Does Industry Need a New Style MES?
On May 5th, a no-cost 25-minute webcast Manufacturing Execution Systems for Industry 4.0 will provide a business overview of Industry 4.0 and the role of manufacturing software in it. Registration for this event is open now here.
An Infographic Seizing Industry 4.0 Opportunity outlines the high-level concepts of the role of modern MES in Industry 4.0. This pictorial overview can help anyone understand Industry 4.0 and what MES software must do in that environment. Access it here.
A new white paper, Manufacturing Software for Industry 4.0: Embracing Change and Decentralization for Success, by Critical Manufacturing CEO Francisco Almada Lobo and industry analyst Julie Fraser of Iyno Advisors is available for download immediately here.
The audience for the infographic is the broadest, as it provides an overview. The webcast is ideal for executives and other line of business leaders. The white paper has various sections for various audiences.
The most in-depth of these educational resources is the white paper. It details what Industry 4.0 is, its benefits, the role of MES, the characteristics that MES must have to support cyber-physical systems (CPS), and a path toward this vision. This paper can serve as a primer for those studying Industry 4.0 or those considering what their manufacturing software will need to do to support this vision. The authors describe the various aspects such as CPS and cyber-physical production systems (CPPS) that will form a marketplace in the plant as the enabling technologies. They also outline the requirements for software with specific details of what is needed to support decentralization, vertical and horizontal integration, connectivity, sensing and mobile, cloud, and advanced analytics.
"As autonomous smart materials, products and production systems (CPS and CPPS) become a marketplace on the plant floor, a traditional centralized UI-focused MES will not be effective, not even for compliance, optimization and monitoring. Industry 4.0 is inherently decentralized and highly automated. Manufacturing software must respect that or the gains will not accrue as envisioned," said Francisco Almada Lobo, CEO, Critical Manufacturing.
