The common notion in the minds of people is that software applications like the MES are more suited for large, automated plants, which are typically 100 million dollars, type of plants. This is a terribly incorrect notion, MES applications have evolved from expensive on-site applications to suave and low cost service like solutions. Gone are the days where MES projects used to last for a year or two from the establishment of need to the roll-out, acquiring MES applications has become easier and more cost effective than before.
Modern MES solutions are more like a product suite, which comprise various modules, these modules are quite flexible and can be deployed for diverse processes and functional areas. It is important for manufacturing organizations irrespective of their current position, to realize that the future will be much more uncertain, rife with global competitors vying for their piece of the pie. It is extremely crucial to embrace automating and integrating technologies like the MES to become more responsive and more agile. A typical MES module covers functional areas right from purchase/inventory to end-of-line production and beyond, it also integrates seamlessly with the current legacy applications and other enterprise wide applications such as the MRP or ERP. The idea for SME companies is to understand the implications of not having the MES, not in the status quo but 5 years down the line, a future perspective will help them realize the importance and need of the MES, today. For most manufacturers, cycle times will need to reduce drastically in the future, with a definite increase in the product basket being offered, this will be coupled with the need to customize most of the basic products on offer. To have this kind of agility, even smaller companies will need enabling technologies, which help individual functional areas collaborate more effectively. The need to have precise actionable information will increase drastically and the cost of bad quality will have far more adverse effects than today. In this age of social networking, any quality issue or product re-call can potentially kill a small player, even if all its customer base isn’t affected, the ones who are exposed to bad products can spread the word faster and more aggressively than ever before, the idea of containing the issue by swift re-calls and reimbursements is no longer a lucrative one even currently, the situation will only worsen in the future.
The key here is to appreciate the value an application like the MES adds both in terms of tangible benefits and intangible ones resulting from the aversion of quality issues and faulty production lots. The future of every manufacturing company will depend on how they embrace integrating technologies like the MES and how they use the information generated to become more agile and more innovative.
