Purpose Built: The Origin of TrakSYS and the Evolution of MES

Manufacturing didn’t need another automation tool—it needed a unified, purpose-built MES that could simplify operations, eliminate fragmentation, and scale across global production environments. In this episode of Purpose Built, CEO Eddy Azad shares the origin story of TrakSYS, tracing its evolution from early aerospace frustrations to one of the industry’s most successful and enduring MES platforms.

Eddy reflects on the challenges of the pre-digital era, where critical manufacturing and aerospace systems were tested using 1940s-era methods and new technology was met with resistance. That pushback became the catalyst for founding Parsec in 1987, and later, for creating TrakSYS in the mid-1990s—a time when MES existed mostly as bespoke, one-off integrations that were expensive to build, hard to replicate, and nearly impossible to sustain.

The first version of TrakSYS, released in 1994, broke from that pattern. Instead of stitching together point solutions, Parsec built a unified framework designed specifically for managing manufacturing operations and KPIs. Industry adoption grew because the platform reduced complexity rather than adding to it—an “as simple as possible” philosophy that still guides TrakSYS today.

Eddy explains how MES matured from ad-hoc system integration in the ’90s to more structured tools in the 2000s, and how TrakSYS helped push the industry toward scalable, standardized, browser-based, data-driven systems aligned with Industry 4.0. The platform’s unified data model, cohesive interface, and ability to replace dozens of point solutions enabled manufacturers to deploy MES globally without rebuilding it from scratch at every site.

This episode also explores which manufacturers benefit most from MES: high-speed, high-volume, high-complexity, and margin-sensitive operations where waste reduction, speed, safety, and consistency directly drive ROI. Eddy underscores that successful MES adoption requires more than software—it requires a blueprint, commitment, realistic expectations, and resilience when disruptions occur.

At its core, Purpose Built reinforces a simple truth: Manufacturers aren’t buying software; they’re buying outcomes.

TrakSYS was designed to deliver those outcomes through simplicity, standardization, real-time intelligence, and a unified approach to managing operations—helping manufacturers turn complexity into clarity, and strategy into sustainable results.