How Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) Optimizes Your Organization

What is MES

A manufacturing execution system (MES) is a system of information that brings insight to the manufacturing process utilizing incoming data from the factory floor. The system ensures the execution of the manufacturing operations is effective and efficient. The MES tracks and gathers real-time data data of the production life cycle, and depending on the operation, can begin from recipe management to delivery of finished goods. MES collects and tracks data regarding the product’s origin, traceability, performance, material work in progress (WIP), and various operational activities as they happen. Decision-makers can use this information to understand the flow of production on the factory floor to optimize their current production processes.

Five Benefits of MES Implementation

1. Improve Operational Efficiency

Access to real-time data is vital to optimizing throughput yield and improving overall equipment efficiency (OEE). The system collects production data in regards to availability, quality, and performance. This allows manufacturers to quickly and easily recognize deviations from performance thresholds and track root causes of operational issues. Managers can make decisions to better manage materials, machinery efficiency, energy, and people.

2. Production Scheduling and Planning

Manufacturers can utilize trend analysis to track machine status, delays in production, process improvements, and bottlenecks. Schedules help plan for efficient use of machines, materials, operators, and jobs. Real-time data reflects actual floor conditions, so managers can efficiently make adjustments and allocate resources accordingly.

3. Reduce downtime

Manufacturers can reduce unplanned downtimes with scheduled maintenance. With a reliable MES in place, managers and technicians can track optimal machine uptime and receive real-time alerts if production performance is below quality thresholds. MES allows operations to ensure quality by implementing predictive maintenance to notify operators before failures occur. Industry Software also integrates Statistical Process Control (SPC) capabilities to help further reduce failures and downtimes.

4. Minimize material and product inventory

MES gives you a clear overview of your resource utilization from ordering raw materials to the assembly of finished goods. The data shows you exactly where all raw materials were consumed during each production process. This improves the the accuracy of forecasting for raw materials and enables the use of materials more efficiently. Manufacturers can schedule and plan for the correct amount of inventory to meet production requirements and reduce costs.

5. Reduce cost

MES detects and identifies causes of losses in scheduling, availability, performance, and quality. This allows manufacturers to manage production issues associated with costs and correct them before they become bigger problems. For example, operators can gain insight on materials used to complete each job specification and ensure availability of parts without overstocking materials. Optimizing inventory and reducing waste is essential to reducing costs during production.

Enterprise Resource Planning Integration

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems provide data about supply chain and order management by highlighting cost variances between planned and actual production. By identifying and managing customer demands in real-time, manufacturers can optimize material planning and ordering and reduce WIP inventory. Integrating ERP and MES systems together allows organizations to improve operational efficiency and manage product adjustments in real-time.

Standardization of production planning and execution provides transparency of supply and demand and optimizes supply chain efficiency. Manufacturers can take advantage of demand forecasting and actual customers' sales by minimizing material inventory and maximizing production uptime, thus optimizing supply chain and production efficiency.

Connecting MES and ERP provides manufacturers insight to manage and track cost of material needed for planning and producing goods at high efficiency and quality to drive greater returns and meet customer needs.