Manufacturing Execution Systems

for Discrete Industries

An Oracle White Paper
August 2009
Manufacturing Execution Systems for Discrete
Industries

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
Manufacturing is now global with plants distributed globally to cost effective
locations and to meet demands at the source. This has raised the challenge of
information visibility across the enterprise, connecting information within a plant,
and across the plants in an enterprise. Plant personnel require real-time information
to respond to changing demands. Capturing real-time information at source enables
an efficient information flow across an enterprise. Operators must have a high level
of productivity and also be able to capture information for meeting production
demands. This can be achieved by using the right Manufacturing Execution System
at the plant level.
Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) cover the complete gamut of production
activities from order launch to finished goods inventory. They use current data from
the shop floor activities as they occur. This helps in rapid response to a situation,
thereby reducing waste and errors.
Investments are shifting towards plant execution, and manufacturers are looking at
MES as a competitive edge rather than an investment in technology.
This whitepaper discusses the basics of an MES, varying customer needs, reasons for
deploying MES, as well as various options for deploying Oracle MES for Discrete
Manufacturing depending on diverse customer needs.

INTRODUCTION
What is an MES? According to APICS, a Manufacturing Execution System is a
factory floor information and communications system consisting of programs and
systems that participate in shop floor control.
Quality control information is also gathered and a laboratory information
management system (LIMS) can be part of this configuration to tie process
conditions to the quality data generated. Cause-and-effect relationships can be
postulated. At times, quality data affect the control parameters used to meet product
specifications either dynamically or off-line.1

1 APICS Online Dictionary

MES applications can be implemented to provide functionalities according to the
requirements of an enterprise. Complexity can vary from relatively simple
independent Programmed Logic Controllers (PLC), which control and monitor
individual pieces of equipment such as tank valves and pressure sensors— to full
featured and complex Distributed Control Systems (DCS), and Supervisory Control
and Data Acquisition (SCADA). The latter provide coordination and optimization
logic to manage the entire shop floor network of labor and equipment.
Purdue reference model for Computer integrated manufacturing 2 (Figure 1) defines
the various functions in an enterprise such as levels ranging from level 0 to level 5.
The lowest is level 0 which are sensors, gauges, and so on. The highest level is Level
5 which represents corporate functions providing decision support systems or
analytics.

Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) International is a non-

profit association of manufacturers/producers, solution providers, and industry
professionals. They have defined the level 3 MES and the components of MES.
Figure 2 displays the components of an MES as defined by MESA.

Figure 1

2 Purdue Reference model for Computer Integrated Manufacturing

 MES
Operations Resource
/ Detailed Allocation
Scheduling & Control

Dispatching Document
Production Control
Units
Product
Tracking & Performance
Genealogy Analysis

Labor Maintenance Process

Management Management Management

Data
Quality Collection
Management
Acquisition

Figure 2

Several vendors provide pieces of this functionality or as a of applications. However

there is an overlapping functionality among MES vendors’ applications (level 3 in
Figure 1), and the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) (level 4 in Figure 1)—part of
Oracle E-Business Suit. The Oracle Discrete Manufacturing (ODM) component of
the Oracle E-Business Suite extends its reach into the MES space and provides
several MES functions.

ORACLE MES FOR DISCRETE MANUFACTURING

Oracle has introduced deeper shop floor execution capabilities that enable more
customers to deploy Oracle as the MES, directly on the shop floor. The approach
eases shop floor operators and supervisors in carrying out their daily tasks and
provides a better user experience.
Since there is no “one size fits all” MES solution, the Oracle solution provides
flexibility and configurability to meet the needs of different manufacturing
environments.
Key capabilities of MES for Discrete Manufacturing include:
Operator Workbench
 Dispatch List
 Work Content review and actions
 Process Instructions
 Material, Resource, and Quality transactions
 Clock In/Clock Out and Shift In/Shift Out
 Transaction of serialized and non-serialized jobs
 Print labels /and job travelers
 Exception reporting
Supervisor Workbench
 Review and resolve shop floor exceptions
 Review production performance through key shop floor
metrics with drill down capabilities
Production to Plan
Labor Performance metrics
Quality metrics - First Pass Yield and Parts per
million defects
 View and analyze capacity as well as material shortages
 Expedite jobs
 Reorder dispatch lists
Labor Skill Validation
Device Integration
Electronic Signatures and Electronic Records
For more details of the functions in Oracle MES, refer to the document “Discrete
MES Data Sheet”.
THE BIG QUESTION

Manufacturers are challenged with the question of the deployment architecture for a
Manufacturing Execution System. Do they need to deploy a central MES where all
plants across the globe access the single system—or deploy a plant level MES and
integrate with a central ERP system?
This question is one of the most difficult questions when it comes to finalizing the
IT architecture. However, there is no single answer that fits all companies or even
divisions within a company.
The need for an MES solution depends on several factors. One of the major factors
is based on the level of complexity and level of automation required. For example,
one manufacturer may want to capture processing parameters of equipment on an
hourly basis or only once per shift, which is a medium level of automation. There
may be another manufacturer who wants to integrate their SCADA/PLC with MES
applications on real-time or near real time basis, requiring a high level of automation.
This indicates a 24 x 7 availability of the MES system at the plant level and not
depend on the connectivity to a central system.
The other factors that also influence the deployment architecture of MES are
geographical spread of manufacturing facilities, time zones , product ranges, business
requirements to keep the application running non-stop, and so on.
Another element determining the architecture is the real-time information visibility at
the corporate level. This would drive the decision of single instance or multi instance.
In case the need is for a multi instance, real-time data synchronization may be
needed between the plant level system and the corporate system. However, if real-
time data synchronization is not required, the business can still opt for a distributed
environment with periodic batch mode data synchronization.
It extremely imperative for these businesses to have an application framework that
supports:
 24x7 plant level manufacturing operations independent of ERP
 Real-time event driven operations management
 Global visibility, and control of manufacturing processes across multiple
plants and multiple applications
 Ability to uptake MES functionality without upgrading ERP
 Ability to use MES in a heterogeneous IT environment
 Simplified setups to get MES instance up and running quickly
The following is an analysis of how Oracle helps in achieving the desired
architecture.
OPTION 1: MES INTEGRATED IN A GLOBAL SINGLE INSTANCE

When the automation levels are not very high and customers do not want to
maintain multiple integrations, it is best to deploy an MES that is completely
integrated with an ERP in a single instance. Additionally, the information visibility
from plant to enterprise is required on a real-time basis so a single integrated system
for the ERP and MES is optimal. This approach eliminates the complexity in
maintaining multiple manufacturing systems. Traditionally, manufacturers were
invested in building and maintaining costly interfaces between ERP (holding
financial, human resources, inventory, sales, purchasing and master recipe data) and
MES (managing the actual execution activities of the production orders on the shop
floor).
Oracle has built deep native MES capabilities into its applications so that costs, data
replication, and risk of errors are reduced—while data accuracy, process repeatability,
and information visibility is improved by managing all information in a single, real-
time database.

Figure 3
Oracle continues to develop next generation applications designed for discrete
manufacturing industries, such as high technology, industrial manufacturing, and
medical devices. The Oracle Discrete Manufacturing Product Family of applications
has introduced deeper shop floor execution capabilities that enable more customers
to deploy Oracle as the MES, directly on the shop floor. The approach is to make it
easy for the shop floor operators and supervisors to carry out their daily tasks and
provide a better user experience. Oracle MES for Discrete Manufacturing, is
completely integrated with the other modules of Oracle and can be deployed as a
single global instance (as in Figure 3).
A combination of the different modules in the E-Business Suite can provide
complete end-to-end supply chain visibility and tighter control and better shop floor
visibility, especially in regulated environments.
By the adoption of Oracle as the single integrated ERP/MES solution, significant
benefits such as lower total cost of ownership, real-time shop floor visibility,
flexibility, configurability, reduction/elimination of non-value adding activities can be
realized. All these benefits are realized without having to compromise on meeting the
requirements of the core MES functions as defined by MESA International.

OPTION 2: DISTRIBUTED MES

Some organizations need a high level of automation integrating control systems to

plant systems or MES. Their need can extend to distributed MES at all
manufacturing locations with integration to the central ERP.
Having distributed multiple instances of MES integrating with a central system may
mean higher costs and complexity, but the business need to have distributed and
multiple MES systems may outweigh these complexities.
Oracle provides an implementation approach to deploy the Oracle MES in a
distributed model and integrates with the central ERP system. It uses the Oracle
Fusion Middleware and Oracle Data integrator (ODI).
The approach is to implement multiple instances, separately for plants and corporate
levels. Oracle MES for Discrete Manufacturing R 12.1 is to be deployed as a
distributed instance for each plant (as in Figure 4). Operators carry out the
manufacturing transactions through these plant level Manufacturing Execution
Systems. Each group of plants or locations that requires manufacturing
independence of the central ERP needs a separate instance of the application.
Transactions can be synchronized between the central Oracle ERP and distributed
MES instances.
The central corporate ERP instance can span across multiple plants and locations;
and is used for global functions like accounts, order booking, and so on.
Manufacturing transactions carried out in the distributed MES instances need to be
synchronized with the central ERP system. This way the distributed MES captures all
manufacturing transactions and the corporate ERP captures and consolidates all cost
related data.
Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) orchestrates the integration process between the
distributed MES system and the central ERP. ODI is a comprehensive data
integration platform that covers all data integration requirements—from high-
volume, high performance batches, to event-driven, trickle-feed integration
processes, to SOA enabled data services.

Figure 4
Oracle Data Integrator’s Extract, Load, Transform (ELT) architecture leverages
disparate relational database management systems (RDBMS) engines to process and
transform the data. This approach optimizes performance and scalability and lowers
overall solution costs.
Instead of relying on a separate, conventional ETL transformation server, Oracle
Data Integrator’s ELT architecture generates native code for disparate RDBMS
engines (SQL, bulk loader scripts, for example). ELT architecture extracts data from
sources, loads it into a target, and transforms it using the database power.
Oracle Data Integrator Enterprise Edition (ODIEE) shortens implementation times
with its highly productive design-time tools. Declarative design simplifies common
data integration design and deployment use cases, shortening implementation times.
Data integration designers describe source and target data formats and data
integration processes. The business user or the developer can focus on describing
what to do, and not how to do it. ODIEE then generates, deploys, and manages the
code required to implement those processes across the various source and target
systems.
A high level overview of the deployment architecture is given below (Figure 5):

Figure 5
The architectural, technical, and data integration methodology have been discussed in
detail through an implementation approach document titled “An Approach to
Distributed Manufacturing.” This document discusses the details of the deployment
architecture, functions used at the plant level MES, functions used at the corporate
ERP, information on how to use ODI for integrating, and synchronizing the data
between two systems for master data and transaction data. This approach enables a
customer to deploy the Discrete MES in a distributed mode.

CONCLUSION
By helping companies improve their plant level activities, execution systems enable
manufacturers to create value-added operations that improve productivity and drive
strategic advantage. Oracle MES for Discrete Manufacturing combined with the
Oracle E-Business Suite meets the requirements of most manufacturing customers
including those with complex scenarios. Oracle provides two main options to deploy
plant level execution systems. Oracle MES for Discrete Manufacturing can be
deployed in an ERP integrated mode, or in a distributed mode separate from an ERP
instance. Choosing the right architecture for deploying MES is key to meeting
business needs of the shop floor. By adopting the right architecture, organizations
can reap benefits not only in areas of operator productivity but also drive towards a
lower TCO. Having an MES offering from Oracle helps customers reduce the
number of unique software vendors and therefore reduce their IT complexity.
White Paper Title : Manufacturing Execution System for Discrete Industries
Author: Sivakumar Jayaraman
Contributing Authors: Ramrkishna Sarakar, Kalyankrishnan Parameshwaran

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