MES, Monitoring for What?

Decades ago, the implementation of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems marked a significant milestone for many large and medium-sized companies. These systems were perceived as all-powerful, not only for data processing in finance, sales, purchasing, or technical department but also for effectively planning and scheduling production. For a considerable period, companies relied on ERP systems for their production scheduling needs, with many still using them today. However, this reliance on ERP systems for production scheduling highlights a fundamental gap in understanding the intricacies of production processes and the limitations of such systems in finite capacity scheduling.

Recognizing the inherent limitations of ERP systems, organizations began implementing MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) approximately 20 years ago. The primary focus of MES was to enhance transparency, monitoring, and other crucial functions such as sending order information to production resources and production feedback to ERP system. However, despite these advancements manufacturing companies have made with software support, production scheduling has not received the attention it truly deserves.

Many MES vendors offer what can best be described as pseudo-scheduling tools that provide basic drag-and-drop functionality for manual assignment of production orders to various resources. These tools, often referred to as “planning boards,” lack the necessary algorithms to perform essential functions. They fail to address critical requirements such as:

• consistent scheduling with minimal stagnation and lead times
• simultaneous consideration of capacity availabilities of main and several necessary sub-resources
• criteria-based selection and prioritization of alternative resources,
• incorporation of process rules and restrictions (including parallel, merging, and branching processes)
• optimization based on setup-time matrix
• etc.

It is important to recognize that these pseudo-APS (Advanced Planning and Scheduling)-tools fall short in meeting these requirements. The functionalities they lack are precisely what dedicated, or “real” APS systems are designed to address. Planning and scheduling lie at the core of an entire organization, spanning departments such as sales, order processing, design, purchasing, material logistics, production, assembly, dispatching, maintenance, and quality control. All these departments rely on a well-defined schedule to execute their operations effectively. Without a realistic and synchronized schedule that accounts for production processes, monitoring alone becomes futile. Without the presence of right and wrong, goals and delays, the purpose of these monitoring systems becomes questionable.

Regrettably, even in the present day, APS remains the missing link between ERP systems and MES, leading to a staggering 99% reliance on manual scheduling. This stark reality highlights the vast gap between current manufacturing practices and the ideal state of a true lean production system.

To bridge this gap and unlock the full potential of manufacturing, it is imperative to embrace advanced planning and scheduling solutions. APS serves as the missing link that seamlessly connects ERP systems and MES, enabling organizations to achieve optimized production schedules and synchronize their operations. With dedicated APS software, companies can go beyond the limitations of pseudo-APS tools and benefit from comprehensive features and capabilities. APS systems empower organizations to schedule consistently, minimize stagnation and lead times, consider resource availability with multi-level finite capacities, and prioritize alternative resources based on specific criteria. It incorporates rules and restrictions of complex processes, optimizes sequencing according to setup-time matrices, and encompasses various other essential functions needed for efficient production scheduling. By adopting APS as part of their manufacturing ecosystem, organizations can transform their operations into true lean production systems. With synchronized schedules, realistic goals, and accurate monitoring, the entire company can operate harmoniously and efficiently, maximizing productivity and minimizing waste.