What is MES?
Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) are software used in manufacturing operations to aid planning, execution and tracking of shop floor activities. Typically its the middle layer connecting the low level PLC/SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems, and the high level ERP.
How are Industry 4.0 and MES related?
MES plays a critical role in Industry 4.0 transformation, as it enables real-time connectivity between shop floor operations, sensor data from machines, ERPs and the larger connected -operations ecosystem in general.
What does a manufacturing execution system do?
While there are a variety of MES available with different needs being fulfilled by each, typical use cases are to:
- Manage definition of raw materials, semi finished and finished parts.
- Schedule machines, equipment and work centers for production
- Execute production orders
- Gain granular and up-to date track of work in progress
- Manage and track material inbound and dispatches
- In-depth analysis of production
- Plant maintenance, track downtime, and measure asset utilization
- Identify opportunity for Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) improvement
- Support product quality and traceability.
- Comply with the traceability and record keeping requirement in regulated industries