Minimal, cloud-based MES with services limited to the core are now being developed within the scope of Industry 4.0. These NanoMes fill the gap left by outdated or missing or incomplete MES systems. With their six characteristics, they offer easy, cost-effective access to modern data analysis and evaluation services based on algorithms.
Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) control and monitor the progress of manufacturing orders in production. It thus forms the central data hub in every production facility.
Manufacturing companies are currently facing two fundamental challenges with MES: Either they do not (yet) have an MES or they have an aging or already outdated MES.
The first case is obvious. Without MES, no data is collected and a large part of the potential offered by Industry 4.0 technologies is allocated.
The second case requires more explanation: Most MES were developed some time ago, i.e. developed before the era of the Internet of Things: These systems were not developed to integrate data from the multitude of sensors in the system. They were not developed taking into account modern data aggregation principles, possibly even in real time. As a result, old MES restrict the ability to see the operation of a plant live and holistically and to take timely measures to increase productivity. Data is isolated and often simply not collected at all, causing valuable insights to be lost.
NanoMes offer a modern approach to installing an MES or replacing existing legacy MES. Nano in the sense of minimal, uncomplicated, flexible, scalable, tailored to your needs.
These NanoMes have six characteristics:
- Quick brownfield installation: An MES installation almost always takes place in an existing environment, the brownfield. Heterogeneous plants of different ages and technological levels must be connected. If you address the specifics of each system, the installation quickly becomes lengthy and expensive. NanoMes, on the other hand, rely on minimally invasive recording of their data — ideally without interfering with the control of the systems. This form of integration only takes a few minutes per system. Manufacturing orders from common ERP systems (SAP, etc.) are available in NanoMes via standardized interfaces. In this way, a NanoMes installation can take place without an IT project.
- Focused integration: NanoMes are specifically connected to individual units or systems. The start takes place at bottleneck systems, followed by important or critical systems as an option. Systems with, for example, significant overcapacity or plants that are not critical to the process are not connected to NanoMes in this efficiency-based approach.
- Easy to use in the cloud: Software is increasingly moving to the cloud. This is also the right place for NanoMes. This eliminates the previous costs for operation, updating and data backup. The required 100% availability is guaranteed by using professional data center operators.
- Customer-oriented licensing: While classic MES incur costs for projects, licensing, maintenance and updates, NanoMes are licensed for a monthly or annual amount per system. In this way, license costs are flexibly controlled and adapted to actual use. No long-term depreciation on software. No sticking to unsuitable IT systems “because it cost so much money.”
- Professional reporting and visualizations: The plant data is collected so that it is presented to employees in a meaningful way. nanoMes use modern forms of visualization such as waterfalls, heat maps or comparative reports. And that in pleasant, browser-based environments where it's fun to analyze data. Excel downloads and the time-consuming creation of tables with hand-knitted visualizations are now a thing of the past.
- Advanced Analytics Ready: NanoMes are ready to use the latest data analytics technologies. This enables statistical analyses based on data in real time and evaluations based on artificial intelligence. In the best case scenario, the systems rely on AutoML approaches, so that no data scientist is required to carry out analyses and process the results. In this way, abnormalities in plant productivity are identified and offered to the manufacturing engineer for processing that were previously invisible.
Figure: 6 characteristics of a NanoMes
These six characteristics characterize a modern NanoMes. This approach is appropriate for most industries. Discreet productions with piece-based, metre-based, kilo production processes in the manufacturing or bottling industry (e.g. Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)) are a prime field of application for the approach. If you would like to find out more, feel free to contact us at info@oee.ai.