Stock and manufacturing glossary
MES
Manufacturing execution system
An MES (manufacturing execution system) is software that tracks and controls production on the shop floor as it happens: which job runs on which machine, who is working on it, how many good and rejected pieces come out, and why a machine stopped.
Why it matters to your business
The office knows what should be made. The shop floor knows what is actually happening. The gap between the two is where orders run late, material goes missing and machines sit idle without anyone noticing until month end. An MES closes that gap for large plants. For a small factory, the same gap is closed by disciplined production orders and a daily look at output and material use.
How it works
In a plant with an MES, a production order for 1,000 moulded parts is released to a machine. The operator scans the job card to start, the machine counter records output, the operator logs a 40-minute stop for a mould change, and quality inspection records 30 rejects. The supervisor sees the job’s progress live, and at the end the ERP receives 970 good parts, the material used and the time taken.
Without an MES, the same order is managed in steps:
- Plan the production order from the BOM, checking that material is in stock.
- Issue the material to the floor.
- Receive finished goods as they are made, with scrap and by-products.
- Complete the order and compare planned and actual material, cost and yield.
If the order planned ₹85,000 of material and used ₹92,000, you see the ₹7,000 overrun the day the order closes, not at the year-end stock count.
Common mistakes
- Buying an MES to fix unrecorded basics. If material issues and output are not recorded today, start there; software on the floor will not fix missing discipline.
- Recording output only at month end. Late entries hide which order or shift caused a loss.
- Ignoring stoppage reasons. “Machine stopped” without a reason cannot be improved. Keep a short list of reasons and use it.
Questions about MES
What is the difference between an MES and an ERP?
An ERP plans and records the business side of production, such as orders, material, stock and cost. An MES manages the shop floor in real time, such as machine schedules, operator instructions, output counts and stoppages, and feeds the results back to the ERP.
Does a small factory need an MES?
Most small factories start without one. Production orders with material issue, output receipt and actual cost give you most of the control you need. An MES becomes worthwhile when you run many machines or shifts and need minute-by-minute visibility.
What data does an MES collect?
Job start and end times, machine run and stop times with reasons, quantities produced and rejected, operator and shift, and quality checks, often directly from machines or scanners on the floor.
How does an MES help with OEE?
OEE needs accurate run time, stoppages, speed and rejects for each machine. An MES records these automatically, while manual logs are often incomplete.
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