An MES (manufacturing execution system) manages and records production as it happens on the shop floor, tracking which job is on which machine, who is running it, how far through it is and what it actually cost.
A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) manages and records production as it happens on the shop floor. Where ERP plans the work and accounts for it afterwards, MES is concerned with the hours in between: which job is on which machine, who is running it, how far through it is, how long it actually took and what went wrong. It is the layer that turns a works order into a live, timestamped record of what the factory did, operation by operation.
How an MES works in a factory
In practice an MES issues jobs to terminals at each work centre, collects labour and machine time as operators book on and off, records material consumption and scrap, captures quality checks at the operation, and feeds all of it back as live progress. Because the data is captured at the point of work rather than typed up later, it is both faster and considerably more accurate than paper routing cards. That accuracy is what makes real job costing, honest OEE figures and reliable delivery promises possible.
Key points
- Operates in minutes and operations, where ERP operates in days and orders.
- Captures labour, material, scrap and quality at the point of work.
- What makes real job costing and honest OEE figures possible.
Why an MES matters if you already have ERP
The reason MES matters to a manufacturer that already has an ERP is resolution. ERP works in days and orders; MES works in minutes and operations. Without it you are running the factory on a plan and finding out how wrong the plan was at the end of the month. With it, the gap between what was supposed to happen and what did happen is visible while there is still time to react, which is the difference between managing production and reporting on it.
MES and DynamxMFG
DynamxMFG is a manufacturing execution system built for UK factories, deployed in 90 days and sitting alongside your existing finance system. Read the full guide to MES software for manufacturers.
Related terms
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