Top 5 reasons to move from an MES to MOM

When manufacturing execution system (MES) applications became popular in plants and factories around the globe, manufacturing executives thought they were getting systems that would help them monitor the equipment and production on the factory floor.

For most, that’s exactly what an MES delivered. However, because few executives failed to challenge the assumption that an MES would also translate to improved profitability, these applications failed to deliver what many manufacturers actually needed.

A recent AMR Research survey of 100 manufacturers, which included industries such as consumer packaged goods (CPG) and food/beverage, revealed that although the use of an MES often leads to tactical operational gains through improved data measurement and collection, it has failed to have a significant effect on operational efficiency, overall profitability and executives’ confidence in the accuracy of their plants' KPIs — a lack of confidence that continues to hamper decision-making and performance improvement.

As global capital markets remain constrained and consumers continue to trade down to the value end of the product mix, manufacturing executives are increasingly looking at the plant network as a primary source of margin protection across their product mix. Through this process, many are finding that MES applications simply cannot provide answers to critical questions, including, “What actions on the production lines will generate savings?” or, “How do we reduce changeover times?”

As a result, a growing number of manufacturers have been making a shift from MES applications to manufacturing operations management (MOM). MOM is a new alternative to managing and improving factory operations and execution in real time — one that is entirely focused around the specific actions that deliver improved profitability.

Let’s take a look at the top five reasons companies continue to head in this new direction.

1. MOM goes far beyond mere data collection and business processes automation

A byproduct of the “if you can’t measure it, you can’t fix it” era, MES applications have been deployed under the assumption that when you have more data, you can uncover and capitalize on more improvement opportunities.

But what many executives are now realizing is that an MES, although it's an excellent tool for data collection from machinery, does not in any way improve a process or fix an inefficiency problem. It simply automates the collection of the data related to the problem or, in other words, it reveals the result of the problem’s existence.

Simply collecting data does not create a framework where the workforce can take immediate action to resolve the problem or to improve the outcome. A manufacturer already knows when there are problems; an MES simply helps them recognize this faster. It does not actually help solve the problem. 

Proponents of MES applications point to examples of specific improvements in the performance of a specific piece of equipment or a specific line. But what often is left out of the story is the real, material impact such measures have had on increased production, lower cost per case or the output of the factory as a whole — factors that have now become critical for margin protection.

Many manufacturers now realize that they already possess the assembled internal knowledge to solve these problems. What they lack is a framework to apply that knowledge for tangible and repeatable business improvement. That’s where MOM comes in.

2. MOM helps companies process and act on metrics

Instead of first collecting massive amounts of data to further analyze what operators and supervisors already know, MOM approaches the issue from the opposite end.

MOM rightly assumes that plant workers and management already have the collective experience and intelligence to know the best ways to improve their own performance, as long as they also have access to some straightforward and structured tools and techniques. MOM builds these proven best practices and real-time capabilities directly into the software, thereby providing workers with the tools and framework they need to take appropriate and timely action.

MOM systems enable this timely action by providing constant visual communication to operators and supervisors of performance trends and targets. They also enable productive, short-interval control meetings where metrics such as OEE, uptime and yield are evaluated and acted upon. And they remove the traditional paper-based reporting system that only serves to overwhelm shop floor workers.

Just as important, MOM systems can provide this functionality prepackaged to fit a specific industry sector. This prevents the manufacturer from having to research, design, build and then pilot the application to make it work for the company's specific situation.

3. In plant performance, MES has no statistical effect

Another interesting finding from the AMR survey was that companies surveyed that had implemented MES applications still faced the same operational challenges as those that had no MES in place.

Companies using MES applications had not seen a significant effect on their ability to identify unused capacity, cut labor costs or effectively diagnose operational or in-plant problems — factors that directly drive productivity, profitability and responsiveness.