module handles a raft of inventory transactions such as receiving, manual adjustments, physical inventory, production entry/materials backflush, pick tickets, packing slips, etc. It can also access information from the IQ RealTime Production Monitoring system, including information on job setup, entered scrap, production reporting, printed labels, or downtime codes reports. Other systems include HighJump Software, a 3M company, which start as a shop floor data collection solution in the early 1980s and introduced its MES offering, Manufacturing Advantage, in early 20005. For more information, see ERP and WMS Co-Existence: When System Worlds Collide.
Statistical process control (SPC) is a quality control method that focuses on continuous process monitoring rather than the inspection of finished individual products—it has the ability to do capability calculations based on the data that users capture from the shop floor. For example, during the execution of the batch, the former Lighthammer CMS product (now part of SAP xApp Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence [SAP xMII]) can run a continuous analysis and generate a quality alert in the portal, based on an SPC rule violation. Clicking the alert generates a pop-up containing further details. This allows management to drill down one more level to get information from the shop floor. The alert can provide suggested actions, links to reference documents, drawings, and other information that will help management understand what caused the occurrence.
Statistical information, including detailed process variable trends and SPC charts with historical data, can also be found by clicking a highlighted SPC chart. One can see what the quality problem is and its possible origins based on data from the past shift or the past week. The SPC charts can then show users how the information is tracked, including past or present values from a particular shift or from the execution of the current batch. One can look at the specification and control limits, or look at the customer specification limits and inner control limits that may have been defined for this product. In addition, the comment capability allows users to make notes for each point in the chart. Users can capture information about the circumstances that caused the problem, and can see what corrective action was taken. Not only can users determine that there is a problem, but they can also ascertain the ability to fix a problem so its chances of re-occurring is diminished.
Quality management systems (QMS), such as EntepriseIQ from IQMS, may or may not be tied together with SPC or ISO 9000 quality standards, but whether standalone or combined, these packages are frequent components of the production process. The similar holds for laboratory information management systems (LIMS) and environmental safety and health systems (ES&H), which is a category of software applications that deals with regulatory compliance, such as the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements.
Process data/performance analysis or process information management systems (PIMS) that involve process data collection and management can be a standard package developed for specific applications, such as time/cost variance information or manufacturing process records.
Document management (DM) or product data management (PDM) systems can handle unstructured data, which can be used to create product drawings and process information, and supply data for plant-floor use. For more information, see Mainstream Enterprise Vendors Begin to Grasp Content Management.
There are many MES components, and this list is far from conclusive. However, IQMS does have many of these components, which may very well make it an appropriate measure for MES. Its IQ WebDirect, a Web-based trading partner self-service portal technology, helps achieve real time information. It tends to enhance supply chain communications, improve customer and supplier relations, and reduce customer and supplier service costs by allowing 24x7 access to data. The portal allows customers to add, edit, or change orders; check the order status; inventory availability; shipments; invoicing; vendor managed inventory (VMI) entry (based on flexible rules); and publish reports. On the other hand, suppliers can check purchase order information, inventory, receiving, invoicing, quality assurance (QA), genealogy, cash payments, and published reports.
User Recommendations:Ultimately, all major plant automation systems vendors have devised some form of software architecture to support, not only open integration, but a common approach to plant data and common services like alarming and trending. Additionally, traditional MES technology providers have been extending their systems to include improved support for a wider variety of functions, including QA, product lifecycle management (PLM), and supply chain collaboration.
In any case, prospective manufacturing system users should not be too concerned about buzzwords and acronyms, but rather define their requirements around the key manufacturing processes, such as "get-ready to" or "plan and prepare" production, production execution, information processing, information analysis, and action coordination. Enterprises should, to that end, thoroughly analyze their typical manufacturing scenarios, identify their information collection requirements, both on the production side and on the planning side, and evaluate whether these are things its existing enterprise system can handle.
Depending on the enterprise's style of manufacturing, deploying an MES or other plant-level systems might not be particularly beneficial. Namely, a predominantly manual-job shop with low product volume, might suffice with an ERP system which can deliver work instructions and provide a manual or "paper-on-glass" interface for shop floor personnel to enter job completion and quality status information.
But, traditional ERP systems cannot effectively handle high-speed, high-volume, and high-mix environments where data must be collected and coordinated with plant automation equipment. Enterprises that fall into this category, or enterprises that are in regulated industries where there is a greater need for tracking and tracing capabilities, or plants struggling with excessive scrap levels, poor machine/personnel utilization, or quality issues, might be good MES candidates, since an MES will give users better visibility into plant operations.
While MES systems typically involve more customization than their ERP counterparts, aspiring MES vendors should offer templates containing requirements of the prospect's industry, so that no one has to start from scratch to determine what type of functionality falls within the vendor's definition of MES. This should keep cost and risks down. Also, for enterprises that will likely grow and expand into mixed manufacturing environments, scalability remains an important issue, because it will help "future-proof" their MES investment. Such enterprises should select a product that covers a variety of manufacturing operations, from batch processing via repetitive discrete manufacturing to assembly-to-order (ATO).
To add further confusion, official definitions of manufacturing execution systems (MES) differ as well. APICS Dictionary defines it as
[p]rograms and systems that participate in shop floor control, including product lifecycles (PLCs) and process control computers for direct and supervisory control of manufacturing equipment; process information systems that gather historical performance information, and then generate reports; graphical displays; and alarms that inform operations personnel what is going on in the plant currently and a very short history into the past. Quality control information is also gathered and a laboratory information management system (LIMS—applications used to manage the collection of samples, collection and formatting of test results, and the reporting of results by sample or product category, whereas these applications may be environmental-, medical- or research-focused) may be part of this configuration to tie process conditions to the quality data that are generated. Thereby, cause-and-effect relationships can be determined. The quality data at times affect the control parameters that are used to meet product specifications either dynamically or off line. [italics added]
Gartner's IT Glossary defines MES as a
computerized system that formalizes production methods and procedures within the manufacturing environment, providing online tools to execute work orders. The term is generally used to encompasses any manufacturing system not already classified in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) or open control system (OCS—a manufacturing system that is based on a set of commercially available, standards-based technologies, and that permits the open exchange of process data with plant systems and business systems throughout a manufacturing enterprise, whereas "Control" refers to process control for discrete, batch and continuous-process manufacturing, as well as computer numerical control [CNC] and other motion controls) categories. In the broadest definition, MESs include computerized maintenance management systems (CMMSs), LIMSs, shop floor controls (SFC—a system of computers and controllers used to schedule, dispatch and track the progress of work orders through manufacturing based on defined routings), statistical process control (SPC) systems, quality control (QC) systems, and specialized applications such as batch reporting and control. [italics added]
What these lengthy definitions illustrate is that it can be difficult to easily identify or define the full range of applications used on the plant floor, let alone determine what falls exclusively under MES. Moreover, vendors never hesitate to add to the confusion by using creative labeling to suggest difference.
To put MES into perspective, it can be defined both broadly and specifically. Broadly speaking, MES can be regarded as a collection of business processes that provide event-by-event, real time execution of planned production requirements. For example, it can calculate what and how much to produce, based on information from the enterprise planning level. From electronic production management systems to shop floor data capture, MES functions manage operations from point of order release to manufacturing, to point of product delivery to finished goods.
A narrow definition of MES is that it serves as a work order-driven, work-in-process (WIP) tracking system that manages and monitors production events and reporting activities. It captures "live" information about setups, run times, throughput, yields, etc., allowing managers to better measure constraints, identify bottlenecks, and get a better understanding of capacity. It closes the loop for production management and helps ensure production is followed as planned.
MES Today :Seen as a bridge from the plant floor to the rest of the enterprise, MES has become the principal means of delivering real time order status to the supply chain, for available-to-promise (ATP) processing, and for "closing the loop" with sophisticated enterprise and supply chain planning systems.
As a result, and despite the disparities surrounding MES systems, some similarities exist regarding its general functional scope. The functions and information collected in these systems can be categorized similarly. Overall, MESes try to bring pervasive computerization to plant floors in a systematic way by placing diverse functions on a single platform, including quality management, document management, and plant-floor dispatching. The components of these systems can, in principle, be divided into two categories: 1) core functions, which are directly associated with managing the production process and are included in most vendor packages; and 2) support functions, which are somewhat peripheral to the central order management process, and are only provided as options.
An MES tracks WIP through detailed product routing and tracking, labor reporting, resource and rework management, production measurement, and automated data collection (ADC). In other words, it acts as a collection point, clearinghouse, and translator for data that is needed on or is generated by the plant floor. See The Why of Data Collection for more information. It also offers exception management, which provides the ability to respond to unanticipated events that affect the production plan, such as a bill of materials (BOM) item shortage for a work order in process. Most systems include the ability to react to exceptions following rules that are typically plant-centric, and exception management generally requires some level of configuration or customization in order to meet local requirements.
These core functions are fulfilled through modules like Order Management, which can accumulate and manage work orders that have been received from the planning system, often through some planning system interface that defines what and how information is exchanged. It performs common tasks such as quantity changes to orders; combining or splitting orders; running short-term what-if analyses to determine best current resource use; and prioritizing, dispatching, and scheduling.
A Workstation/Work Centers Management module can implement a work order production plan, and assign workstation scheduling. It is also responsible for the logical configuration of each workstation. The availability of current resources and current scheduling requirements, by operation, are normally maintained here.
Additionally, the Inventory Tracking and Management function develops, stores, and maintains the details of each batch, lot, or unit of inventory of the WIP. The Material Movement Management module, then logically, schedules, and manages the movement of material, either manually or automatically. Through such modules, an MES application can deliver a proven, reasonably justified, closed-loop systems for highly complex manufacturing environments that have high product mix; real-time, event-driven conditional workflows; and heavy ADC requirements (such as for lot/serial tracking)..
As explained in The Challenges of Integrating Enterprise Resource Planning and Manufacturing Execution Systems, MES and ERP do overlap to some degree. However, no ERP vendor has natively built real time production monitoring, warehouse management, time and attendance capture, and quality management in its solution. Even Invensys, which once had the respective ERP and MES products of Baan, Marcam, Avantis, and Wonderware, was never able to deliver such a solution. See The Name and Ownership Change Roulette Wheel for Marcam Stops at SSA Global—Part Three: Last-Ditch Effort by Invensys and Integrated Solutions: Look Before You Leap.
Nonetheless, despite the ambiguity of the MES market, companies such as IQMS are still attempting to bridge ERP and MES. IQMS is a privately-held, relatively small developer of EnterpriseIQ, a well-attuned extended-ERP system for small and medium plastic processors and repetitive manufacturers. The solution might very well be unique in the entire enterprise applications arena, because it offers modules with peripheral MES functions, some of which have traits of both enterprise applications and plant-level systems. See the IQMS Prospers by Helping Enterprises Work Smarter series.
Peripheral MES Functions:What may be a critical flaw of the MES vendor community is its failure to clarify the function of MES. When a provider declares itself to be an MES vendor, often all it is really saying is that it is not an ERP, enterprise asset management (EAM), or open control software (OCS) vendor, which leaves the user to guess what functionality scope the vendor really provides. MESes come in all shapes and sizes and can have one or more of the components outlined above, depending on the industry and user company. For instance, a company might call a single module—such as a statistical process control (SPC) or a physical infrastructure management system (PIMS) package—an MES system. Others may offer a wide assortment of systems and collectively referred to them as an MES, but have no tie between the packages. Also, in some instances, core functions will generally be well integrated, but most of the support functions will not. For example, while more modern applications pay more attention to data integration issues, most current plant-level execution systems still consist of disparate components.
In an effort to give readers clarity about MES systems, we have compiled the following list of key MES functionality. These also illustrate the overlap that can occur between enterprise applications and plant-level systems:
CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) or EAM systems manage production equipment maintenance and repair-related issues, including predictive and preventative maintenance; work order and labor scheduling; procurement and storage of the repair parts inventory; and equipment-record maintenance. For more information, see EAM Versus CMMS: What's Right for Your Company?
Time and attendance/clock systems usually include clock-in/clock-out information and labor and employee skills data. In the case of IQMS, its optional IQ Time & Attendance module is a time clock system that eliminates the need for a third-party time clock system, which would normally be implemented by partnering with an ERP competitor, such as Kronos or Kaba Benzing. Such systems minimize the time required for labor data input. The product generates payroll timecards or an output file for external payroll systems (since native integration with the IQ Payroll module is currently available only in the US). It also generates more accurate job costing information by tracking labor to specific tasks. IQ Payroll links labor reporting to production reporting and job costing in the JobShopIQ, IQ Project manager, and IQ Preventive Maintenance modules. IQ Time & Attendance also supports visual shift scheduling and multiple login devices, such as keyboard, "swipe" readers, and biometric scanners.
Warehouse management systems (WMS) are primarily used for monitoring and managing outbound inventory activities. Supply chain execution (SCE) tasks, for example, can also include logistics and other transportation management data, and some systems are also capable of inbound raw or purchased material management. Product location information and order fulfillment instructions are two of many on-line functions. In the case of IQMS, its wireless IQ Warehouse Management System (WMS) module supports hand held scanners, personal digital assistants (PDA), and radio frequency (RF) technology, and will likely improve plant floor communications and lower the cost of inventory data collection. At the same time, allows on-line updates in almost real-time. The module handles a raft of inventory transactions such as receiving, manual adjustments, physical inventory, production entry/materials backflush, pick tickets, packing slips, etc. It can also access information from the IQ RealTime Production Monitoring system, including information on job setup, entered scrap, production reporting, printed labels, or downtime codes reports. Other systems include HighJump Software, a 3M company, which start as a shop floor data collection solution in the early 1980s and introduced its MES offering, Manufacturing Advantage, in early 20005. For more information, see ERP and WMS Co-Existence: When System Worlds Collide.
Statistical process control (SPC) is a quality control method that focuses on continuous process monitoring rather than the inspection of finished individual products—it has the ability to do capability calculations based on the data that users capture from the shop floor. For example, during the execution of the batch, the former Lighthammer CMS product (now part of SAP xApp Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence [SAP xMII]) can run a continuous analysis and generate a quality alert in the portal, based on an SPC rule violation. Clicking the alert generates a pop-up containing further details. This allows management to drill down one more level to get information from the shop floor. The alert can provide suggested actions, links to reference documents, drawings, and other information that will help management understand what caused the occurrence.
Statistical information, including detailed process variable trends and SPC charts with historical data, can also be found by clicking a highlighted SPC chart. One can see what the quality problem is and its possible origins based on data from the past shift or the past week. The SPC charts can then show users how the information is tracked, including past or present values from a particular shift or from the execution of the current batch. One can look at the specification and control limits, or look at the customer specification limits and inner control limits that may have been defined for this product. In addition, the comment capability allows users to make notes for each point in the chart. Users can capture information about the circumstances that caused the problem, and can see what corrective action was taken. Not only can users determine that there is a problem, but they can also ascertain the ability to fix a problem so its chances of re-occurring is diminished.
Quality management systems (QMS), such as EntepriseIQ from IQMS, may or may not be tied together with SPC or ISO 9000 quality standards, but whether standalone or combined, these packages are frequent components of the production process. The similar holds for laboratory information management systems (LIMS) and environmental safety and health systems (ES&H), which is a category of software applications that deals with regulatory compliance, such as the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements.
Process data/performance analysis or process information management systems (PIMS) that involve process data collection and management can be a standard package developed for specific applications, such as time/cost variance information or manufacturing process records.
Document management (DM) or product data management (PDM) systems can handle unstructured data, which can be used to create product drawings and process information, and supply data for plant-floor use. For more information, see Mainstream Enterprise Vendors Begin to Grasp Content Management.
There are many MES components, and this list is far from conclusive. However, IQMS does have many of these components, which may very well make it an appropriate measure for MES. Its IQ WebDirect, a Web-based trading partner self-service portal technology, helps achieve real time information. It tends to enhance supply chain communications, improve customer and supplier relations, and reduce customer and supplier service costs by allowing 24x7 access to data. The portal allows customers to add, edit, or change orders; check the order status; inventory availability; shipments; invoicing; vendor managed inventory (VMI) entry (based on flexible rules); and publish reports. On the other hand, suppliers can check purchase order information, inventory, receiving, invoicing, quality assurance (QA), genealogy, cash payments, and published reports.
User Recommendations:Ultimately, all major plant automation systems vendors have devised some form of software architecture to support, not only open integration, but a common approach to plant data and common services like alarming and trending. Additionally, traditional MES technology providers have been extending their systems to include improved support for a wider variety of functions, including QA, product lifecycle management (PLM), and supply chain collaboration.
In any case, prospective manufacturing system users should not be too concerned about buzzwords and acronyms, but rather define their requirements around the key manufacturing processes, such as "get-ready to" or "plan and prepare" production, production execution, information processing, information analysis, and action coordination. Enterprises should, to that end, thoroughly analyze their typical manufacturing scenarios, identify their information collection requirements, both on the production side and on the planning side, and evaluate whether these are things its existing enterprise system can handle.
Depending on the enterprise's style of manufacturing, deploying an MES or other plant-level systems might not be particularly beneficial. Namely, a predominantly manual-job shop with low product volume, might suffice with an ERP system which can deliver work instructions and provide a manual or "paper-on-glass" interface for shop floor personnel to enter job completion and quality status information.
But, traditional ERP systems cannot effectively handle high-speed, high-volume, and high-mix environments where data must be collected and coordinated with plant automation equipment. Enterprises that fall into this category, or enterprises that are in regulated industries where there is a greater need for tracking and tracing capabilities, or plants struggling with excessive scrap levels, poor machine/personnel utilization, or quality issues, might be good MES candidates, since an MES will give users better visibility into plant operations.
While MES systems typically involve more customization than their ERP counterparts, aspiring MES vendors should offer templates containing requirements of the prospect's industry, so that no one has to start from scratch to determine what type of functionality falls within the vendor's definition of MES. This should keep cost and risks down. Also, for enterprises that will likely grow and expand into mixed manufacturing environments, scalability remains an important issue, because it will help "future-proof" their MES investment. Such enterprises should select a product that covers a variety of manufacturing operations, from batch processing via repetitive discrete manufacturing to assembly-to-order (ATO).
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