> Manufacturing

Execution
Systems
Everything you always wanted to
know but were afraid to ask
 Table of Contents
Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………... 3

The Origins of MES ………………………………………………………………….. 8

MES Models, Standards, and Definitions ……………………………... 11

Core Features of MES …………………………………………………………….. 17

MES Benefits …………………………………………………………………………... 22

Challenges of MES ………………………………………………………………….. 27

Choosing the right MES Vendor …………………………………………….. 33

Conclusions ……………………………………………………………………………... 38
 INTRODUCTION

anufacturing Execution System, or MES, is one of those terms everyone talks

M about, but it means a different thing to everyone. This guide seeks to demystify
MES once and for all.

Upon reading this guide, you’ll understand:

1. What is an MES
2. Why it is a confusing term
3. Attempts at standardizing its meaning and why they’ve largely failed
4. Common features and functionalities of MES solutions
5. MES benefits and shortcomings
6. How to select and MES vendor

Before you begin reading, we must warn you: MES is a pretty boring topic and this IS an
exhaustive guide, so before you begin make sure you’ve brewed a good pot of joe!

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With this in mind, we’ve written this guide so that you can skip sections and
go straight to the most relevant ones for you.

If after reading this you still have questions, please feel free to get in touch,
and we’ll do our best to answer the question and update this guide so it is
more comprehensive.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

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What the heck is a manufacturing execution system?
What the heck is a manufacturing execution system?

Manufacturing execution system, also known in the industry as MES, is software used in manufacturing to track and document the
transformation of raw materials into finished goods.

More specifically, MES manage, monitor, and synchronize the execution of real-time, physical processes involved in manufacturing
operations. To do so, they coordinate the flow of work orders with production scheduling and enterprise-level systems like ERP or
product lifecycle management (PLM) systems.

MES work in real-time to enable the control of multiple elements of the production process, such as inventory, personnel, machines,
and support services.

As such, they operate across multiple function areas, such as product definitions across the product life-cycle, resource scheduling,
order execution and dispatch, production analysis, downtime management, quality, and materials tracking and traceability.

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What the heck is a manufacturing execution system?

Manufacturers use the information provided by the MES to make better decisions, understand how the shop floor can be optimized,
and continuously improve their operations.

By using a MES to track and document production, manufacturers can create “as-built” records that capture the data, processes, and
output of the operations.

MES applications also provide feedback on process performance and they can support component and material-level traceability,
genealogy, and integration with process history where required.

This is useful for anyone trying to continuously improve their operations, but it can be particularly critical for highly regulated industries
such as pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, and aero-defense. In these industries documentation and proof of processes, events,
personnel, and actions may be legally required.

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What the heck is a manufacturing execution system?

That’s all there is to it.

If that’s all you wanted to learn, you can go and continue living your life!

However, if you want to understand why everyone seems to have a different definition of what an MES is,
then read on.

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 CHAPTER 1

The origins of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)

The origins of MES
MES, as a term, came after the underlying technology it describes was already in place.

In the early 1980s, manufacturing task areas such as production planning, personnel management, and quality assurance--which
are almost mutually independent--were equipped with dedicated data collection systems.*

At first, these data collection systems, such as labor time, Production Data Acquisition (PDA), Computer Aided Quality Assurance
(CAQ), Distributed or Direct Numerical Control (DNC) and so on, were highly specialized and independent of each other.

However, in the 1990s manufacturers of such systems started “combining” features from associated fields, giving rise to
“combination systems”. For example, logging staff work on a PDA and so on.

With the rise of these combination systems, it was possible to put together a data collection and evaluation system for many
functional areas of a manufacturing company.

*The content in this section draws heavily from Jurgen Kletti’s “Manufacturing Execution System - MES”, published by Springer. This is perhaps the ultimate book on
the subject.

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The origins of MES
Over the course of time, three groups of data collection and evaluation systems formed: Production, Personnel, and Quality.

However, as you know, in the real world production, personnel, and quality are deeply related activities which can’t really be
separated. As these three groups emerged, so did the demand for the systems to be tightly connected and horizontally integrated.

Doing this integration at the corporate level didn’t provide the data quickly enough to those running manufacturing operations--the
people who needed it most. They needed a system that tightly integrated data from production, personnel and quality systems..

The resulting system included quality assurance, document management, and performance analysis elements. This became what we
now know as a Manufacturing Execution System (MES).

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The rise of the MES buzzword

Before the buzzword was born, MES was just software This is because the features needed in a process-oriented
that promised to let manufacturers identify, evaluate, and operation are different from those in a discrete
react to production problems in real time--for the first time. manufacturing operation.

At first, these production systems were a mix of internally Likewise, the needs of a heavily regulated industry, such as
developed systems and specialized solutions developed by Pharma or Aerospace/Defense, are different from those of
third party vendors. less-regulated industries.

But as the industry realized the benefits of using software To meet the needs of each industry, vertical, and type of
to connect production and the enterprise, these systems manufacturing, specialized solutions developed, all trying
began to proliferate and with them the term MES. to capitalize on the MES buzzword.

Since the term came after the systems were already With the rise of these systems came the modern day
spreading, it has come to mean different things to different confusion about MES.
people, depending on their role, the industry they work in,
their MES vendor and other factors.

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 CHAPTER 2

Trying to standardize the MES definition

Trying to standardize the MES definition

If you’ve been in manufacturing long enough, you’ve probably We’ll now demystify these standards for once and for all so
come across standards such as MESA-11, ISA-95, the Purdue you can impress all your colleagues next time you find yourself
Reference model, and so on. discussing MES over lunch. (They may also come in handy to
put your kids to snooze.)
If you’re in IT, chances are you or one of your colleagues is very
passionate about one or all of these. So, why all the standards? The reason behind them is simple:
as more vendors started riding on the MES buzzword wave,
But if you are like the rest of us, all these terms just seem the term became increasingly diluted.
confusing and you wish there was an easy way to understand
them. MESA, ISA-95 and other standards came about as an attempt
from various organizations to standardize the MES definition.
If that’s the case, we got your back!

We’ll now demystify these standards for once and for all so
you can impress all your colleagues next time you find yourself
discussing MES over lunch. (They may also come in handy to
put your kids to snooze.)

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The MESA Model - defining MES by function

MESA, the Manufacturing Enterprise Solution Association, was created in the 1990s in order to advise on the
execution of MES systems and address their growing complexity.

Their model is perhaps the most widely used in the industry as it dates back to 1997, when MESA formally
defined the scope of MES through 11 core functions, called the MESA-11 model.

Though the actual model has gone several iterations over time, the one thing that has remained the same is
that in order for a system to be an MES, it must have all the functional groups, or a reasonable combination of
them.

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The MESA Model - defining MES by function

That is, MESA defines MES by function.

Its current version, from 2008, spans from production, to plant

operations, to business operations, and even to strategic
initiatives such as lean manufacturing, quality and regulatory
compliance, product lifecycle management, real-time
enterprise, asset performance management, and others.

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ISA-95 defining MES by system architecture In this way, the ISA-95 standard helps define boundaries between
systems. Intelligent devices, such as sensors, belong to Level 1.
In contrast to the MESA model, which is fundamentally a Control systems such as PLCs , DCS, OCS, belong to Level 2. MES,
business process model, the ISA-95 model is, in essence, an belong to Level 3. ERP to level 4.
information model.

ISA-95 was jointly developed by the International Society of

Automation (ISA), formerly known as the Instrumentation,
Systems, and Automation Society, and the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI).

The development of the ISA-95 standard began in 1995 when

computers began to penetrate manufacturing’s information
and control systems.

The ISA-95 model divides production systems into 5 levels,

based on the Purdue Enterprise Reference Architecture
(PERA) model.

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Other attempts to standardize MES
The MESA and ISA-95 models are perhaps the more widely known and used definitions of MES. However, there have been a few
other attempts worth discussing.

One is NAMUR, which was developed by a group of end users particularly involved in the process industry (chemical and pharma for
the most part).

The reason this is worth highlighting is that MES definitions might vary from industry to industry as the regulatory and operational
needs change between verticals.

For example, process verticals view MES as the machine and plant control systems, while discrete industries view the MES as more of
an online information system, a feedback and control system for production.

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 CHAPTER 3

Core Features of MES

Core Features of MES problems, it encourages rapid iteration, decentralized decision
making, smaller value delivered more often, and faster
We’ve seen that MES is a loaded term that means different response to change.
things to different people.

But putting all these standards aside, we can define an MES by

their most common feature areas.

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Dispatching Production Units Process Management

Dispatch work based on global instructions from the Managing the production process from order release to work in
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), adapted to meet resource process (WIP) to finished goods, including guided work steps
availability, schedule requirements and capacity. and work instructions.

Product Tracking and Genealogy Resource Allocation and Status

Track where each item is in the production process, along with Manage the allocation and status of resources including
the source, unique identification of parts and materials as well equipment, tools, materials and labor.
as the equipment and personnel involved in handling it.

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Data Collection and Storage Labor Management

Collect data from production including end users, databases, or Manage the people involved in operations, from staff work
equipment, and store it on databases or embedded historians. time logging to personnel qualifications and certifications to
labor scheduling and escalation management.

Quality Management

Integrate quality in the production process through in-process

quality monitoring, corrective and preventive action (CAPA),
verification and nonconformance workflows.

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Performance Analysis
Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs), perform So when evaluating if an MES is the right solution for your
advanced analytics and provide dashboard displays and company, make sure you identify all the use cases you want to
datasets for performance monitoring and reporting. tackle with the MES and check if the vendors you are
evaluating offer those features - just because some vendors
Of course, depending on who you ask, these core functions do, doesn’t mean they all will!
might vary slightly.

Gartner, for example, considers resource management,

manufacturing process management, operations intelligence,
and planning/scheduling, as “extended” MES functionalities.

The takeaway from this should be that just because a vendor

calls their software MES, doesn’t guarantee they’ll provide all
these features.

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 CHAPTER 4

MES Benefits
Benefits of Manufacturing Execution Systems

We’ve gone over the different definitions of an MES, and we’ve

seen the main features that characterize an MES.

If you’ve read this far, you might be wondering what are the
MES benefits or value drivers. Namely, why do manufacturing
companies adopt these systems.

The shortest answer to this question is what is sometimes

referred to as the 6R Rule of manufacturing: “A product will
not be created in the most economically efficient manner
unless the right resources are available at the right quantity
at the right place at the right time with the right quality and MES help meet the 6R rule of manufacturing. Below we go
with the right cost throughout the entire business process” into the most common value drivers of MES.

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 For example, production job progress tracking can help
Data Acquisition and Consolidation with inventory planning, production scheduling and
accurately inform customers when orders will be ready and
MES facilitate the acquisition and consolidation of data estimate labor cost for each job. Machine data collection
from systems such as production planning, personnel can help you estimate OEE, which can help you increase
management and quality systems, that were designed as machine utilization. Non-conformance management can
almost mutually exclusive and independent from each give you insights into root cause of quality defects, and so
other, but which in reality need to work closely together. on.
This ability to collect and consolidate data from different
task areas and make it available to the people running
operations was one of the first value drivers of MES, as we Reduce mistakes throughout your operations
saw above.
MES can help reduce human error throughout production.
Work instructions, for example, can provide audio-visual
Production Visibility for Better Decision Making guides to technicians performing work and help them
prevent mistakes. In-process quality verification can help
identify and fix quality issues before they move
MES can provide near real-time production visibility that
downstream. Personnel qualification management features
helps manufacturers make better decisions. This level of
can help ensure that only the right people with the right
visibility helps improve operations throughout value
skills perform certain jobs, to avoid safety and quality
streams.
issues.

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Increase Productivity with Better Data Paperless Factory

MES provide the right information to the right person at In a factory, any piece of metal that doesn’t have a data
the right time, which in turn helps increase productivity. record is usually regarded as scrap in accordance with
For example, if technicians have the right machine settings certification rules. This results in a high level of written
or the right machine program to run, they can run output, starting with preparation of the work order,
processes faster. If they have the right work instructions, printing hard copies of the job papers, work instructions,
they can speed up the production of a given widget. material issue slips, trial orders, routing cards and so on. In
general, the paper trail left by an order going through
production is considerable. In fact, it is estimated that the
printing costs for manufacturing alone are around 5% of
Increase Machine Utilization and Uptime sales volume (source: MES - Springer). Adopting an MES
can help companies digitize all these slips and achieve
MES can collect machine data to help manufacturers paperless production.
determine their true levels of utilization. They can also
improve machine utilization by ensuring the right tools and
resources are available in production, and that machines
are set up, run and maintained accordingly and their tools
calibrated in a timely manner.

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Improving the information flow between Orchestrate communication between smart
stakeholders machinery

Beyond the printing and paper costs, there is the risk of As the shop floor is taken over by digital machines, IoT
not having up-to-date information in production. Using the enabled sensors, and other technologies, there is an
case of work instructions, for example, there is increasing need to manage the communication between all
considerable organizational and administrative overhead of these systems. Though most MES systems were
involved in preparing, updating, distributing and managing conceived before the age of cloud and IoT, they are
the documents. With an MES, at least you can tell which increasingly trying to fill this gap (albeit with various levels
work instruction is the latest one. Furthermore, other of success).
systems such as ERP don’t post information quickly
enough to be able to control production. With an MES, you
can improve communications between production and
enterprise level management.

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 CHAPTER 5

Challenges of MES
Challenges of Manufacturing Execution Systems

As we’ve seen, MES are largely beneficial to manufacturing operations. They help increase productivity, reduce quality issues and gain
visibility to make your operations more efficient.

However, MES are not perfect. Like all systems, they have important drawbacks. Some can be avoided by choosing the right vendor,
but others are simply part of the way the systems work.

Below we go over the main drawbacks of MES:

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Implementing an MES is a slow process MES are rigid, so they can be hard and expensive to
customize
Since the MES is such an all-encompassing system,
implementing it is usually a major undertaking that needs to MES are rigid systems with narrow, clearly defined
balance the interests of stakeholders from across the company. features and system architectures. Unless you are adopting
Given the high licensing costs associated with MES and the a custom-built MES, which can be very expensive and
many stakeholders that will be using it, even the most agile even slower to implement, you will need to customize an
manufacturers will need to spend months scoping their MES off-the-shelf solution. This is difficult, time-consuming, and
needs, evaluating vendors, and drafting POCs, and then expensive. Custom-built MES configurations based on
several more months implementing the systems in their MES tool kits can run high ratios of license-to-service
production, customizing it, etc. These timelines imply that time dollars, often upwards of 1:5. That means for every
to value will be on the months-to-years timeframe. In fact, $10,000 spent on licenses, you may actually be spending
according to Gartner, average implementation time for an MES $50,000 in services.
is 15-16 months.

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Unless you’re getting a custom built MES, you’ll need The rigid nature of MES makes it difficult to change
to change your workflows to fit the MES systems as your operational needs change

Given the rigid nature of MES architectures, it is often easier to Modern factories need to be flexible in order to adapt to
change your operations to fit the MES rather than change the changes in the market, customer demand and continuously
MES to fit your operational needs. Of course, this has a cost. improve. However, due to their rigid architecture, MES can
Not only do you have to change your operations, but you may slow down the rate of improvement because they need to
also end up with processes that are not necessarily the best be customized in order to fit the new processes. This can
for your operations simply because your MES doesn’t support cause MES to fall behind the needs of operations. In fact,
other alternatives. Adopting subpar processes can have according to Gartner, one of the top 5 reasons why
long-term costs that far exceed the benefits of the manufacturers change MES is because their vendors aren’t
manufacturing execution system altogether. flexible enough to adapt to current needs of the business.

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MESs are built for IT, not the shop floor personnel MES isn’t moving with the pace of technology

Even though the MES is used by production personnel, the The industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and cloud
system itself is built for IT to own, deploy, customize and computing are among the most promising new
manage. This means that unless you have a background in technologies in manufacturing. However, MES was
software development, you won’t be able to customize it to fit conceived prior to these new technologies, so most MES
your needs. The problem with this is that the people closer to providers are lagging behind incorporating these on their
operations--those who understand the needs of production solutions. In fact, Gartner estimates that only 50% of MES
better than anyone else--cannot contribute to the solutions will include industrial IoT (IIoT)! Furthermore,
improvement of the MES. Furthermore, it introduces tribal most MES were built as on-premise solutions. Though
knowledge within IT and can cause business discontinuity some vendors are starting to offer cloud based solutions,
problems if IT staff leaves. they are well behind other solutions or industries in this
regard. According to Gartner, one of the top 5 reasons why
manufacturers switch MES systems is because the legacy
MES was technically obsolete and didn’t offer features
needed by the company.

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MES have a blindspot for human data MES pricing is prohibitive for small and medium
manufacturers
It’s estimated that human errors account for around 22% of MES usually have large upfront investments with recurring
what goes wrong in a factory; poor training for 15%; and maintenance fees. These, coupled with slow time-to-value,
equipment and material problems for 19%. Unfortunately, MES result in long payback periods which make MES
aren’t necessarily the best system to deal with these issues. inaccessible for small and medium sized manufacturers.
Even though you can attach work instructions to MES work Furthermore, even if you are a large manufacturer and can
orders and keep track of training certifications, creating afford an MES, manufacturers have reported changes in
detailed, IoT enabled work instructions isn’t the primary goal of the licensing structure that cause extensive unplanned
the system, so you’ll likely need additional software to costs over time. According to the Gartner study we
complement it. mentioned above, one of the top five reasons
manufacturers change MES is because of financial benefits
offered by new systems.

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 Chapter 6

Choosing the right MES vendor

Choosing the right MES vendor

According to Gartner, the MES market is largely mature with almost 80% of the revenues coming from North America and Europe. In
these regions, the MES market is largely a replacement market.

Though leading vendors continue to add new capabilities to their MES, the core functionalists have remained mostly the same for the
past 20 years and many are lagging behind on implementing new technologies such as cloud and IoT.

The top reasons why manufacturers seek to replace their MES are, according to a joint study by Gartner and MESA are:

1. Existing MES is technically obsolete

2. Existing MES doesn't offer functionality needed by the company
3. New MES offers financial benefits
4. Changes in company’s business made older MES no longer fit the company’s needs
5. Legacy MES was not flexible enough to adapt to current needs of the business

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Function Specific Applications Custom-built MES

Some manufacturers are avoiding MES altogether and opting A custom-built MES solution is designed to accommodate
for function-specific applications. For example, manufacturers specific operational processes. The coding and
only looking for quality modules on an MES, are increasingly functionality of a custom MES solution can be catered to
adopting enterprise quality management system instead. unique industry needs. These solutions can offer
Similarly, manufacturers looking for MES with good work manufacturers the most tailored features to their needs,
instructions features, might choose a software vendor that but are quite expensive to build and maintain.
specializes in that instead.

Either way, when evaluating MES alternatives, manufacturers

can choose between function-specific applications, customized
MES, commercial off-the-shelf MES or a home-grown MES.

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Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) MES

Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) MES are ready-made systems refined to a level of compliance and best practice that is not typically
achievable with a custom solution. The licensure and maintenance costs of a COTS MES solution are also significantly lower in
comparison to customized MES, which is why most companies opt for them. When selecting commercial off-the-shelf solutions, bear
in kind there are 4 kind of vendors:

1. ERP Vendors: These vendors offer broad portfolios of solutions across application categories, such as manufacturing
resource planning (MRP), human capital management, customer relationship management (CRM), PLM and/or
supply-chain management. Examples of these vendors are Epicor Software, IQMS, Oracle, Plex and SAP.
2. PLM Vendors: They offer portfolios of applications across the product life-cycle, such as product design, product
simulation, and quality. Dessault Systemes and Siemens are examples of this kind of vendor.
3. Automation Vendors: These vendors sell MES in addition to SCADA/DCS applications. ABB, Aveva, Emerson, GE
Digital, Honeywell Connected Plant and Rockwell Automation all are automation vendors with MES offerings.
4. Pure-play MES vendors: These vendors have a specific focus on MES, either as a stand-alone company or as a
software division of an industrial company. Forcam, Applied Materials, Nomuda, PSI Metals are among the vendors in
this category, with a dedicated manufacturing software focus

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DIY MES

Finally, you can opt to build your own MES. This DIY route used to be the preferred one at the dawn of MES. In fact, many of today’s
vendors started as home grown solutions that were later commercialized. However, in recent years there has been a resurgence in
the DIY route.

According to Gartner, there are several reasons manufacturers choose to pursue a Do-It-Yourself MES.

First, the total cost of ownership of custom built or off-the-shelf MES is high. Second, the implementation complexity is high as well,
averaging 15 to 16 months. Lastly, the emergence and growing popularity of Manufacturing App Platforms such as Tulip now let
manufacturers extend their existing MES or build their own systems from scratch more quickly and cheaply than ever before.

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 Chapter 7

Conclusions
Conclusions

In this guide, we’ve gone through the history of MES, the evolution of the term, the various attempts at standardizing its definition,
the benefits of adopting the technology and the common pitfalls of MES.

We’ve seen how MES have changed manufacturing and how new solutions such as function-specific applications and manufacturing
apps are starting to emerge as alternatives to shop floor software.

Though the future of MES is unclear, one thing remains certain - as long as the functions required to manage manufacturing
operations continue to exist, systems like MES will continue to have a place in shop floors around the world.

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Tulip, the Manufacturing App Platform, is empowering the world’s leading manufacturers
to improve the productivity of their teams, the quality of their output, and the efficiency of
their operations. With Tulip’s no-code platform, manufacturers can empower those
closest to operations to digitally transform their shop floors and gain real-time visibility
into the people, machines and processes involved in production--all in a matter of days.

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