Manufacturing Execution Software

A manufacturing execution system could be the solution to all of your company’s production problems, but how can you know for sure? By understanding the system’s basic functions, of course.

Production companies use manufacturing execution systems (MES’s) to track raw materials through the factory pipeline to their finalized state. If used properly, an MES can reduce waste, provide a more accurate reflection of cost, increase uptime, and reduce the need for “just-in-case inventory”. Here are 5 things everyone should know about manufacturing execution systems:

Management of Product Definitions

An experienced floor manager knows that even the slightest change in material can completely alter the finished state of a product. One ounce too much of Material X or one ounce too little of Material Y can produce enough change in a product to cause defect—which, at the end of the day, is money out of your pocket.

Manufacturing execution systems take the guesswork off of your hands by actively tracking the components that form your product. These systems allow you to assign hard numbers to your manufacturing pipelines, ultimately reducing waste and saving money.

Adequate Production Resource Assessment 

As mentioned above, an MES can define the exact amount of material it takes to build a product, therefore creating a firm product definition and upholding product integrity. The other half to creating firm product definitions is knowing exactly what production resources you have on hand. This includes everything from accounting for physical materials to knowing the amount of machines in service or the availability of manpower that is needed to complete a product, start to finish.

An MES, combined with an APS (Advanced Planning and Scheduling) system, has the ability to realistically foresee product completion dates based 100% on the resources you have at your dispense. Is an employee taking a weeklong holiday? Maybe one of your machines is down for the week and awaiting repair? Plug this data into your MES/APS and see how this will affect your production speed and deliveries.

Manufacturing Systems Integration

Alone, manufacturing execution systems often have the ability to schedule production processes, but at an “infinite capacity” level, and therefore technically can operate as stand-alone scheduling software. However, they tend to work better when used in conjunction with other manufacturing processing software—such as an APS so that finite constraints can also be reflected for more accurate and optimized scheduling.

An APS determines the production schedule as a collection of work orders to meet the production requirements, typically received from enterprise resource planning (ERP), which in turn assists in making prime use of resources on hand.

Production Performance Analysis

Once a product has begun to make its way through the factory pipeline, an MES has the ability create reports based on the current status of production. Works-in-progress, production performance of a past period, and all other types of performance indicators can be tracked through a manufacturing execution system.

Keeping Track of Production Data

When a product has finally exited the manufacturing line, an MES keeps track of all of the data collected on that product and stores it for future reference. Not only will an MES provide you with an organized, digitized log of your product data, but it will also be able to pool that data for future reporting. Whether it be for internal or external purposes, you will have current, up-to-date data on the speed of your factory’s processes—which ultimately translates into money in (or out) of your pocket.

Manufacturing execution systems, combined with APS systems, can be incredibly useful for any factory manager looking to up production time and speed. Adequate managing of resources, scheduling of production, and tracking of products will allow any company to increase production and reduce waste in a both skillful and calculated manner.