How Does Manufacturing Execution System Software Differ from ERP Systems?

In the maze of manufacturing, two types of software are often heard about in boardrooms and on the shop floor — Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, and Manufacturing Execution System software. Both are important for the modern organization’s growth, but they mean two entirely different things. Mixing them up can result in projects being done the wrong way and deliverables falling short. It is critical for any manufacturer striving to reach operational excellence and utilize tools like food process optimization software for industry gain to know the core differences between an ERP that handles the business as a whole, and the manufacturing execution system software which takes care of the production floor.

What are the Fundamental Goals of Each System?

The ERP system is the central nervous network for your business. It is primarily used to plan resources, integrate various needs and business processes across departments in an organization – finance, human resources, supply chain management, sales and procurement. ERP: At the top-level, an ERP provides a birds-eye view of your organization—allowing you to answer strategic questions about where materials are located globally, what’s in production right now, when you’re going get paid and when delivery will be made! It is focused on what needs to be made, when it needs to ship and what materials are needed, working at longer time horizons of weeks or months or even years.

In comparison, the MES is the “brain and spinal cord” for manufacturing itself. It is the domain of the shop floor and it concerns execution and control. This kind of software provides tactical and operational answers — where is an order right now in the process, who is working on it, has it been handled already? It monitors production orders in real time, managing procedure workers, machines and materials as they are transformed into finished goods. It is also granular and immediate, as it serves data on minute-by-minute operations.

How do they work in reality?

Their real-time capabilities are the key differentiators among them. MES Software is fundamentally “real time.” It gathers data directly from machines, sensors and operators on the line. It tracks machine uptime, production rates, cycle times and quality checks in real time. If a machine jams, the system logs it immediately. It can also be configured to send an alert that stops the line if a quality test fails. This instantaneous feedback enables fast course-correction, reducing wastage and enhancing the usage of assets.

An ERP solution, however, is not so much fundamentally equipped to perform these instant shop-floor commands. It works in a transactional (or batch-processing) manner. Many production floor inputs — such as finished quantity and labour hours – are not keyed into the ERP until after a shift or at the completion of a job. This causes a time gap between what is going on down at the plant and what the business system knows has happened. An ERP is good to look at the past and analysis, but not real time enough to control a manufacturing process.

What Is Their Data and Reporting Approach?

Differences in data and reporting further accentuate the divergence between metrics in these two approaches. ERP reporting is financial, aggregate outcome based. It generates OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) reports on a monthly average basis, cost of goods sold by plant, inventory turnover, and profitability per product line. This is critical information for executives and financial analysts to determine the company's financial health.

MES software can deliver detailed, operationally-oriented reports. It can give you a second-by-second journal of one particular machine’s activity, an in-depth analysis on what the issues are that caused downtime or a real-time calculation of production yield. For the businesses with the most rigorous compliance requirements in place — those using industry-specific food process optimization software, for example — this granularity is a must. A strong manufacturing execution system software can deliver an electronic batch record, trace real-time ingredient lot numbers and verify that each part of a recipe is exactly how it should be in quality and safety.

Can These Systems Work Together?

The most successful environments in use today are not based on using one system or the other, they're instead about leveraging both effectively. When an ERP links up with a Manufacturing Execution System (MES), it forms a digital thread from the top floor to the shop floor. From the ERP system, you send your production schedule and BOM to the manufacturing execution system software. The MES then implements that plan while collecting all of the real-time performance and material usage information. When a job is finished, the MES sends confirmed production quantities, actual labor & machine time and materials consumed back to the ERP. This permits the ERP system to post accurate inventory values, and calculate actual job costs and give a true business picture from real, not estimated production.

Why Does This Differentiation Matter for Some Sectors?

The significance of this difference is manifest in process industries such as food and drink. A generic ERP could manage flour and sugar stocks but wouldn’t be able to control the critical points of a baking process. This is where domain-specific features of a system will become relevant. Specialised food process optimisation software can include the principles of an advanced MES, and concentrate on factors such as temperature, pressure, mix time and humidity. It guarantees recipe compliance, controls batch/lot traceability from raw material to finished product, as well as automates quality checks for health and safety legislative purposes. An ERP does not have this level of functionality for the shop floor.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the ERP system and MES software are two pillars of today's manufacturing enterprise; they are a toothed wheel at different levels of organizational hierarchy. The ERP solution fulfills the role of strategic planner by planning the business of manufacturing through an integration of monetary, logistical and commercial data. Operating as the tactical commander, the Manufacturing Execution System software manages the physical process of manufacturing by controlling, tracking and recording real-time production activities. Trying to run a factory floor with an ERP is like performing heart surgery using a map — it’s the wrong tool for the job. With manufacturers focusing on achieving genuine operational excellence, in regulated industries such as those that benefit from food process optimization software, they will have instead invested in a best-in-class MES package with close ties to a powerful ERP solution and headed down the path towards a smart factory.