Some customers ask themselves if ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and MES (Manufacturing Execution System) are playing the same role. They thus challenge the opportunity to install an MES system after their ERP system has been installed. Actually MES systems have been designed to cooperate with ERP systems.
The key role of ERP in the entreprise For quite an extended period, manufacturers focused on automating processes and improving productivity. Although some companies are only just beginning, many have set up high-level automation and supervision systems. Lately, large and small industrial concerns have made extensive investments in ERP systems for managing their business. ERP systems provide a “transaction-based” business intelligence tool for production planning and organization. ERPs offer high-level integration of Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) across the enterprise and they have confirmed their role as a federating, multi-site corporate tool. But what matters for Production Managers is execution. The MES is designed for production managers, to deliver precise control of production and to drive progress in the production unit. MES and ERP are complementary by nature ERP and MES are complementary tools for ensuring free flow of manufacturing information, and leveraging it within the enterprise. The ERP and MES do not work on the same time scale: an ERP rarely works on periods shorter than a half-day, while the MES works either minute by minute, or over ten or twenty minute stretches. This different time scale tends to hide another, more important difference: the ERP is not designed to collect and process finely-meshed data in real-time. This fine mesh is necessary to control and coordinate processes with tight constraints concerning ﾠtraceability and performance improvement.Explore MES features Ask for information
