Coordinate and Synchronize People, Processes, Equipment, Tooling and Materials on a Global Scale with an Enterprise Manufacturing Execution System

Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) are IT-enabled systems that provide solutions for improving and optimizing the manufacturing process for the production floor engineers and managers. MES provides a solution as to how the current conditions of the shop floor are altered to generate greater output at a minimal cost. MES provides the middle layer between the ERP system and the process control system.

Virtual-to-Physical Manufacturing

How an enterprise leverages technology to manage and optimize the processes occurring at the shop floor level is critical to reaping the full benefits and value offered by the Industry 4.0 concept. Digital Manufacturing requires a well-defined methodology for managing manufacturing operations and data coming off the plant floor. With the cost of raw materials on the rise, a highly competitive global market, and increasing regulatory compliance concerns, companies that want to succeed need to cut waste, increase quality, and monitor production processes while still increasing throughput. Together, a comprehensive Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) strategy and toolkit can enable all of the above. Continuing along our Digital Thread for Industry 4.0, Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) finally take us out of the virtual world of manufacturing design and onto the factory floor. Our product has been designed and validated with the Digital Twin, and manufacturing planning has defined the optimal way for it to be produced in the plant. Now, it is time to execute production.

The Manufacturing Challenges

To remain competitive and profitable in today’s market, every manufacturing organization must improve product quality, reduce production costs and minimize lead time to deliver the product, all while consistently meeting quality standards. To do this, they must operate better and faster. But how can a manufacturing enterprise efficiently and cost-effectively monitor, optimize and synchronize all the moving parts and real-time activities going on in the production plant?

Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)

The solution is a Manufacturing Execution System (MES). Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) is the foundation of an integrated, connected Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) environment. An MES is an automated control system designed to manage and monitor all the work-in-process (WIP) on a factory floor. The goal of an MES is to improve productivity and reduce cycle times by optimizing and synchronizing real-time production activities and often across globally distributed plants.

An MES keeps track of all manufacturing information in real-time, receiving up-to-the-minute data from robots, machine monitors, and employees. An MES also tracks and traces defects and non-conformances throughout the production process, defining the issue, when it occurred, why it occurred, and what it occurred against (e.g. operation, material, tool, etc.). Once the defect or non-conformance has been identified, different actions can be taken by supervisors (e.g. to scrap, to rework, to replace, or to continue the process).

An MES manages all material inventory, production orders, and work instructions automatically. When materials are received, they are entered into the MES. When a work order is issued and sent to the shop floor, materials consumed in the execution of that work order are automatically removed from inventory. Plant managers can see the remaining materials in inventory in real-time.

An MES allows a production order to be sent out along with all the related work instructions to the operators on the shop floor. The real-time status of the work order is available for plant managers to monitor progress and ensure that production is on schedule. At the end of the day, reports can be generated to see overall production results and analytics for Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), machine utilization, machine availability, etc.

Features of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)

Leveraging a global network of leading software partners, Engineering’s team of specialists designs and deploys standard and customized MES solutions to both process and discrete manufacturing customers. While the needs of each are slightly different, most successful manufacturing execution solutions provide automation of

Functionalities including:

Core

    • Material and Production Tracking
    • Material Handling and Production Procedures
    • Resource management and allocation
    • Production Dispatching

Data Collection

    • Extensions
    • Compliance
    • Quality Assurance
    • Performance Analysis
    • Detail Scheduling
    • Document Management
    • Labor Management
    • Communication Layer between Other legacy Systems

Others

    • Production order scheduling and optimization
    • Work order management
    • Production order execution
    • Production process status and monitoring in real-time
    • Machine data collection and performance monitoring
    • Inventory level monitoring in real time
    • Material genealogy (tracking & tracing)
    • Quality management and control
    • Real-time production data collection
    • Tools for KPI & OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) analytics, reporting, and dashboards
    • Integration with Electronic Work Instructions (EWI) to support operators in order to execution
    • Integration with PLM and ERP systems to facilitate accurate data exchange and enable revision control

Benefits of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)

  • Manufacturing execution solution that provides management visibility into live production information.
  • Manufacturing provides real-time execution information to plant personnel for managing critical manufacturing variables such as yield, throughput, order status, and machine status.
  • Manufacturing makes this live production information available, allowing it to be freely shared among manufacturing, enterprise planning and logistics, product management, partners, and customers.
  • Manufacturing can record and compile information relating to the Resources themselves. This information includes availability, data collection, and setup instructions.
  • This level of data provides a basis for determining utilization and equipment efficiencies.
  • The term Maintenance refers to adjustments, calibrations, change of parts/ consumables, repairs, preventive maintenance, and similar activities carried out on designated resources/machines/equipment.
  • Achieve paperless shop floor
  • Improve product quality
  • Reduce scrap and waste
  • Get rid of just-in-case inventory
  • Minimize lead time
  • Reduce “fire drill costs”
  • Optimize shop floor activities in real time
  • Maximize asset utilization and reduce machine downtimes
  • Make more informed decisions about production
  • Improve throughput
  • Synchronize production processes in the plant and/or across the global enterprise

Solutions Offered

We provide the following customized MES products/packages to address functionality-specific requirements.

Production

  • MES consulting
  • MES implementation and upgrade
  • MES platform harmonization
  • Process optimization and automation

Performance

  • Time and cost management
  • Failure analysis
  • Downtime and yield loss analysis
  • Compliance management

Quality

  • Standard operating procedure
  • Six sigma
  • Metric management
  • Component quality certification

Engineering Offerings

support thumbnail
Support & Maintenance
DevOps Thumbnail
Enterprise DevOps
application engineering thumbnail
Application Engineering
product design development thumbnail
Product Design & Development
product strategy thumbnail
Product Strategy
manufacturing service thumbnail
Manufacturing Execution System
PLM Service Thumbnail
PLM Services

Request for services

Find out more about how we can help your organization navigate it’s next. Let us know your areas of interest so that we can serve you better.

GET IN TOUCH