Do you want to ensure your investment in a manufacturing execution system (MES) generates full benefits? If so, you’ll need to understand not only why it’s valuable and what characteristics to evaluate, but also how to set up the team to buy MES. Traditional software procurement processes are typically not adequate. The MES Buyer’s Guide explains each of those areas. Read it to structure a sound buying experience and enjoy a much higher likelihood of long-term success and maximum benefits from MES.
Please enjoy the summary* below. For the full research, please visit our sponsor Critical Manufacturing (registration required).
Table of Contents
- Executive Summary
- Why: Manufacturing is Your Business
- Why: MES and Other Digital Transformation Projects
- Why: Manufacturing Software Frameworks and Terms
- Why: Evidence of MES Value
- How: Ensure Resources and Education
- How: Ask Good Requirement Question
- How: Set Realistic Expectations for MES
- How: Learn-as-You-Go
- How: Take a Balanced Approach
- How: Engage in the Buying Process
- How: Crafting Business Case and ROI
- What: Buying Criteria
- What: Functional Requirements
- What: Architectural Requirements
- What: Vendor Requirements
- What: Implementation Decisions
- What: Special Considerations
- Recommendations
- References
- Acknowledgments
Executive Summary
MES is Strategic
MES has increased in importance with Industry 4.0 and Digital Transformation. Manufacturing data is central to the information flows that can optimize business success. Thus, manufacturers should regard buying MES as a strategic project. This decision is a cornerstone to enable digital continuity for production plus the rest of the enterprise.
Why this Guide
Each manufacturer needs to address arguments and misconceptions about MES. This guide offers ideas about three main areas where MES buying projects often go wrong. There is a section for each of these areas.
Why MES Matters
The first step is defining MES and explaining why it’s vital to the company’s success. Without some education, many manufacturing companies’ teams can’t agree on their needs and why they should invest in MES. This guide points to the role and benefits of MES in the manufacturing application landscape.
How to Buy MES
Organizing your team and the buying process for success may sound straightforward, but it is not. MES has many stakeholders and specific issues that are not common to other enterprise applications. Standard software procurement processes often fail to select the best MES for a manufacturer’s situation.
What to Consider
The third section focuses on what to evaluate when considering your MES options. Categories of criteria include product functionality, technical architecture, vendor, implementation, and special needs you may have.
Why: MES and Other Digital Transformation Projects
Plant Data is Central
MES is often a top priority among the many technology projects a company could undertake. That’s because plant floor data in context – across one or many plants – is vital to the entire business: finance, design, supply chain, quality, regulatory, and profitability. MES is uniquely designed to handle the diversity of data in production. No other system aims to do this.
Diverse Data
Manufacturing data comes in many formats, volumes, and frequencies, including relational database or structured data as well as unstructured documents. The plant also has tag, point, and time-series data from process, line, utility, and facility control systems.
With the advent of the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), more data is coming from the production process and equipment. All of this data is only valuable if you can put it in context and know what to do with it.
IT/OT Converges Here
One of the thorniest issues for Industry 4.0 has been harmonizing information technology (IT) with automation or operations technology (OT). Our research shows that nearly 40% of companies often have conflicting data between IT and OT systems.2 Modern MES is designed to bridge the gap, create better understanding, and ensure good performance.
Workforce Needs
The shortage of personnel to work in manufacturing, particularly in production operations, affects most manufacturers. MES is a way to provide workforce support in an environment with rapidly changing processes and often high turnover. MES can ideally support digital-native younger workers and those with vision issues, varying native languages, and others.
How: Take a Balanced Approach
Long-term Partner
Selecting MES is the start of a strategic, long-term partnership. It’s essential to treat it with the care and long-term vision you would have when choosing a life partner. The goal is to be empowered by this partnership. Ideally, both your company and the software provider will keep evolving the MES in the future. (See p. 20 for more on this.)
Tailorable Application
You want the benefits of standard commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) configured for your unique needs in an easily upgraded way. This means MES should not be a turnkey system, a pure DIY low-code toolkit, or a highly customized version of standard software. Seek out those touting configurability and composability.
Co-innovation
MES should be a collaborative and innovative venture. Leverage your team’s expertise in your unique processes and needs. Leverage the knowledge built into the software; it may streamline your processes.
Ask the MES and service providers’ opinions; they have many experiences. Often, the solution provider will have better ideas than you could imagine.
Change Management
MES is often part of a digital transformation, meaning you must expect and push for change. Yet you do want to leverage best practices and internal experts. Finding a balance between your current best practices and the best practices built into the software is crucial. You ideally learn from each other – and find a software partner who has proven that they listen to customers.
Recommendations
Buying for Long-term Success with MES
- MES is a foundation for manufacturing digital transformation and Industry 4.0. Treat it as a strategic move to buy and implement.
- Create a learning, collaborative, multi-discipline team to explore your options for MES to manage your production operation and its data.
- Be sure you and your team thoroughly understand MES, both what it is and does, and why it matters or how you expect it to meet your specific business needs.
- Leverage your team’s expertise on the process, challenges, and objectives. These are your requirements – what you need to do, not how.
- Take advantage of the vendor’s and implementation partners’ knowledge of software functionality and proven project methodologies.
- Do not prioritize one viewpoint over others; all are crucial to success.
- Evaluate not only the software functionality but also its architecture.
- Consider the software provider, partners, other implementation support, and any special needs you have.
- Buying MES should be a learning experience for all. Even with MES experience, it is best to use a “beginner’s mind” about how it will solve problems.
- To reap benefits across the business, invest in MES continually and expand how you use its data.
*This summary is an abbreviated version of the research and does not contain the full content. For the full research, please visit our sponsor Critical Manufacturing (registration required).
If you have difficulty obtaining a copy of the report, please contact us.