Oracle introduces manufacturing execution systems for discrete and process manufacturers

Two new MES offerings give manufacturers greater control and visibility over shop floor operations.

By Bob Trebilcock, Editor at Large -- Modern Materials Handling, 4/2/2007

Today, Oracle released manufacturing execution systems (MES) for both discrete and process manufacturers.

The new solutions, part of the Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12, enable manufacturers that have been using Oracle’s costing, planning and scheduling solutions to also manage shop floor activities with Oracle applications.

“Having an MES that is integrated with the ERP (enterprise resource planning) system reduces the up-front implementation costs and reduces the total cost of ownership,” says Karen Theel, senior director of process manufacturing and product development.

The systems mark a departure for Oracle. “We are well-known in discrete manufacturing for our enterprise-level solutions,” says Manish Modi, vice president of manufacturing and product lifecycle management development. “Now, we’ve added more capabilities to come up with an MES for the shop floor.”

Software features
The discrete system provides supervisors with a single launching pad to view key performance indicators as well as detailed shop floor status. That allows them to monitor resource loads and rearrange production schedules as required. The release also equips manufacturers with new workbench capabilities to allow shop floor personnel to efficiently and effectively execute, record and monitor activities.

The MES for process manufacturing meets the specific needs of process industries like food and beverage, life sciences and pharmaceuticals. It also includes the ability to create an electronic master batch record to meet FDA and other government compliance regulations.

“We also added a non-conformist management feature that allows us to capture information when a deviation from the recipe occurs and include that in the master batch record,” says Theel.

Integration with WMS and TMS
Both the discrete- and process-focused solutions are integrated with Oracle’s warehouse (WMS) and transportation management (TMS) systems to provide end-to-end control of supply chain processes, from the time an order is received in an order management system from a customer until the finished product is delivered to the end user.

“We are giving you a completely integrated solution,” says Modi. “The same WMS and TMS functionality that’s used to pick and ship orders from your customer can also be used to deliver product from the warehouse to the manufacturing line.”