How Manufacturing Execution Systems and Capital Planning Software Work Hand in Hand in the Modern Enterprise
It’s safe to say, the plant floor isn’t what it used to be.
With their robotics and data-dependent systems, modern factories have taken on a whole new look. Described as Industry 4.0, 86% of manufacturing executives “believe that smart factory solutions will be the primary drivers of competitiveness in the next five years,” according to a recent Deloitte survey.
For Capex stakeholders, getting a handle on the abundance of information produced by smart factories requires systems that can aggregate and generate useful insights from it. Two in particular – manufacturing execution systems (MES) and intelligent capital planning software – are especially critical. Here’s why.
Manufacturing Execution Systems: The cornerstone of a smart new era.
Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) are transforming factories into highly responsive, data-driven environments in a number of ways. Leaders in operations and engineering are taking note.
Enhanced real-time visibility and control
By leveraging IoT technology, MES can track the status of every machine, work order and piece of material in a facility. This enables managers to make decisions based on real-time conditions, rather than relying on outdated reports. Furthermore, they leverage live data to optimize production workflows through advanced scheduling and resource allocation tools, allowing them to dynamically adjust production schedules based on real-time demand, material availability and machine status.
Predictive maintenance and downtime reduction
One of the hallmarks of smart manufacturing is being able to predict machine maintenance needs and minimize downtime accordingly. By continuously collecting data from machinery sensors, MES can analyze patterns and predict potential failures before they occur. This allows for maintenance to be scheduled during non-peak hours, significantly reducing unplanned downtime and improving overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). This is a game-changer.
Quality management and compliance
Ensuring that products meet strict standards and regulatory requirements without placing a significant quality assurance (QA) burden on factory employees is another vital feature of MES. Through detailed tracking of production data, MES facilitates comprehensive quality control processes — from in-line inspections to final product testing – ensuring that any deviations from quality standards are detected and addressed promptly, minimizing waste and rework. Additionally, MES can automate the generation of compliance reports, simplifying the audit process and ensuring regulatory adherence with minimal manual effort.
Integration and scalability for future growth
Finally, MES systems are designed to integrate seamlessly with other corporate software, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, creating a cohesive digital ecosystem that spans the entire manufacturing operation. Most modern MES solutions are also able to scale up, allowing manufacturers to easily expand their digital infrastructure as the company grows or as new technologies emerge.
Ultimately, if you know when essential machinery might fail … how maintaining a quality standard can fuel growth … or where new opportunities might exist as evidenced in your data, it means the choices you make in allocating capital are going to be materially impacted. It’s why you can’t leave capital planning to generic solutions to optimize your Capex spend.
Intelligent capital planning software: a critical companion to MES for winning in Industry 4.0
Real-time visibility, interconnectedness, and predictive analytics are the hallmarks of MES, enabling manufacturers to optimize their factory operations. But that’s just one piece of the puzzle. To maximize value in the smart factory era, leaders are turning towards capital planning software that helps them optimize Capex investments.
A solutions like Finario resembles MES in a number of ways:
Unlocking real-time agility through integrated actuals
Capital planning software, much like MES systems, equips leaders with actual operational and market data. Doing so ensures that every capital investment decision is rooted in the most up-to-date information, allowing organizations to respond swiftly to unexpected shocks and capitalize on emerging opportunities.
Optimal maintenance investment choices
Like machines, a capital portfolio requires regular maintenance. Yet, generic solutions lack the sophistication to help leaders understand when and where to make these investments.
Comprehensive ROI analysis features help you “stack rank” potential investments and evaluate them objectively. But a good investment requires more than just a strong ROI — it also needs to align with high-level strategy. In the context of smart manufacturing, this means selecting projects and equipment that provide a good return while also seamlessly integrating into the factory’s operations.
Leveraging quality control into growth investments
Automated quality assurance is a huge difference maker in factories, but it’s not possible without ample high-quality data. The same is true for maintaining high standards for growth investments. By leveraging data from your ERP and other sources, an intelligent capital planning solution enables manufacturers to improve the quality and consistency of project evaluation. It can also see how prior projects fared, and filter potential investments based on traits that did or didn’t work well historically.
Moreover, by automating compliance reporting, purpose-built Capex software helps firms navigate ever-changing regulations, reducing the risk of violations while reinforcing their reputation for reliability and safety.
A single source of truth across all your platforms
Finario harmoniously integrates with your enterprise ecosystem, including your ERP, to create a cohesive digital backbone for Capex. Similar to MES, it is designed with flexibility in mind, allowing you to scale up or down as business conditions demand. By centralizing data and establishing a single source of truth, manufacturers are able to streamline the project approval process, create better forecasts, and predict cash flow more precisely.
Learn more about systems that will power the new era of manufacturing at NAMES 24, April 14-16, Fort Worth, TX
We’ve just scratched the surface of the systems that will power the Industry 4.0 era. With a range of sessions dedicated to this subject and related ones, the North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit (NAMES 24) offers an unparalleled opportunity to dive deeper into what’s ahead for the sector.
We invite you to stop by our booth at NAMES 24 to learn more about how intelligent capital planning can benefit your smart manufacturing efforts.