Intelligent Manufacturing Execution Systems

Index

The MES Model

The State of the MES Model

Manufacturing Execution System software is now coming into its own. Previously, most companies installed MRP II or cost accounting software and let the production shop floor and manufacturing scheduling look after their own problems. With the need for faster information flow, tighter control, and the need to feed other manufacturing plants based on Just in Time (JIT) systems, the need for better and faster manufacturing software has never been more important. Most Enterprise Resource Planning systems and MRP II systems have always strongly emphasized the planning side of manufacturing, but have not been able to fully address the software needs of the factory floor. Organizations like the IMS (Intelligent Manufacturing Systems Consortium and MESA International (Manufacturing Execution Systems Association) have grown out of the needs of manufacturers and computer hardware and computer software suppliers to set standards for the next generation of manufacturing systems.


Papers by PMCCL Consultants

We have prepared two summary papers (in Adobe PDF Format) which can give you a feeling for the information and resources available available to manufacturers to assist in structuring the systems needed for today's enterprise.

  • The MES Paper will give you the basic information on MES systems and tell you about the benefits of installing an MES.
  • The Scheduling Methods Paper will give you the basic information on scheduling systems and tell you about the benefits of using a Finite Capacity Scheduler. It contains information on scheduling systems and what problems they can and can't fix.
  • The Intelligent Manufacturing Systems paper provides information about automating a factory and the control systems that can be used for coordination and integration. It explains the Science of Holonics - how Intelligent, Autonomous, Cooperative frameworks can be built for plants that integrate people with automatic control systems. It will also give you a better grasp of what is happening in the HMS consortium of the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems Group.


The HMS Vision

The Holonics Manufacturing System groups studies and designs software for manufacturing plants with a view to demonstrating how a manufacturing plant can benefit through increased production and lower costs. In particular the HMS studies how robotic systems that can act independently, autonomously, cooperatively and intelligently can improve the bottom line through increased manufacturing performance and adaptability. Current projects include intelligent scheduling, shop floor data collection systems, and systems that improve the interactions of robots in manufacturing cells.

The HMS Vision

Adobe Acrobat & Portable Document Format (PDF)

Our papers are available in Adobe PDF format. If you do not have the Adobe PDF plug-in for your browser, it is available from the Adobe Web Site. Just choose the Adobe Acrobat Reader for your platform, and download the Acrobat Reader Software. When you install the Acrobat Reader Software, it will install the plug-in automatically for Internet Explorer, Mozilla and Netscape. If you are using another browser, download the PDF files we have supplied and view them by opening Adobe Acrobat Reader,nd selecting the PDF file(s) that you downloaded from our site.


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