Virtual-to-Physical Manufacturing
How an enterprise leverages technology to manage and
optimize the processes occurring at the shop floor
level is critical to reaping the full benefits and
value offered by the Industry 4.0 concept. Digital
Manufacturing requires a well-defined methodology
for managing manufacturing operations and data
coming off the plant floor. With the cost of raw
materials on the rise, a highly competitive global
market, and increasing regulatory compliance
concerns, companies that want to succeed need to cut
waste, increase quality, and monitor production
processes while still increasing throughput.
Together, a comprehensive Manufacturing Operations
Management (MOM) strategy and toolkit can enable all
of the above. Continuing along our Digital Thread
for Industry 4.0, Manufacturing Execution Systems
(MES) finally take us out of the virtual world of
manufacturing design and onto the factory floor. Our
product has been designed and validated with the
Digital Twin, and manufacturing planning has defined
the optimal way for it to be produced in the plant.
Now, it is time to execute production.
The Manufacturing Challenges
To remain competitive and profitable in today’s
market, every manufacturing organization must
improve product quality, reduce production costs and
minimize lead time to deliver the product, all while
consistently meeting quality standards. To do this,
they must operate better and faster. But how can a
manufacturing enterprise efficiently and
cost-effectively monitor, optimize and synchronize
all the moving parts and real-time activities going
on in the production plant?
Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
The solution is a Manufacturing Execution System
(MES). Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) is the
foundation of an integrated, connected Manufacturing
Operations Management (MOM) environment. An MES is
an automated control system designed to manage and
monitor all the work-in-process (WIP) on a factory
floor. The goal of an MES is to improve productivity
and reduce cycle times by optimizing and
synchronizing real-time production activities and
often across globally distributed plants.
An MES keeps track of all manufacturing information
in real-time, receiving up-to-the-minute data from
robots, machine monitors, and employees. An MES also
tracks and traces defects and non-conformances
throughout the production process, defining the
issue, when it occurred, why it occurred, and what
it occurred against (e.g. operation, material, tool,
etc.). Once the defect or non-conformance has been
identified, different actions can be taken by
supervisors (e.g. to scrap, to rework, to replace,
or to continue the process).
An MES manages all material inventory, production
orders, and work instructions automatically. When
materials are received, they are entered into the
MES. When a work order is issued and sent to the
shop floor, materials consumed in the execution of
that work order are automatically removed from
inventory. Plant managers can see the remaining
materials in inventory in real-time.
An MES allows a production order to be sent out
along with all the related work instructions to the
operators on the shop floor. The real-time status of
the work order is available for plant managers to
monitor progress and ensure that production is on
schedule. At the end of the day, reports can be
generated to see overall production results and
analytics for Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such
as Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), machine
utilization, machine availability, etc.
Features of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
Leveraging a global network of leading software
partners, Engineering’s team of specialists designs
and deploys standard and customized MES solutions to
both process and discrete manufacturing customers.
While the needs of each are slightly different, most
successful manufacturing execution solutions provide
automation of
