Thursday, July 30, 2015

Snapping into focus: Visibility across the network

In FocusAs anyone knows who has suddenly seen the individual leaves on the trees when they get new glasses, visibility is transformative. Gartner recently released its Market Guide for Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)Software, in which the research and advisory company identified Savigent Software as a "best-of-breed MES vendor." As the Market Guide notes, one of the top reasons businesses cite to justify investing in MES is increasing visibility across the manufacturing network.

The field of “big data,” which looks for useful
relationships hidden in large data sets, is predicated on having a well-organized and clean data set on which to perform the analysis. But without visibility, without uniform access to that datamore than half of manufacturing organizations simply don’t have sufficient insight into their manufacturing processes.

Instead of basic techniques that rely on making corrections based on post-processing measurements, top MES solutions like the Savigent software suite offer innovation that captures internal tool sensor parameters individually and stores them in one highly accessible database. This allows the use of this previously unavailable data in real time to develop and implement state-of-the-art tool control methods far beyond simple statistical process control. Identifying faults and patterns and correcting them in real time means faster production cycles, decreased material waste and decreased energy use.

So an integrated MES solution offers the right blend of sensors, connectivity, data collection, analytics and real-time access to the data to allow manufacturers to develop ground-breaking tool control methods. But far beyond the plant floor, as the Gartner report underscores, MES helps manufacturers really see the big picture, enabling better decisions, reducing errors and driving optimization.