Manufacturing execution system (MES) software is most commonly used to manage and monitor work on the factory floor. Plant managers and production personnel use MES software to support manufacturing strategies that are designed to integrate data streams from a company’s supply chain, factory floor, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Selecting MES software requires a detailed analysis of its capabilities and features. Some products provide operator instructions for each stage of production and others provide finite scheduling, workflow management, resource planning, and quality analysis features. Most MES software is designed to improve asset productivity, reduce order-to-ship times, and eliminate costly rework. Typically, industries that implement MES software treat cycle-time, the total time to produce an order, as a key performance indicator or, KPI.

Machine monitoring sensors and shop floor data collection terminals transmit production data from the factory floor to MES software. MES software systems that include supervisory control and data acquisition features can collect data from machine-mounted sensors. This information is then transmitted to a central computer for processing. Some MES software is designed for use with manual SFDC terminals. With these systems, users are able to enter information such as job numbers, labor codes, and production counts.

MES software can be used to schedule tasks by facility, work center, machine, and/or employee skill set. Products that include capacity planning features allow schedulers to load jobs against an organization’s total production capacity. Advanced production scheduling offers finite scheduling options and a visual representation of projected workloads. Production requirements planning along with material requirement planning allows schedulers to define processes with multiple tasks. MES software that integrates PRP and MRP with inventory management and procurement can generate a schedule which specifies when required materials should be ordered. All in all, MES software can be one of the most important assets to a successful company.