Manufacturing Execution Systems--A General Overview

Applying information technology to assist in the execution of production, through on-line management of the activities at the plant floor, has been a rapidly growing trend for a number of years. Planning systems have been applied under a variety of titles, including Material Requirements Planning (MRP), Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRPII), Enterprise Requirements Planning (ERP), and Manufacturing Control Systems (MCS). The Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) system bridges the gap between the planning system and the controlling system using on-line information to manage the current application of manufacturing resources: people, equipment and inventory. Author: Michael McClellan, MES Solutions, Inc., Terrebonne, OR.