Can a discrete manufacturer get data from each tool, line, or piece of equipment into an MES and start using it in hours rather than weeks or months? PICO MES was founded to do that, and its Pico MES/IIoT software is now connected and in use at large, medium, and small manufacturers in automotive, aerospace, and other discrete industries.
Democratizing MES
Pico MES is unusual in the range of sizes of companies using it. Large OEMs with 100s of employees each shift use it, and very small companies with only a few dozen total employees are already using it, too. In 100-200-person automotive and aerospace suppliers, Pico MES can be the full plant floor technology stack. How Pico MES can scale from very small to huge stems from the architecture and the founders’ deep experience.
Telling a worker or machine what to do is central. Pico MES does this by authoring standard work, work instructions, and sequences. Process engineers do this easily using modern drag-and-drop workflows designed. The workflow builder is designed to handle both very simple and highly complex processes, such as nested assemblies. All data feeds into a unified model for context.
The resulting user interface works for both experienced and new workers. Using an opt-in strategy, the basics for anyone appear, and those needing more information can link to additional information or context, whether images or text.
Speedy Setup
Another element that helps Pico MES serve smaller companies is the speed and ease of connecting to equipment. Since many customers are high-volume, connecting to automation and equipment is crucial. Pico MES claims to have the most extensive library of no-code connections to assembly tools and machines on the market, with over 200 families pre-built. It is essentially a combination of MES with an IIoT platform.
Automation connections are quick and easy to set up. For example, to set up a torque tool, the manufacturer tells the software its IP address, name, header, configuration, how many of them they have, which one to use, where it is located, and whether it’s stationary or used at more than one station. Users can also add safety issues.
The system knows how to collect information and store it without coding. If it’s a new tool that’s never been used, it might take a while to get it connected to the network, but Pico MES says their side only takes five minutes. Based on what we saw, that seems feasible. They know how tools work and that logic works in the background without setup.
Pico MES also connects at the enterprise level to ERP and PLM, which is crucial as a best-of-breed software provider. With all its connectors and no-code workflows, this system can be the single information source for plant floor workers.
Speedy MES/IIoT Value
Part of the trick for achieving such rapid setup is that Pico MES is a hybrid deployment with a 3-edge architecture (station, factory, and cloud). This architecture with Pico MES running at the factory edge enhances security and resilience in the case of disconnection. The company also offers edge hardware. One edge Pico MES server per factory, plus as many Pico MES Hubs as needed, and the software can run effectively.
Pico MES automatically organizes and displays plant floor data in context. This is a foundation service of MES, but it often takes a long time to structure. In contrast, Pico MES’s unified data model does not need to be customized. Every system can grab all the data it needs from the model, which the founders’ expertise in both factory operations and software enabled them to build from the beginning.
Because of the fast setup, Pico MES offers instant improvement. Beyond the Hawthorne effect, when operators improve knowing they are observed, there’s also error-proofing. This is how they claim 10%-15% output improvements within the first 30 days of use. It also has built-in cycle time analytics to help understand where to focus on less stable processes.
Using Pico MES reduces training time and the potential for errors, which is common for MES. What is not so common is the statistic they cite that output increases 10-15% in the first 30 days. That rapid time to value is rare in the MES world!
Supply Chain Visibility
Pico MES is already a highly differentiated solution, but there’s more: it can also combine data sets in the cloud and provide supplier visibility for OEMs. Both buyers and suppliers benefit. The instantly available plant data enables a stronger set of data to move between suppliers and buyers instantly if they want.
Tracking and tracing can support higher quality, faster issue resolution, and more precise planning for all parties. Supplier-to-buyer visibility can help coordinate audits, planning, and logistics, track quality and scrap, and match parts to appropriate product uses based on their tolerances. Since 60% of a vehicle’s cost comes from supplied parts, the savings can be significant.
OEMs get more value the more of their suppliers make data visible in the cloud through the Pico MES. A Tier 1 supplier can often implement Pico MES for $25,000. Larger implementations have lower per-station setup costs.
Company Growth
Pico MES is venture-backed, and the supply chain opportunity has helped fuel that. Their investors include Momenta (which Rockwell Automation has invested in), Congruent, and industrials such as Schneider Electric and Bosch. Having these outside funds has helped Pico MES expand rapidly to meet customer needs.
We suspect another factor in their growth has been the founders’ coming from running lean operations, not just software companies. They have a fundamental belief that plant people are smart and know what they need to do; they only need tools designed for them to do it. With their background, they understand how to make the software intuitive and low-friction for engineers, supervisors, and operators.
What’s Next
Pico MES’s instant data model will also help gain value quickly from GenAI. Pico MES can train the model on its own real-world data and deploy it to customer factories with no risk of security breaches. It is partnering with Google Gemini to develop a market-ready approach.
Thank you, Ryan Kuhlenbeck and Joyce Yeung, for briefing Julie Fraser on Pico MES. We agree that people in the plants are smart and need simpler tools. Your vision for MES, IIoT, and supply chain capabilities is exciting. We look forward to hearing more of your customers’ successes and value as you expand in the market.
