Manufacturing execution systems (MES) are computerized systems used in manufacturing to track and document the transformation of raw materials to finished goods. MES provides information that helps manufacturing decision-makers understand how current conditions on the plant floor can be optimized to improve production output.[1] MES works as real-time monitoring system to enable the control of multiple elements of the production process (e.g. inputs, personnel, machines and support services).
MES may operate across multiple function areas, for example management of product definitions across the product life-cycle, resource scheduling, order execution and dispatch, production analysis and downtime management for overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), product quality, or materials track and trace.[2] MES creates the "as-built" record, capturing the data, processes and outcomes of the manufacturing process. This can be especially important in regulated industries, such as food and beverage or pharmaceutical, where documentation and proof of processes, events and actions may be required.
The idea of MES might be seen as an intermediate step between, on the one hand, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, and a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) or process control system on the other; although historically, exact boundaries have fluctuated. Industry groups such as MESA International - Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association - were created in the early 1990s to address the complexity, and advise on the execution of MES Systems.
Manufacturing Execution Systems, known as MES are software programs created to oversee and enhance production operations. They play a role, in boosting efficiency resolving production line issues swiftly and ensuring transparency by collecting and analyzing real time data.
MES systems effectively manage production resources like materials, labor, equipment and processes. Their features include tracking production, quality management work order handling, inventory control, data analysis and reporting. These capabilities empower businesses to streamline their production processes
These systems often integrate with ERP systems to align the companys business operations with its production activities. This integration fosters information flow across departments enhancing efficiency and productivity. Organizations, like MESA International provide guidance in implementing and advancing MES systems to help companies navigate the intricacies of manufacturing operations.[3]
"Manufacturing Execution Systems [help] create flawless manufacturing processes and provide real-time feedback of requirement changes",[4] and provide information at a single source.[5] Other benefits from a successful MES implementation might include:
A wide variety of systems arose using collected data for a dedicated purpose. Further development of these systems during the 1990s introduced overlap in functionality. Then the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association International (MESA) introduced some structure by defining 11 functions that set the scope of MES. In 2000, the ANSI/ISA-95 standard merged this model with the Purdue Reference Model (PRM).[7]
A functional hierarchy was defined in which MES were situated at Level 3 between ERP at Level 4 and process control at Levels 0, 1, 2. With the publication of the third part of the standard in 2005, activities in Level 3 were divided over four main operations: production, quality, logistics and maintenance.
Between 2005 and 2013, additional or revised parts of the ANSI/ISA-95 standard defined the architecture of an MES into more detail, covering how to internally distribute functionality and what information to exchange internally as well as externally.
Over the years, international standards and models have refined the scope of such systems in terms of activities. These typically include:.
MES integrates with ISA-95 (previous Purdue Reference Model, “95”) with multiple relationships.
The collection of systems acting on the ISA-95 Level 3 can be called manufacturing operations management systems (MOMS). Apart from an MES, there are typically laboratory information management system (LIMS), warehouse management system (WMS) and computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). From the MES point of view possible information flows are:
Examples of systems acting on ISA-95 Level 4 are product lifecycle management (PLM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), human resource management (HRM), and process development execution system (PDES). From the MES point of view, possible information flows are:
In many cases, middleware enterprise application integration (EAI) systems are being used to exchange transaction messages between MES and Level 4 systems. A common data definition, B2MML, has been defined within the ISA-95 standard to link MES systems to these Level 4 systems.
Systems acting on ISA-95 Level 2 are supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), programmable logic controllers (PLC), distributed control systems (DCS) and building automation systems (BAS). Information flows between MES and these process control systems are roughly similar:
Most MES systems include connectivity as part of their product offering. Direct communication of plant floor equipment data is established by connecting to the PLC. Often, plant floor data is first collected and diagnosed for real-time control in a DCS or SCADA system. In this case, the MES systems connect to these Level 2 systems for exchanging plant floor data.
Until recently, the industry standard for plant floor connectivity has been OLE for Process Control (OPC), but it is now moving to OPC Unified Architecture (OPC-UA); meaning that OPC-UA compatible systems will not necessarily run only on Microsoft Windows environment, but will also be able to run on Linux or other embedded systems, decreasing the cost of SCADA systems, and rendering them more open with robust security.