Manufacturing Execution Systems for Process Industries

The Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) for Process Industries Market Research Study delivers current market analysis plus a five year market and technology forecast. The study is available in multiple editions including worldwide, all regions, and most major countries.

Need for Digital Transformation Drives Growth in the Manufacturing Execution Systems for Process Market

Today’s manufacturing execution systems (MES) are key enablers for digital transformation in manufacturing. With the pandemic, the need to access data and information globally became paramount to make faster data-based decisions and improve production performance. Despite the pandemic, ARC is seeing growth in the MES for the process industries, led by the need for global collaboration and intelligence, increasing Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) investments, and end user demand for process intelligence and productivity. MES is strategic to data intelligence and efficient manufacturing. New digital technologies including AI, digital twins, augmented and virtual reality, and new low code/no code platforms are disruptive to manufacturing and are being used with the newer generation MES solutions that are more secure and enable connectivity and enterprise- wide collaboration for today’s enterprise-wide digitally driven manufacturing.

Manufacturing Execution Systems Market Strategic Issues

In addition to providing a five-year market forecast, the MES for the Process Industry Research provides detailed quantitative current market data and addresses key strategic issues as follows.

Consider New SaaS Subscription and Remote Services

Users should look for suppliers with newer subscription services that enable them to keep the software up to date and pay for usage from operating expense budgets. Even for their on-premise or hosted applications, some end users are switching to subscription services to reduce costs. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many suppliers offer software to support additional remote services and SMEs to help workers remotely with on-site maintenance and operations. End users switched to remote services and suppliers added features to accommodate this. Post the pandemic, more users will expand their use of Cloud services.

Invest in UX

User experience is more important than ever. Companies need to rely on data and make data-driven decisions. Investing in new architectures, databases, and platforms to become more data driven and to meet the needs of the new worker generation with a user experience puts them at the center. And this begins with a top-down data-driven culture that embraces the information that is already available in the data they are collecting. Buyers should eliminate data silos, encourage collaboration, and combine different data types and data sources, whether on-premise or in Cloud deployments.

Make data more accessible in dashboards or reports that enhance the user experience and enable users the ability to make sense of the data and digital thread.  Use software and applications that enable remote workers and helps make operational data-driven decisions faster and is scalable to accommodate large volumes of data regardless of applications or where it is stored. For example, there are some newer technologies that can access data regardless of where they are stored–on-premise, in the Edge, in the Cloud, etc.

Remember to Consider ROI, and other Operational Metrics that Measure Value

While most users evaluate ROI using a proof of concept (POC) pilot or use similar projects or other solutions for justification, it is important to work with suppliers who may be able to help estimate ROI using tools that they have developed, based on similar applications. When initiating an MES project, most companies focus on how to justify the capital expense of the solution and try to measure value using examples of similar applications or from a POC. ROI measurement tools and value analyzers can help determine accurate “as is” operational situations and the data can be used to calculate expected or “to be” ROI.

Many of the ROI, utilization, productivity, etc., estimates are based on supplier experience and use cases for similar types of applications. Other suppliers offer services, including Audit or Maturity Assessments, that include stakeholder interviews and analysis evaluating and leveraging actual data and benchmarking the MES applications. Others include modeling capabilities for products, processes, resources, etc., and performance capabilities for production, quality, warehousing, traceability, logistics, etc.

Other companies have models and simulate processes and products. Using this methodology, they evaluate different applications, categorize them into different levels of maturity, and identify key areas of opportunities and potential benefits and may also do “what-if” analysis for various options. When maintenance and overall TCO are added in, the value usually increases. MES implementation and data connectivity can often be a time-consuming bottleneck, especially if the manufacturer has a lot of legacy equipment and many home-grown applications. When connectivity capabilities are built into newer generation MES systems, they can help save as much as 30 percent in implementation costs compared with traditional legacy MES implementations.

ABB, Aptean, AspenTech, AVEVA, Dassault Systmes, Epicor, General Electric, Honeywell, MPDV, Parsec, Siemens, OSIsoft, Yokogawa and others offer ROI services and processes to help customers measure and understand improvement opportunities, calculate potential value, and identify where to start. Other suppliers work with consulting partners to provide project ROI based on specific applications or actual use cases and industry benchmarks that demonstrate value. Some suppliers will provide services to dive deeply into operational value drivers. These can help customers develop an ROI for their project.