Today, there are typically 3 flavors of MES systems out there in the world.
- Manual - the manufacturer uses paper to plan, manage, and monitor their manufacturing operations.
- Custom - the manufacturer has developed many custom solutions in Excel, Visual Basic, Access, Web Reports, legacy systems, etc.
- Commercial Product - the manufacturer has leveraged a Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) product to run their manufacturing operations.
The last flavor, where MES is installed much like ERP in a “big bang” project approach, is slowly going away. I believe there is a new way of being successful with MES projects:
- Start with a Pilot - define a target business problem with defined ROI or benefits, and start there.
- Work with Users - Users have great ideas. If they are included in the project, they will be more likely to make the project succeed.
- Celebrate Wins - when the MES solution helps you do something better, celebrate that so you can start building momentum.
We have seen so many projects fail because the scope of the project was just too large for the first phase. Business value was never created, momentum was never built, and the “Big Bang” approach failed.
Scott,
Thanks for the link to your blog. I’m a little slow in responding, but hope to check in more regularly in the future.
My first MES experience 12 years ago was pretty much a fully functional, integrated implementation of a COTS in a production facility. It was labelled a ‘pilot’ since it was in a relatively small production facility (single production line, dedicated product family, < 25 users). However, it was also phase one of a multi-phase rollout to additional, larger production facilities. I agree that no matter what the implementation strategy looks like, starting small is critical, especially when something new represents a significant cultural change. MES (and its associated electronic batch record) was exactly that 12 years ago in the regulated pharmaceutical industry just coming to grips with new regulation (21 CFR Part 11, Electronic Records/Electronic Signatures).
As for your 2nd point, implementing MES mandates working with users - production operators know the shop floor unlike any of the other support groups (Engineering, Scientific, IT, Quality). I can’t imagine MES being successful without operator involvement.