Go Back

Funtional Enterprice Control Model

MES functionality foccuses on manufacturing activities and enterprise operations

The ISA-95 standard focuses on defining the role of MES from production planning to shop floor control system

Benefits System MES

Functions System MES

Manufacturing execution systems represent a collection of functions

Planning

The factory of the future systematically uses further developments in IT. Even before the actual production process, the factory is virtually mapped out as holistically and true to detail as possible. The optimal production process for the product is developed interactively through simulation of the production process, including the material flow and information exchange. One related concept is the digital factory.

Behind this striking concept hides an integrated data model of the future production process in which every planning and production process is illustrated cohesively. For the digital factory, modern methods and software tools are applied in order to test systems and production processes in extensive simulations. It thus should be possible to ensure long before the start of actual production that every step is coordinated and that all facilities run smoothly. Typical startup times of 3 to 12 months can be greatly reduced in this manner. The manufacturers also expect a reduction in the planning phase and an improvement in the quality of the product.


Detailed Production Scheduling

In existing planning systems, we often encounter the error that all orders are processed in one order pool, resulting in unacceptable calculation periods when there is a large number of orders. In particular, trying to squeeze in a “priority order” can cause considerable problems because it is then no longer possible to reschedule within an acceptable time in order to have an executable plan for the current shift.

A suitable approach before the actual planning is to divide the quantity of orders into defined time periods (e.g., a day or calendar week), known as time containers. This approach leads to a better overview and shortens the calculation times for planning. In the simplest case, dividing the orders into the time containers can be done manually by order preparation.


Raw Materials Purchasing

Raw material/purchased products (externally produced articles). In every operation, a list of materials used can be defined, with the quantity indicated based on the basic quantity unit. The material is selected via the material number, and a name is selected (with reference to the materials already defined by material management). In process engineering, this list is usually part of a recipe. This means that instead of a list of individual materials, a recipe (materials including process description in the form of a workflow) is defined for the operation. The operative order planning must check the existing material stock and take it into account for planning.


Production Reporting

User interface/reporting. A Web-based approach is often also platform-independent. However, the many advantages of a “true” Web solution (using HTML and JavaScript exclusively) are still offset by the disadvantage of a sometimes low level of user friendliness.


Execute Do


Quality Assurance Operations

Quality assurance guidelines. These guidelines pertain to securing the highest possible level of quality for a product and therefore apply in the sphere of the MES. Especially for pharmaceutical products and foodstuffs, it must be ensured that the customer is not endangered. Examples for such guidelines are the DIN EN ISO 9001:2000 standards, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) security standards (e.g., the often-quoted Guideline 21, CFR Part 11; see Sec. 3.2.4), and the EU directives (e.g., as per EU Directive 178/2002, all production and shipping stages for foodstuffs and feed must be absolutely traceable).


Production Engineering

Production flow-oriented design. Data technical mapping of the products (product definition) with the production flows (work plans) and all resources needed for production.

Production flow-oriented planning. Planning of the production process in the form of production orders (hereafter referred to as orders) and planning of required resources.

Order processing. Execution (control) of planned orders and acquisition/storage of resulting data.


The three core processes are described in more detail in this chapter (design) and the following chapters. The production data model contains a complete description of the product, the actual product definition, and, based on this, the resources required and a description of the production environment (mainly machinery and equipment). The degree of detail of the data model arises from the demands made of the planning or execution process. For example, an “optimized setup time” can be executed in the planning process only if the setup times for all machines and equipment per article have been entered in the database; an effective cost control can take place only if planning costs for all resources needed and the allocation times in the work plan for these resources are present