Almost every smart manufacturing, Industry 4.0, and digital project in the twenty-first century relies on a manufacturing execution system (MES).
Since it is a cornerstone of the fourth industrial revolution, a manufacturing execution system (MES) is the foundation for almost every smart manufacturing, Industry 4.0, and digital transformation project. It also provides improved security.
The MES, like the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), allows for a wide range of capabilities, from data collection and analytics to ERP interfaces and manufacturing applications.
Order management, production management, line scheduling, quality management, material management, recipe management, performance monitoring, corporate manufacturing intelligence, as well as rich descriptive and diagnostic analytics are just a few of the manufacturing applications included in the system.
How to Use MES to Your Advantage
However, in order for an MES to be highly successful, it must possess a number of distinct qualities that provide significant capabilities and value. Inquire about these critical aspects as you evaluate various MES options to see if the MES can provide you with the foundation for intelligent manufacturing.
Database for the MES
A highly efficient MES must start with a robust database to collect all necessary information from the shop floor.
From the receiving dock to the shipping dock, every piece of data connected to manufacturing processes inside the four walls of a plant necessitates a database entry.
Materials, suppliers, customers, procedures, equipment, labor, quality, maintenance, deviations, incidents, and everything else that happens during the manufacturing process are all factors to consider.
The database must also be structured in such a way that it can hold a diverse set of data. Some of the data will be time-series data collected on a regular basis from industrial operations.
Don’t overlook the historical aspect.
In order to handle time-series data in the MES database, you must include a historical component. To access shop floor data quickly, the MES database must have an object-based relational database for the event and transactional data.
A data lake or warehouse component must also be included in the MES database, which allows for historical data and a wide range of analyses using a star schema. The entire MES system is an IoT triumph.
The functionality of the MES Database Properties
The execution section of an MES must include orders, production, consumption, scheduling, quality, materials, and recipes. It must, however, have ERP integration capabilities built-in. You’ll need connectivity with other information systems, as well as the ability to use the IIoT to connect automation and control systems.
Monitoring the manufacturing process and the performance of the farm
In the form of real-time dashboards and other displays, an MES should also provide enterprise manufacturing information and performance monitoring. It must have real-time and historical analytics in the form of descriptive and diagnostic analytics. It’s all part of the bigger picture of the metaverse.
Scalability
MES should scale up to sites with hundreds of employees or down to those with just a few for businesses with multiple locations. However, there should be no disparity in capabilities since even the most minor facilities need a complete solution.
A highly successful MES must operate in a wide range of physical architectures.
As a result, the days of systems being housed within the manufacturing facility are long gone. The IIoT could perform its duties on-site.
In the meantime, the MES is hosted in the cloud. Different sections of the MES and separate parts of a database may reside in different cloud regions in reality. Transactions, dashboards, and analytics from MES applications could be made available to various employees across the global organization.
Configurable
A bespoke MES solution, as well as a toolkit, are not viable options. This system must be adaptable, with pre-built apps and application templates. It should be easy to personalize.
Almost every aspect of the MES system must be adaptable. This includes screens, apps, dashboards, reports, analytics, and more. There should be no custom code in an MES system, only customizable out-of-the-box apps and application templates.
The flexibility of the MES
In an intelligent manufacturing and Industry 4.0 environment, manufacturing facilities are constantly changing.
Moving or adding equipment on a regular basis. You can change or introduce processes, for example. These changes must be easily handled by the MES. MES is flexible enough to handle these types of changes on a regular basis. Whether it’s changed to the plant model, database model, individual apps, dashboards, or analytics, this is the case.
In the past, designers configured MES systems to work in specific ways and for specific industries.
Although certain industries (for example, the pharmaceutical industry) have unique requirements, a highly successful MES must go beyond this paradigm. In Industry 4.0, manufacturing companies must adapt alternative manufacturing processes.
Almost everything is moving toward hybrid production, which blurs the traditional lines between process or batch manufacturing and discrete manufacturing. Flexibility will be the most important moving forward for most businesses using various methodologies.
Conclusion
To be effective as an Industry 4.0 solution, your MES must be comprehensive, delivering a complete set of tasks while being scalable down to the smallest facility.
The system must be capable of handling all manufacturing tasks while also allowing for cross-platform configuration. It must have significant capabilities and advantages while also being extremely adaptable to the ever-changing production environment.
Finally, your MES must support a wide range of cloud-based distributed architectures. As a result, the MES provides a solid foundation for future growth.
Ask prospective vendors if they can deliver these characteristics for you to determine if a system is a highly effective MES.
The MES is the fourth industrial revolution’s cornerstone. Furthermore, it serves as the foundation for nearly all smart manufacturing, Industry 4.0, and digital transformation projects.
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