Modern Materials Handling - April 2011

modern 60 Seconds with...John SouthcottMESATitle: International chairman,Board of Directors, ManufacturingEnterprise Solutions Association(MESA)Experience: More than 20 yearsin the MES industry. Southcott isthe newly elected chair of MESA.Web: www.mesa.orgModern: Our informationmanagement report this monthis on manufacturing executionsoftware, which is the focus ofyour organization. So, what’s thepurpose of MESA?Southcott: MESA has several areasof focus. First, there’s a real contentcomponent to the organization.For the past seven or eight years,we’ve developed a lot of researcharound best practices, metrics andkey performance indicators thathelp end users get value from theirmanufacturing execution systems(MES). We provide a membershipcommunity that allows peopleto network around issues. Last,education is our No. 1 initiativefor the next two years. We arereally working to raise the level ofunderstanding so that we have amore educated end user.Modern: What is driving theadoption of MES today?Southcott: There really is renewedinterest in MES. My list of catalysts,in no particular order, is an agingworkforce; the fact that homegrownmanufacturing systems arebecoming obsolete; the plant isno longer a black box, so drivingmore efficiencies is important; andnew government regulations aredriving the need for traceability.Finally, I think there is a focusby manufacturers on their coreoperations. They no longer want tobe in the business of writing theirown custom software programsand are seeing the benefits of apackaged solution.Modern: For someone who hasnot looked at an MES for severalyears, what are three things you’dlike them to know about today’ssolutions?Southcott: No. 1: The technologyhas evolved. That’s a statement offact. No. 2: MES software is ready forprime time. It works as advertised,and that’s always helpful. No. 3:Big automation companies andorganizations like SAP are investingmajor dollars into this space. Whenthose kinds of suppliers are investingin their products, manufacturers needto pay attention to these solutions.You asked for three, but No. 4 is thatend users are seeing real benefitsfrom MES. The business case hasbecome realistic. MRead “MES at a crossroads,” p. 26.58 A p r i l 2 0 1 1 / Modern Materials Handling mmh.com