The manufacturing execution system (MES) is a solution that can be implemented in the production process to increase the efficiency and accuracy of the production itself.
Companies can benefit from this integration with product lifecycle management (PLM), supply chain management (SCM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) to transform production processes in terms of control and synchronization.
The MES has replaced paper manual operations to transmit information more quickly and improve decision-making. Key benefits include improved inventory, job monitoring and the ability to constantly monitor the efficiency of work centers, operators and equipment.
Considering the possible applications of the MES we can distinguish discrete manufacturing industries and process industries. The latter include chemicals, oil and gas, paper, food and beverages, etc. While discrete ones include the automotive, healthcare, aerospace and defense sectors.
The growth of manufacturing industries together with government policies to increase foreign direct investment for emerging nations accelerates the growth of the manufacturing production systems market and provides a promising future in this sector.
But let’s take a step back.
Data analysis, IoT and the cloud are technologies that characterize the fourth industrial revolution, providing manufacturers with a path towards smarter practices, which in turn provide the intelligence and visibility necessary to optimize their operational efficiency.
Industry 4.0 ultimately provides the right information at the right time and to the right people.
This leads to a higher degree of connectivity between the automation level and the production execution system. Even areas that may have been considered less important or too difficult to “connect” can get the right attention, which means a clear view of the entire production plan.
Manufacturers looking to improve their production performance should look for complete solutions that encompass a range of features. ERP – Enterprise resource planning – should provide production planning and materials management. The EAM – Enterprise asset management – operational insights on maintenance activities, in order to avoid potential production interruptions. While the machine’s intelligence and data analysis to drive continuous improvement is provided by the MES functionality.
With these three connected systems, you can access critical business information in real time and start painting a clearer picture of production operations.
Recognizing the value of these tools is an account, but actually deciding to reset the company’s work is another matter. The biggest obstacle to adoption is the cost and time perceived for migration from legacy systems and the digitization of manual processes. Yet, in the long run, the maintenance of status quo technologies can be expensive to producers, rather than investing and implementing advanced technologies.
If manufacturers use Industry 4.0 to its full potential, they will be able to improve collaboration outside their own plants and engage the broader supply chain – from raw material suppliers to distribution centers – to optimize their operations.