The Manufacturing Execution System or MES, is a computer system that manages and controls the productive function of the company.
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Its purpose is to manage production in an optimized manner and enable efficient execution through:
- Acquiring real-time information from machines, people and other information systems;
- Interconnecting all stakeholders and controlling the flow of information between them;
- Providing both real-time and historical data to guide decisions and thus plant operations.
MES is in the middle of two known and established application layers, represented by:
- Management Systems (ERP), which manage business processes, typically operating with a time resolution of shift order or production day;
- Automation systems, which directly manage production assets (machines and lines) and physically govern the flow of production with response times ranging from the millisecond (PLC) to the minute (HMI and SCADA).
MES therefore bridges the functional and temporal gap that exists between these two levels, while at the same time acting as a "bridge", focusing on production execution and enabling decisions to be made while a work order is in progress.
Adopting MES, the customer can avoid the loss of visibility on the status of an order during the time that elapses between its issuance through the management system (ERP) and the moment in which the production provides the final data (which often occurs through transcription on electronic sheets or even paper).
It is clear that MES is a system that is highly integrated with activities and processes, so it is essential not only to know how to choose the right platform but also to have access to integration skills and experience that can ensure the interoperability of the system with the machines and plants in the field.
The types of scenario managed by MES are:
- How a product is to be made.At what point is the processing of an order.
- Giving indications if the lines are used efficiently and in particular :
- Provide indication of what "slows down" production.
- Provide elements to understand where waste occurs.
- Measure whether the product complies with quality requirements.
- Provide indications on the real level of stock.
- Report cases of non-conformity of a product and in particular :
- What processing has been done and when it was done.
- What is the exact origin of the raw materials.
- Ensure, through the production records, the automatic alignment of the management system.
The typical functionalities of MES:
- Management of product definitions: through direct management, or exchange with other systems, of article master data, bills of materials, recipes, operating procedures;
- Sending of production orders.
- Execution and progress of the production order.
- Collection of production data the acquisition and storage of process variables, information on equipment, article and lot data;
- Analysis of production performance.
Other capabilities that can be implemented are:
- Quality management;
- Warehouse management;
- Energy monitoring;
- Maintenance management.
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