A system that collects data straight from production, meaning who is working on what, how many pieces are finished, how many are scrap and where work is waiting. The ERP knows what should be made, the MES knows what is actually being made.

Do we need an MES, or is the ERP enough?

For a smaller operation, the production module of the ERP with well set up work booking is often enough. An MES makes sense when you run several lines or shifts and need to see production status as it happens, not at the end of the week. We recommend based on what is missing today.

Which MES do you recommend?

It depends on the size of your production and the ERP you have. We work with off-the-shelf MES solutions and with the production modules of your ERP, such as ABRA. Where an off-the-shelf solution does not fit, we build an application.

How does the morning production overview work?

Every morning an overview of orders, capacity and delays is put together from the ERP and the shop floor data. AI adds a few sentences on what changed and what needs a decision. The overview arrives by email or in Teams.

Do we have to stop production for this?

No. We roll out line by line or hall by hall, and the old way runs alongside until the new one works.

What if we are missing data?

The overview shows it. The list of missing data is one of the first outputs, and it tells you what to fill in before you can rely on the numbers.

MES and production planning

A morning production overview instead of calling round the shop floor.

An MES collects data straight from production, meaning what is being made, on which machine and how late. We connect it to your ERP and every morning build an overview from both, with an AI summary of which orders are running late and why. It also shows missing data, so you know what to fix first.

Typical situations

Production runs, but nobody knows exactly how.

Until shop floor data is in the system, planning runs on memory and the phone.

Production plan in Excel

The planner keeps the plan in a spreadsheet only he understands. When he is off sick, production runs from memory.

Order status by phone

Sales calls the shop floor to ask whether an order will make its deadline. The answer depends on who picks up.

Paper job tickets

Completed work and scrap are written down by hand and reach the system late, or never.

Last week's numbers

By the time the production numbers are added up, it is too late to decide.

What we put in place

MES, the plan and the morning overview.

We start where it hurts most. Sometimes that is an MES on the shop floor, sometimes just a plan connected to the ERP.

MES system

Collecting production data, booking work and tracking machines.

An MES chosen to fit the size of your production
Terminals or tablets on the shop floor
Work and scrap booked without paper
Machine connections where it makes sense

Production planning and control

A plan tied to orders, capacity and material.

A plan based on real capacity
Impact of an order change on deadlines
Material and semi-finished goods for each order
Connected to your ERP, such as ABRA or Helios

Morning production overview

ERP and shop floor data in one overview every morning.

Late orders with the reason
AI summary of what changed since yesterday
List of missing or suspicious data
Overview in Power BI or in an app

In practice

Production on one board, from order to handover.

For a print shop we built its own production management application, connected to ABRA Flexi. It replaced Excel, e-mails and agreeing details at the machine, so sales and the workshop now work on the same data.

The salesperson and the foreman see the order status at the same moment.

A print shop runs its orders in its own application

Print production management application with production orders sorted by status — Screenshot from the live application, the data is illustrative.

AI on production data

Shift summary and a delivery date for sales.

Every morning the foreman goes through the night shift data machine by machine to find where production stopped. Orders, standard times and bills of materials must be complete in the ERP, otherwise neither the MES nor AI can work out a delay.

Production
Shift summary
From the MES data, AI writes a few sentences on what was made during the shift, where a machine stood still and why.
Production
Missing machine reports
The report lists machines with no reports and orders without standard times on its own. AI flags times that make no sense and looks up the foreman notes on them.
Production
Deviations from standard times
The report calculates deviations from standard times on its own. For operations where the standard is consistently missed, AI looks up production notes and suggests possible causes.
Sales
Delivery date for sales
When a salesperson asks, AI looks up the order status and drafts a reply with the date from the plan.

AI training for your team A plastics plant under one ERP instead of four islands

Not sure where to start? AI readiness test

Frequently asked

What you ask us about MES and production planning.

A system that collects data straight from production, meaning who is working on what, how many pieces are finished, how many are scrap and where work is waiting. The ERP knows what should be made, the MES knows what is actually being made.

Let us meet

Show us how you plan today.

Tell us where you keep the plan and how data from the shop floor reaches you. We will come back with a proposal for the first step.