Manufacturing execution systems see greater spend as pressure to adapt grows

Manufacturers are spending more of their IT budget on systems for improving production flexibility and efficiency, according to research by analyst ARC – and big users are finding ‘manufacturing execution systems’ (MES) are also cutting costs. US-based MES developer Apriso, which has European offices in Paris and Poland, says its clients say replacing potentially hundreds of legacy applications on their shopfloors and warehouses is saving IT budgets formerly spent on maintaining them, while also transforming plant agility. How? Apriso senior vice president of marketing Tom Comstock says latest generation MESs are more sophisticated than before – designed to deal with current manufacturing business pressures, like outsourcing and becoming more adaptive and demand-driven. He cites Apriso’s newly released FlexNet 9.3 which helps manufacturers to link existing factory processes, production equipment and manufacturing systems with supply chain operations – improving visibility and users’ ability to adapt to market changes. “We’re offering ‘directive manufacturing’,” he explains. “Our systems guide operators or machines to execute correctly, with traceability and genealogy across processes covering the full material flow from supplier to shipping. MES now is a set of functionality and services potentially taking as-designed data from PDM [product data management] and customers to as-maintained.” And we’re not talking SMEs. Users include Lockheed, Textron and EADS in aerospace and defence; Valeo and GM Powertrain in automotive; Loreal, BAT and Amcor in consumer packaged goods; and Ansel and Beck & Dickinson in the medical devices market. “We work with Cap Gemini; Siemens is a big customer in Latin America and our systems look after CD packaging for Microsoft,” says Comstock. ARC believes this is the second largest growth area for manufacturing software behind ERP – larger than CRM (customer relationship management, supply chain management, CAD and PLM (product lifecycle management). Comstock reckons that’s because MESs’ potential positive impact on advanced lean initiatives is so great. “A large number of our customers have implemented lean, and technology is increasingly finding a role in sustaining it and keeping continuous improvement growing. With MESs, they can look at new bottlenecks and move them and improve them as they go. They find it’s easy to start lean initiatives with their best and brightest people, but they can’t sustain them without technology.” And while he’s not saying the current FlexNet 9.3 technology goes as far as scheduling – it interfaces with ERP systems, taking the high level plan – he adds: “Don’t be surprised about some announcements from us concerning partnerships soon.”