Today’s Common Myths related to Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
Many firms labor under a few assumptions about MES systems that are simply not true in today’s implementation of manufacturing execution systems. These assumptions may hold people and firms back from achieving measurable gains in their throughput, resource utilization and production efficiency. To help change the conversation on modern MES systems, like our MV2 product, we’ve addressed the reality to four of the more common MES myths.
1. Only a fraction of an MES is used on the shop floor… so it’s not really worth it.
An MES interacts with many applications already in place, coordinating the data; so there is overlap in functional areas (it is this overlap, which makes it paramount to choose the right MES). Due to this, you may not always fully utilize every aspect of your MES. It’s hard to put a metric that will fit for every sort of manufacturing operation, but the measurement of potential gains by using just a portion of an MES suite’s capability can be more than enough to justify the purchase of a system. Some see a Return on Investment in as little as a month following implementation! Areas where customers see productivity increases using MES systems include:
- highly efficient resource utilization – both machine and human
- regular (sometimes substantial) reduction in scrap
- far less worker time (up to 53%) soaked up with creating & managing paperwork.
2. The MES implementation process is long.
It is typical for many MES applications like our MV2 MES to be up and running on your shop floor by the 30-day mark. That means the system will have already begun helping cover your return on investment (ROI) within the first 1-2 months.
At ISE and Paper-Less, we also partner an integration consultant to help take firms through the implementation process. That means the process isn’t solely on the customer’s shoulders. Our highly experienced integration consultants help guide the process on-site to help guarantee a successful implementation in the shortest amount of time possible.
3. An MES is only needed for execution support, which we don’t need.
To do execution well, you need to know what has been occurring to make the best decisions for the future. With the manufacturing process, there’s a lot of data needed to make efficient judgements – much more than what we can maintain in our heads. The capability of an MES to collect and analyze data, and then derive insights immediately allows for better decision making, process coordination and maybe most importantly business agility.
4. It’s not worthwhile to implement, as MES are not cloud-ready like most other programs.
Many MES are cloud ready. Our MV2 manufacturing execution software can be run on the Azure cloud environment and others. It can also be run in a hybrid environment to help bridge the transition to the cloud or to fit with a firm’s data security strategies.
While these are some of the more common MES myths, communication among various manufacturing applications is at an all-time high, and MES programs are advancing every day. Don’t let old wisdom hold your firm back from better visibility and velocity! Contact us today to learn more about what modern MES systems, like our MV2 platform, can do for your production operations now.
