Manufacturing Execution Systems for Discrete Industries Selection

This Selection Guide is designed to help automotive, aerospace, and other companies with discrete manufacturing operations to evaluate and select the best possible Manufacturing Execution System (MES) to meet their specific needs.

Manufacturing Execution Systems Continue to Adapt for More Collaborative Autonomous Manufacturing with Newer Digital Transformation Features

Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) software is a key technology for digital transformation, smart manufacturing, IT/OT integration and enables companies to overcome production challenges such as frequent demand changes and reducing costs. Modern MES solutions can rapidly adapt to new innovative processes and business practices. AI and operator advisors are also enabling workers with tools that can help optimize processes. ARC is seeing many applications and capabilities that vary by industry, location and supplier. While modular MES lite has gained traction, so to are Enterprise MES/MOM deployments. Most of the technologies have enhanced the user experience with more intuitive capabilities that enable distinct roles, responsibilities or personas. Today, this is particularly important, as manufacturers need to personalize digital dashboards to accommodate different skillsets. MES/MOM enables the ability to flexibly adapt to production changes that enable users to meet demand and remain competitive. Being able to collaborate across the enterprise and quickly access the right information at the right time can greatly improve efficiencies and reduce production costs; another reason that MES and manufacturing will be more autonomous in the future.

Process complexity and digital transformation are making it necessary for MES to support end-to-end operations and manufacturing from raw materials to the warehouse. We live in a world where more and more devices and things are connected, and this requires interoperability, ease of use, and human-factored user experience. Digital transformation, Industry 4.0, and MES are all about manufacturing efficiency—how quickly one can make production changes, enforce standards, and how quickly one can understand the process and get the information to the right user at the right time, and how quickly and securely one can take actionable insights. Speed, performance, flexibility, optimization, cybersecurity, accessibility, and context are important because users need to react quickly. Autonomous data collection and other capabilities (auto-recognize, auto-maintenance, etc.) are helping to increase speed to deploy and maintain MES. Virtual reality and digital twins are being integrated for process innovation. Intuitive user experience is being designed into MES so that users can collaborate better across the enterprise.

Digital technologies, and in particular MES/MOM are transforming the way companies do business and are essential for increasing productivity and sustainability. Highly automated, connected, and autonomous factories that integrate AI will support the digital thread, intelligence, and collaboration throughout the global enterprise and supply chain for game-changing value. To compete in a data-driven industrial environment, manufacturers must look for solutions that automatically collect production data and provide tools and information that allow them to make actionable data-based decisions and ultimately improve efficiency, and drive innovation. New low code/no code platforms with containers and microservices and other automated features will support faster deployment and require less customization.

Manufacturing Execution Systems for Discrete Selection Strategies

Invest in Newer SaaS Subscription(s) and Remote Services

Users will continue to expand their use of cloud services and should look for suppliers with newer subscription services that enable them to keep the software up to date and pay for usage from capital expense (CapEx) budgets to operating expense (OpEx) budgets. Many end users are switching to subscription services to reduce costs, even for their on-premise or hosted applications. Many suppliers have been increasing their offering of software support services with additional remote services and remote SMEs to help workers with on-site maintenance and operations.

Support for On-premise, Edge, Cloud, Data Hubs and Data Lakes for Real-time Data and Industrial IoT

Options for deployment should be flexible and include on-premise, edge, cloud, and data lakes. Data hubs and data governance, data contextualization and data models, are also becoming more important. Start to investigate and deploy Industrial IoT applications along with more traditional MES applications for process decision-making. Start migrating applications to the edge or cloud where it makes sense to use a hybrid approach.

Although some critical data will continue to remain on-site, buyers must take the time to understand information needs and what applications, reports, recipes and data should be moved to the cloud. The ultimate use of the application and data must be considered. In some cases, it may be necessary to add new sensors or equipment and applications to the process to obtain the information needed for better business intelligence and outcomes. New MES platforms can make deployment, implementation, and user experience easier and more secure. When implementing industrial MES solutions, often it is best to start with a pilot and, based on the success, create a roll-out plan across the enterprise.

Begin the digital transformation and MES deployment using newer robust industrial MES Platforms designed for real-time data. Newer platforms are more secure, enable regulatory compliance, and support different types of data sources, systems, and MES applications to be combined with traditional real-time historical data.

Enhance User Experience with Personas

User experience and user interface are more important than ever due to skill set shortages. MES applications should be personalized for the worker’s role and experience. Modern MES user interfaces should be more intuitive and easier to use than previous generation systems, and the digital dashboards should deliver information and visualization that is specific to the product being made and the role of the person making decisions. Newer auto capabilities (e.g., auto deployment, auto recognize, auto updates, auto maintenance, etc.) should enable the user with simpler, easier to use, visualize tools. The software and applications should enable remote workers and help make operational data-driven decisions faster and is scalable to accommodate large volumes of data regardless of where the applications are stored–on-premise, in the cloud, or on the edge. Personalized software should make data more accessible and easier to understand and use in dashboards or reports that enhance the user experience and enable users the ability to make sense of the data and digital thread.