MES products have developed in order to address the very real problems faced by discrete manufacturers. There are however cases where MES solutions are used outside their sweet-spot. In food and beverage plants, packaging and bottling lines are in many cases the throughput constraint, is MES what is required to achieve the goal of increased production performance?
Definition of MES
The original definition of MES as described by the MESA organisation follows; “Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) deliver information that enables the optimization of production activities from order launch to finished goods. Using current and accurate data, MES guides, initiates, responds to, and reports on plant activities as they occur. The resulting rapid response to changing conditions, coupled with a focus on reducing non value-added activities, drives effective plant operations and processes. MES improves the return on operational assets as well as on-time delivery, inventory turns, gross margin, and cash flow performance. MES provides mission-critical information about production activities across the enterprise and supply chain via bi-directional communications.”Sounds good but as you can see, this is a very broad definition and many different manufacturing applications available today could be fit into this description. In recent years, the term MES has been expanded to “Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions” which includes the functional areas highlighted in figure 1 below.
Are generic Manufacturing Enterprise Systems (MES) the right solution for all manufacturing businesses or does the MES pedigree imply a best fit scenario?
Typical Application of MES
Traditionally MES applications are found in discrete manufacturing and assembly applications where many components are assembled through multiple steps in order to produce finished products. The more complex the assembly process the more manufacturing faces issues such as;
- Complex scheduling of production orders for sub-component and component assembly.
- Excessive WIP (Work in Progress) locked in the manufacturing process (usually to protect against variances in the production process that are not quantified)
- Right time delivery of components and raw materials to the shop floor
- Multiple and complex production routes based on product or customer specifications
- Complex quality and rework routing
- Requirement for genealogy where many components and sub-components (complex assembly) are assembled and the impact of defective parts on finished goods needs to be traceable.
- Delivery of the correct works instructions to the shop floor based on the current production order.
Industries which experience these issues and hence benefit from a traditional MES application would include; automotive, electronics (including medical devices) and aerospace. In other industries such a semiconductor, petrochemical or defence specialist MES solutions exist and in some cases these are in-house applications. MES solutions allow these complex assembly environments to execute production against a formal plan while enforcing best practices. Due to the detailed nature of MES a clear picture of cycle-times, quality yields, scrap, rework and other important assembly performance metrics are captured. Note that if the issues above are not a good description of your companies problems then MES may be the wrong approach for you.A good example of this was an application I witnessed a few years ago in an airport cargo handling facility. The objective was to accurately place incoming cargo in the warehouse to allow quick picking, a record of the turn-around time and management documentation required. The solution was a MES application selected in order to enforce good practice and measure performance. In practice however the cargo handlers found that odd shaped goods did not always fit where they were instructed to place them so they worked outside of the MES system. The project eventually failed before final completion with significant cost to the end user.
Nature of MES implementations
Because of the complex nature of assembly processes, generic, one size fits all MES applications are typically a toolset that allows the required degree of customisation and engineering. The result of this is that implementations can be lengthy and without good project management run a real risk of not meeting the customers’ expectations. Another key aspect to the success of a MES application is the knowledge and experience of the implementer. What is required, is a good knowledge of the clients business processes (previous implementations in similar industries) and a good track record of the application of the MES software solution selected. A pilot application will give both parties a good idea of the effort required and the results they can expect and I strongly recommend this approach. The end-user must make sure that they are involved in this process and not just given a smoke and mirrors demonstration by the supplier.So what has this to do with Packaging and Bottling?
From the brief discussion above it is clear that MES addresses real issues where the software is implemented effectively with the correct application or in the appropriate vertical industry. The question is “are the issues faced on a packaging or bottling lines the same as complex assembly?” which would then warrant the investment in an MES project with the associated risks of engineering a solution using a toolset? The lure of accurate performance information is typically what MES vendors use in order to solicit unsuspecting companies into considering a MES application for their packing or bottling line. As can be seen in figure 1, “Asset Performance Management” and “Performance Analysis” are definitely functional aspects of MES solutions but typically not the primary goal of these applications. Consider some of the issues associated with packaging and bottling lines listed below;
- The need to understand performance losses resulting in lower than designed production capacity
- Quality and defect measurement
- Equipment Downtime and root cause analysis
- Setup or adjustment losses
- Minor stops
- Energy losses
- Raw material yields
- Delivery of line side production targets and actual outputs (performance metrics)
Typically there is not; complex routing or genealogy nor is there a requirement for enforcement of production routes. There is definitely not an assembly of many components requiring complex management of WIP on the shop floor.
What is needed?
So here is my chance for a shameless sales plug or is it just a plea for end users to consider their requirements carefully? There are solutions designed to deal with the nuances of capturing production losses and provide analysis and reporting tools. The TrakSYS product from Parsec Automation Corp is a good example and is used on the packing and bottling lines of many world leading companies. Implementation is fast as the product is purpose built and only configuration is required. There is no disruption of existing automation solutions as TrakSYS connects to and reads data from any existing automation solution or manually from operators. The ability to accurately capture production losses understanding that multiple simultaneous events can occur or allocation of losses can change during a single event is where the maturity of the TrakSYS product shows. Figure 2 below shows blue rings around the functional areas where TrakSYS provides a significant level of functionality. In many cases this would be more than sufficient for a typical food and beverage user.
About the Author
Justin Tweedie has more than 12 years experience in the field of MESand is chairman of the MESA South Africa Expansion committee.
