ISA-95 is a Nice Start - Apriso

The Need for Enterprise
Integration to Plant Operations
Increased global competition and customer expectations have led to a proliferation of
manufactured products. As a result, complexity in manufacturing facilities has increased,
making it much harder to lower costs, increase quality and accelerate responsiveness while
ensuring regulatory compliance. To help address these challenges, manufacturers have
implemented enterprise software applications for a more complete view of their global
enterprise, supply chain, customer base and product lifecycle.
However, even with all of these systems overseeing the enterprise, companies still lack easy
access to data at the production level. Manufacturing operations is often a “black hole” where
no information comes out for enterprise use. Part of the reason is because of the enormous
volume of data. Other issues include a highly heterogeneous environment of plant information
and automation systems, precluding the ability to easily obtain real-time visibility to operations
data.
Yet another challenge is the sheer volume of applications that have grown over the years, in
an attempt by different departments to gain plant information to accomplish their specific
objectives. The ending result is a myriad of systems, processes and manual procedures that
are highly fragmented, inconsistent and extremely complex to support and maintain. The need
for simplification and IT rationalization of these disparate systems is extreme.
Many companies that implemented a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) sought detailed,
timely and accurate information on actual costs, current order status, as-built products and
capacity availability. Results were promising, with improved visibility and better management
of day-to-day operations, while adjusting scheduling as needed. The next challenge became
the growing use of outsourcing, globalization and all the related issues associated with a
distributed production and supply chain. Now a plant-focused MES system was no longer
sufficient, as consistency in operations was required across a network of plants, warehouses
and supply chain partners.
This wider scope of requirement has now been identified within the ISA-95 systems hierarchy
model as “Level 3,” or the Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) level. Please see
the box, “What is MES, and How Does it Compare to MOM?" and Figure 1). In survey after
survey, manufacturers have indicated that they are now either implementing or planning to
implement a MOM solution versus a plant-level MES.
4 Plant to Enterprise Integration: ISA-95 is a Nice Start
What is MES, and
How Does it
Compare to
MOM?
“A Manufacturing
Execution System (MES)
is a dynamic information
system that drives
effective execution of
manufacturing operations.
Using current and
accurate data, MES
guides, triggers, and
reports on plant activities
as events occur … from
point of order release into
manufacturing to point of
product delivery into
finished goods” according
to Manufacturing
Enterprise Solutions
Association International
(MESA).
The ISA-95 standard has
now dropped the MES
term, favoring the broader
phrase of Manufacturing
Operations Management,
which it has identified as a
“work flow / recipe control
to produce the desired end
products.” This new term
has a wider scope of
meaning, including each of
the operational areas of
manufacturing, from
production to warehouse,
quality, maintenance and
labor processes.