几十年来，公司一直在解决何时以及如何启动制造执行系统（MES）实施的问题。有业务案例吗？我可以负担得起我的关键人物参加一个为期两年的项目吗？我们将如何维护系统？现在，凭借工业互联网（IIOT）牢固地成为人们关注的焦点，我是否应该忘记MES并将自己的精力集中在这项新技术上？
Well, in this author’s opinion, the answer to all of these questions is: It depends!
I write this article as active member of the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA). The ‘E’ here is very important. Yes, MESA has been an advocate for MES since its conception more than 30 years ago; but MESA is not just about MES. Rather MESA focuses on applying information technology (IT) offerings to manufacturing that generate payback.
A review of the latest publications on MESA’s website will reveal dozens of articles promoting smart manufacturing, Industry 4.0, and IIoT, along with MES. MESA white paper #52, titled “Smart Manufacturing – The Landscape Explained,” is a good example. This paper presents a roadmap for Smart Manufacturing, where IIoT definitely has a role along with other enterprise solutions such as digital thread, integration services, and business process workflows. MES is not specifically called out, but a number of the functionalities that make up the components are.
So what are the factors to consider when deciding between MES and IIoT?
It depends on the scope of your manufacturing IT initiative. If the scope is limited to just one or two functions such as data collection and dashboarding then, yes, IIoT alone could suffice. But if you need to marry business rules and integrations to other enterprise systems, then MES will win out.
Ultimately, it depends on your existing landscape of systems. If no investment has been made into MES, then IIoT offers a platform that can generate quick paybacks without major disruption to the existing manufacturing processes. However, if your company has already invested in MES, removing it will be very disruptive and achieving the status quo with IIoT could be very difficult.
IIOT也许可以用来协调跨工厂现有的断开产品。作为如何完成此操作的一个例子，请考虑存在IIOT制造服务总线技术，可以与现有的企业产品集成并应用可互操作的通信，将数据筒仓转换为可以通过云服务审查的可行信息。
影响您行业的法规的水平是另一个重要因素。如今，IIOT产品缺乏时间的考验，而MES的产品已经通过最严格的监管审核进行了，并且在公司制造业管理中的闪亮灯光出现。此外，MES的产品也随行业部门的发展而发展，这些产品已建立了客户的知识和最佳实践。许多MES供应商甚至与最新版本一起提供验证包。
Being the new kid on the block, IIoT is still evolving—although rapidly—due to the agile nature of the technology as well as how the software is developed and deployed. As someone very experienced with MES capabilities, I think it would be interesting to see if any IIoT software vendor could demonstrate a computer software validation (CSV) and associated quality management system (QMS) that would stand up to the rigors of a highly regulated supplier quality audit like MES.
如果复杂的工作流程，互操作性，受监管的环境或不同的现有景观（例如，促进标准化的需求）是您公司的要求，那么MES将继续在您的企业系统路线图中发挥关键作用。但是，如果您正在寻找简单的集成解决方案或具有简单工作流程的Greenfield网站，那么Mes也许已经死了，而IIOT已为您服务。同样，这完全取决于您的特定情况。
自动化为MES解决方案的操作过程知识将很难复制到新的IIT解决方案中。当然，IIOT会继续发展和成熟，但是它是否会完全取代MES是不可能的。这些解决方案更有可能将来合作，并通过合作来加快两个平台的业务利益。
>>Desmond Savage, Board member MESA EMEA, Chair of MESA Ireland Special Interest Group (SIG), Certified MESA Instructor, desmond.savage@live.ie, is a freelance Manufacturing IT Consultant with over 20 years’ experience across several industry sectors but concentrated primarily on regulated industries, namely: Med Device, Pharma, and Food and Beverage. He has been an active member of MESA since 2011 and is qualified with a Masters in Advanced Manufacturing from the University of Limerick, Ireland.
