Manufacturing ERP software systems have traditionally been accounting-based systems with a small amount of shop floor functionality thrown in to help support the operational requirements of manufacturers. Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) often do the heavy lifting as jobs leave the front office, helping to ensure efficient workflows, keep equipment at high levels of output, and schedules moving along. The fact that there is a minimum of two major software systems helping to run the company can cause extra work, lost business intelligence, reduced efficiency and much more.
Manufacturing is becoming ever more competitive, with high stakes for execution of complex manufacturing systems with more automation, and fewer workers producing more output than ever before. IIOT and I4.0 is ushering in an era where the office and the shop floor need to be more connected than ever before. ERP companies will need to either partner with MES companies more closely, developing collaborations to allow the free flow of data from the shop into the office, or develop their own tools to help workers on the factory floor reach peak efficiency.
