MES Software Development

We build the full order lifecycle into your MES following the ISA-95 (ANSI/ISA-95) standard for MES hierarchy. Production orders released from your ERP -- including SAP PP/MM module work orders and process orders -- appear on the shop floor with the correct routing, bill of materials, and work instructions. Operators confirm start and completion at each operation step, and supervisors see work order progress in real time without radio calls or floor walks.

Partial completions, order splits, and rework orders are handled natively rather than through workarounds in a separate spreadsheet. Work-in-progress (WIP) is tracked at each production stage using barcode scans or RFID reads at operator terminals, giving you a live count of units at each station and in each buffer queue. Scrap and yield are recorded at the point of production rather than reconciled at shift end.

Order status -- quantities confirmed, materials consumed, operations completed -- flows back to your ERP via the SAP PP confirmation interface or equivalent integration point for your ERP. Inventory movements and production confirmations stay in sync without a manual rekeying step, so your planning team works from current data when running the next MRP run. Orders that are at risk of missing their due date are flagged before the deadline, not discovered when the shift ends short.

Connect your machines to the MES using OPC-UA (the IEC 62541 standard for industrial machine communication), MQTT for lighter IoT devices, or direct PLC integration via Siemens S7, Allen-Bradley, or Mitsubishi protocols. Newer CNC machines and robots with OPC-UA servers communicate directly; older equipment without network connectivity is handled through low-cost I/O modules attached to existing machine signals such as a cycle-complete relay or spindle-running contact.

Runtime, idle time, and downtime are tracked by reason code -- planned maintenance, unplanned breakdown, material shortage, tooling change, operator absence. OEE is calculated automatically for each machine, line, and shift using the standard formula: Availability x Performance x Quality. The calculation feeds individual dashboards for operators, shift supervisors, and plant managers so each level sees the data relevant to their decisions.

SCADA connectivity is supported where your facility already runs a SCADA layer for process control -- the MES reads historian data rather than duplicating the connection to field devices. Supervisors receive alerts when OEE drops below configurable thresholds, when a machine enters unplanned downtime, or when cycle time drifts above the standard. Downtime reason codes are captured by operators at the terminal at the point of the event, not reconstructed from memory at shift handover, which is the difference between actionable root cause data and totals with no context.

Define inspection plans tied to specific operation steps, product families, or customer quality requirements. Operators record pass/fail results, dimensional measurements, and visual checks at the point of production rather than at the end of the line -- which is where defects are cheapest to catch.

Statistical Process Control (SPC) is built into the measurement collection layer. The MES plots measurements on control charts in real time, calculates Cp and Cpk process capability indices against your engineering tolerances, and alerts operators and quality engineers when a process is trending toward an out-of-control condition before it produces scrap. Western Electric rules (the standard SPC control chart rules) or your own rule set can be configured per characteristic.

For process manufacturers following the ISA-88 (S88) batch standard, in-process quality checks are tied to batch phases and unit procedures. Non-conformances are flagged at the point of detection and routed through a digital disposition workflow -- hold, rework, or scrap -- with the responsible quality engineer assigned automatically based on product type or production area. Inspection history is stored against each work order and lot so audit responses for customer quality complaints, ISO 9001 internal audits, or regulatory inspections can be pulled in minutes rather than assembled from paper records.

Track material consumption against each work order at the component level using barcode scans, RFID reads, or weigh-scale integration at the point of issue. Both backflushing (automatic material consumption on order completion based on BOM quantity) and manual issue (operator-confirmed scan at the point of use) are supported -- the method is configured per material type or production area to match your process.

The MES records which lot of each component was issued to which work order at which production stage. This is the data model that makes full genealogy traceability possible: when a finished goods lot has a quality issue in the field, you trace backward through every component lot and every operation it passed through, or forward from a suspect component lot to every finished goods lot that contains it.

Variance between planned and actual material consumption is visible in real time at the work order level. A consistent negative variance on a specific component often signals a scrap problem that isn't being recorded; a positive variance often signals that components are being issued but not consumed, ending up in unofficial line-side stock. Both show up in the MES before they compound across shifts. Integration with your ERP -- SAP MM inventory movements or the equivalent in Dynamics, NetSuite, or Epicor -- keeps warehouse inventory accurate without a separate physical count.

Assign operators to work centres, production lines, and shifts with skill and qualification tracking so the MES only allows an operator to run an operation they are certified for. Record which operator performed each operation, at which terminal, and at what time -- creating a complete labour record for each work order without time cards or manual log entries.

Operator login can be via PIN, barcode badge scan, or RFID fob depending on your preference. Productivity metrics -- units produced per hour, operations completed per shift, first-pass quality rate -- are tracked per operator and per shift without manual data collection. The data is available to supervisors and team leaders without requesting a report, so performance conversations happen on facts rather than impressions.

Shift handover is a persistent problem in manufacturing: information about open issues, near-misses, and pending actions is lost between shifts. The MES generates an automatic shift handover report at shift end, pulling together work order status, machine status, open quality issues and their disposition, incomplete downtime reason codes, and any deferred maintenance flags. The incoming supervisor signs off on the handover in the system, creating an accountability record. Supervisors spend their time on the floor managing production rather than compiling the status report that used to consume the first 30 minutes of every shift.

Record every component lot consumed in every work order, at every production stage, tied to the finished goods lot number or unit serial number. The genealogy data model stores parent-child relationships through the full production tree -- raw material supplier lot to incoming goods receipt lot to production sub-assembly lot to finished goods lot -- so a complete forward or backward trace on a multi-level BOM returns results in seconds, not hours spent searching paper records or cross-referencing spreadsheets.

For process manufacturers following the ISA-88 S88 batch standard, batch genealogy tracks material usage at the batch phase and unit procedure level, capturing which equipment was used, which operator performed each phase, and which process parameters were recorded during each step.

For discrete manufacturers with serialised products, each serial number carries its own genealogy record: which lot of every component it contains, which machine produced it, which operator assembled it, which shift it was produced on, and which inspection records it passed. Forward traceability identifies every serial number that contains a specific component lot -- critical for field safety campaigns where you need to know which customers to contact. Traceability reports are generated on demand in formats appropriate for customer quality complaints, automotive PPAP documentation, aerospace AS9100 audits, or FDA 21 CFR Part 820 compliance, without manual assembly from paper production records.