Empower Your Factory with a Dynamic Manufacturing Execution System
What is a Manufacturing Execution System (MES)?
TrakSYS—our Manufacturing Execution System—is a dynamic information system that monitors, tracks, documents, and controls the entire production process in real-time. Through its native interoperability, TrakSYS bridges the gap between enterprise-level systems (like ERP) and the manufacturing floor, creating a comprehensive view of operations. By capturing data from machines, operators, and processes, our MES platform provides users with enterprise-wide visibility and the actionable intelligence required to—among other things—optimize production performance, minimize downtime, and reduce waste.
Why Choose MES Software for Your Manufacturing Operations?
In today’s competitive manufacturing environment, having access to pertinent, contextualized, real-time data is essential. MES platforms like TrakSYS provide manufacturers with the tools to enhance productivity, quality, and compliance while reducing costs. Here’s how:
Increased End-to-end Visibility, Knowledge, and Control
An MES allows manufacturers to monitor operations in real-time, offering full visibility into production activities. This helps detect issues as they arise, empowering teams to make faster, better-informed decisions.
Enhanced Production Efficiency
Improved Quality Control
An MES enables better quality management by tracking product quality throughout the entire manufacturing process. Real-time alerts and analytics ensure that any defects or non-conformities are quickly addressed, reducing rework and waste.
Compliance and Traceability
An MES ensures compliance with industry regulations and quality standards by keeping detailed records of production activities, materials consumed, and warehouse storage locations. It also provides full traceability, enabling manufacturers to track every product and batch throughout the production process.
Reduced Downtime and Maintenance Costs
Seamless Integration with Other Systems
An MES like TrakSYS integrates seamlessly with your existing ERP, PLCs, SCADA, and other industrial systems. This integration ensures a smooth flow of data across your entire organization, helping eliminate information silos and ensuring a holistic view of your operations and supply chain.
Transforming Data into Actionable Insights
MES platforms play a crucial role in transforming raw production data into actionable insights that drive continuous improvement. By collecting real-time data from machines, operators, and systems, the MES provides a centralized hub for monitoring every aspect of the production process. This data is then analyzed to uncover inefficiencies, identify bottlenecks, and ensure quality control. With these insights, manufacturers can improve their operations by making data-driven decisions that enhance productivity and reduce waste. Finally, the MES helps to automate routine tasks, such as scheduling, reporting, and maintenance, allowing manufacturers to operate more efficiently and focus on high-value activities.
Collect: Centralizing Real-Time Data from the Shop Floor
An MES acts as a central data hub, collecting real-time information from various sources such as machines, sensors, operators, and existing systems like PLCs, SCADA, and ERP. Collected data includes but is not limited to things like production data, equipment status, material usage, and quality metrics. By aggregating this data in one place, the MES provides manufacturers with full visibility into their operations.
Learn more about our IIoT Devices.
Analyze: Transforming Data into Actionable Insights
Once data is collected, the MES analyzes it to provide deeper insights into production performance. Advanced analytics tools within the MES can detect patterns, uncover inefficiencies, and identify areas for improvement. These analyses can reveal trends in equipment utilization, quality deviations, and production bottlenecks. The ability to drill down into specific processes allows manufacturers to make informed, data-driven decisions, ultimately improving productivity, quality, and resource allocation.
Improve: Driving Continuous Improvement Through Data-Driven Decisions
With the insights gained from MES analytics, manufacturers can focus on improving operations. The MES helps teams pinpoint inefficiencies, reduce waste, and enhance product quality by leveraging real-time data and historical trends. For example, by identifying machine performance issues or excessive material scrap rates, production teams can implement targeted improvements. Whether it’s fine-tuning processes, adjusting maintenance schedules, or optimizing resource allocation, MES software empowers manufacturers to continuously improve and adapt to evolving production needs.
Automate: Streamlining Processes for Maximum Efficiency
Outside of optimizing data collection and analysis, MES platforms like TrakSYS enable and facilitate process automation. An MES can automate things like production scheduling, inventory tracking, quality control checks, and reporting, reducing the risk of human error and freeing up staff to focus on more strategic initiatives. Additionally, MES software integrates with other systems to automate workflows, such as triggering maintenance activities based on machine conditions or sending real-time alerts for quality issues. This level of automation not only improves efficiency but also enhances accuracy and ensures production targets are met more reliably.
Key Features of the TrakSYS MES Software Platform
Real-time Data Collection and Analysis
Capture, contextualize, and correlate real-time data from equipment and sensors to gain the actionable intelligence you need to elevate your manufacturing operations.
Energy Management
Monitor utility consumption across production lines, leading to reduced energy costs and increased sustainability efforts.
Real-time Data Collection and Analysis
Capture, contextualize, and correlate real-time data from equipment and sensors to gain the actionable intelligence you need to elevate your manufacturing operations.
Energy Management
Monitor utility consumption across production lines, leading to reduced energy costs and increased sustainability efforts.
FAQ
What is a Manufacturing Execution System?
An MES is a dynamic information system that monitors, tracks, documents, and controls the entire production process in real-time. A purpose-built MES like TrakSYS bridges the gap between enterprise-level systems (like ERP) and the manufacturing floor, creating a comprehensive view of operations.
What are the benefits of implementing an MES solution?
Benefits of implementing and utilizing an MES include (among others):
- Increased production efficiency
- Standardized and elevated quality
- Optimized maintenance management
- Streamlined compliance and traceability
- Data unification, contextualization, and actionability
How do you roll out an MES?
The rollout of an MES will look different for each manufacturer and is largely determined by established needs and desired outcomes. For a deep dive into how Parsec works with its customers throughout the delivery phase and beyond, download our guide now: Transformation, not Implementation.
What’s the difference between an MES and an ERP?
ERPs excel in high-level planning, providing the framework for managing resources, finances, and supply chains. On the other hand, MES systems bring real-time insights and operational agility to the table, allowing businesses to address inefficiencies, reduce downtime, and adapt to changing market demands. Together, ERP and MES bridge the gap between planning and execution, offering manufacturers a complete, data-driven picture of their operations that drives better decision-making, optimized processes, and sustainable growth. Interested to learn more? Explore our infographic now.
Can MES software integrate with my existing systems?
We often say TrakSYS acts as a brain at the heart of your operation. Through an array of industry standard protocols, TrakSYS integrates with existing equipment and infrastructure, capturing the intelligence those assets have gathered, and contextualizing, correlating, or otherwise making use of the data to create a unified hub where teams can come to understand what is truly happening on the factory floor. Also note that, for instances where direct interfacing isn’t possible, we can utilize the TrakSYS-enabled Smart Devices.
What is the difference between MES and MOM?
These terms are often used interchangeably. However. When seeking to understand where the differences lie, it can be helpful to think of it like this: MOM is a methodology founded upon four pillars—production, quality, inventory, and maintenance. MES houses the tools and technology required to execute on the functions of MOM, and beyond. To learn more about the difference between MES and MOM, head over to our MOM page now.