MES Guide for Executives: Why and How to Select, Implement, and Maintain a Manufacturing Execution System

The MES Guide for Executives: Why and How to Select, Implement, and Maintain a Manufacturing Execution System explains, in clear and accessible terms, what manufacturing execution systems (MES) are, when they are needed and how to select, implement and maintain them. It guides managers and IT leaders through practical topics, including the limitations of ERP systems on the shop floor; core MES functions such as scheduling, recipe and product definition management; historians; reporting; dashboards; tracking and tracing; and realistic costs and benefits.

MES Guide for Executives also provides guidance on writing user requirements, conducting a vendor selection process, preparing an organization for rollout and determining whether to opt for Engineering or IT ownership. For companies with multiple plants, it explains how to build a multi-site MES template and a central competence center, demonstrating how the ISA-95 standard enhances communication and reduces integration costs. This book uses real-world examples and "from-the-trenches" cases throughout to make complex ideas accessible to nontechnical executives and managers.

Bianca Scholten is a principal at Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 223,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. She advises multi-nationals on the definition and realization of their manufacturing IT strategies. She is a voting member of the ISA95 committee. Ms. Scholten is also the author of the book The Road to Integration; A Guide to Applying the ISA-95 Standard in Manufacturing, for which she received the Thomas G. Fisher award (best new standards-based ISA book of 2007) and the Raymond D. Molloy award (best-selling ISA book of 2007). Two years later she won the 2009 versions of these same awards for MES Guide for Executives. Ms. Scholten received the ISA Standards and Practices Award for her outstanding contribution to the technical report Using ISA-88 and ISA-95 Together. She has published many papers in trade journals on subjects related to vertical integration and technical automation and has trained hundreds of professionals in applying the ISA-88 and ISA-95 standards.