Want to make faster decisions? You’ll need timely access to data. But for most manufacturers, that’s easier said than done.
Your shop floor systems are probably disconnected from the enterprise systems that run your business. This means that if you want to keep track of what’s happening out there, your staff must spend hours punching in data, preparing reports, and distributing them to decision-makers.
But even after all this effort, your decision-makers will end up with a view of what happened in your business yesterday—or perhaps days ago. How can you do better? Where can your team get the real-time data they need to make real-time decisions?
From your manufacturing execution system (MES).
Find that hard to believe? You’re probably thinking of the monolithic systems manufacturers relied on in the past. The modern cloud-based MES is far more flexible, scalable, and responsive than its predecessors.
Here are three ways in which a cloud-based MES can help your stakeholders make real-time decisions.
Enhanced Customer Service
When your team members have real-time information on plant capacity or can access operational data from a mobile device, they can deliver much faster, more knowledgeable customer service. The quality and timeliness of your data can have a positive effect on your production planning and operational efficiency—enabling more on-time deliveries and establishing you as a supplier that keeps its promises.
To get the greatest benefit from real-time information, don’t stop at implementing a modern MES. Install large monitors throughout your offices and across your shop floor, so that everyone can keep an eye on operational metrics and work to improve them.
You can even propagate this information beyond the four walls of your facilities. Modern MES enables you to configure permissions so that your key personnel can access this real-time data from any mobile device.
Greater Operational Efficiency
The real-time data within a cloud-based MES doesn’t just help you give customers the answers they want. It also helps you run your operations more efficiently.
Everything you do on the shop floor is backed up by a transaction within your cloud MES. This means you can streamline your business and operations, giving you the ability to count inventory without going out on the shop floor. Close your books in a fraction of the time. And show your exact inventory position as you try to secure that next round of funding.
You can also scan and track every piece of inventory, enabling total forward and backward traceability. Knowing exactly what you have on hand will give you the confidence to keep leaner safety stock, freeing up capital for more strategic uses.
Less Unplanned Downtime
It’s not enough to install sensors all over your plant floor and then simply store the data they generate. A cloud MES can be your hub for monitoring machine health, analyzing trends, and taking proactive action that keeps your plant humming.
We can’t promise cloud MES is the silver bullet that will prevent all unplanned downtime in the future. But we’re already seeing that because cloud MES can talk to smart tools, sensors, and web-enabled machines, it can deliver a steady stream of information about the operational health of your assets.
These are just three of the top benefits of cloud MES. Learn more by downloading a free white paper.
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