Manufacturers have long used Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) to manage and optimize operations, but traditional on-premises solutions require time and resources to implement and maintain. Resultingly, manufacturers often have a “set and forget” approach when it comes to these OT systems. Today, set and forget is no longer acceptable. Cybersecurity, new software capabilities, and agile operations all require being on the latest version. Furthermore, cloud-based analytics require OT data availability and a single source of truth. Continuous improvement and optimization also require increased visibility across enterprise performance. The bottom line: with significantly easier implementation and decreased maintenance, cloud-based MES offers next generation innovation and is the answer to support modern manufacturing. MES in the Cloud For many years, industrial companies were committed to implementing cloud technologies for business data but skeptical about putting their OT data and applications there. But as increasing amounts of enterprise data across the organization are being securely and cheaply moved to cloud solutions anyway, many manufacturers are asking themselves – what’s the right way to balance needs of the plant floor with advantages of cloud technologies? Lowering capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operating expenses (OPEX) compared to on-premises implementations, cloud-based MES can help manufacturers to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) up to 30%, decrease maintenance, and improve security. Fully hosted as a managed service, cloud MES provides companies with the robust, composable no-code technology to improve their operations in real-time, along with the flexibility to deploy in a way that best suits their needs. Manufacturers can decrease maintenance resource overhead and increase performance with the latest features and newest software releases provided quickly through the cloud infrastructure. With a cloud-based, managed MES solution, manufacturers no longer have to worry about patching the OS and supporting software. Additionally, manufacturers can increase security through software managed at scale including vendor-managed security updates. Viable Fast Track to Modern Manufacturing Large companies have traditionally taken advantage of MES more than small- and mid-size manufacturers because they usually have greater resources available to support deployment and maintenance. With MES as a Service, manufacturers of any size can achieve a fast track to modern manufacturing operations and frontline guidance, enabling connected workers across the enterprise. By reducing the costs and human power needed to deploy and maintain an MES, any manufacturer can implement an adaptable cloud-based production system and gain the real-time operations optimization to support digital transformation, continuous improvement, and lean initiatives. Furthermore, some cloud-based MES can save manufacturers time with dozens of out-of-the-box screens specific to their process, discrete, and mixed manufacturing. The software can improve operator response with rich visualization, and manufacturers can easily customize MES screens without writing code – further reducing the resources needed. By consolidating legacy systems to a single, seamless cloud-based MES, companies can decrease costs even more and increase agility and consistency by managing operations both locally and across the global enterprise. Advantages of OT Data in the Cloud By moving to a cloud-based MES application, manufacturing companies are also discovering four key benefits to having their OT data in the cloud.

1. Revealing hidden opportunities to boost operational efficiency

With OT data in the cloud, analytics can transform and contextualize time-series and transactional data across an enterprise into actionable insights and uncover improvement potential. For example, data-driven predictive maintenance can save up to 12% of scheduled repairs, reducing overall maintenance costs up to 30%, and breakdowns up to 70%. Manufacturers are looking at predictive analytics to improve operational efficiency and get a competitive edge. With cloud-based OT data availability, forward-leaning manufacturers are getting more sophisticated about putting analytics to work.

1. Speed and Agility

On a day-to-day basis, factories run faster by storing operational data in the cloud for analysis instead of storing on site. Operators aren’t held up by MES systems struggling to cope with large volumes of on-prem data for analysis. At one site, operators had an 85% boost in productivity of the MES once it no longer had to deal with vast amounts of locally stored data. The entire factory just ran faster.

1. Intelligence and Insights

Different roles in the business require different information. Many manufacturers suffer from excessive costs related to materials, labor, packaging, and shipping. By implementing cloud MES, manufacturers also unlock new ways to combine and view data remotely, compare dashboards across multiple plants, and track from the enterprise level to the shop floor. This helps every team make the best decisions based on the best data – faster. For example, the supervisor needs information to optimize product flow, machine and operator efficiency, and manage safety incidents. The supply chain manager needs to optimize revenue targets and year-to-year growth while reducing costs. And the operations manager is focused on increasing monthly and quarterly manufacturing efficiency and reducing any non-value-added steps in manufacturing. Today’s MES technology harnesses invisible data and makes it easy to give each person visibility to the information they need to do their job.

1. Cost Reduction with OT Data in the Cloud

And if those other reasons aren’t compelling enough, the most straightforward business case: storing years of operational data is often a compliance requirement, but on-site server costs quickly add up. It is now more affordable for manufacturers to keep their OT information in the cloud – reducing the need for on-prem server storage. Manufacturers can achieve ROI quickly just by reducing these costs associated with OT data. Greater Agility with Cloud MES With the agility offered by cloud MES, manufacturers can finally leave the set-and-forget approach behind and instead drive a future-proof foundation for modern manufacturing and digital transformation. Cloud-based manufacturing applications are becoming more and more prevalent with implementations providing significant benefits for manufacturers of any size including reduced total cost of ownership up to 30%, decreased maintenance, and improved security. Furthermore, OT data in the cloud in conjunction with the MES drives the data and visibility needed for cross-business optimization in today’s modern manufacturing environment.

By Joe Gerstl | 2023-04-28