“We were working with a dairy company in
Europe who wanted to track the genealogy of the milk. The thing that blew them away was when they found out it was a simple matter to track energy consumption while making the batches and then correlate the two. It helps them calculate margin per customer—a number valuable for further business analysis.”

An MES implementation is only as good as the data input. There are only a few current methods: manual entry, RFID, vision systems and bar code. Alex Stuebler, manager of factory automation sensors at Siemens Energy & Automation Inc., in
Alpharetta, Ga., and Maryanne Steidinger, senior market development manager, also at Siemens E&A, discuss the role of MES and RFID input.

Take the case of an engine manufacturer that needed to implement a tracking system with MES and RFID. Steidiger notes that when companies with an ERP system put out a request for an MES system, it is for track-and-trace as one of the key components. “If you have a repair item, you need to isolate the products affected when you initiate the recall. Track-and-trace is one way you know what went into the car, helping with the recall problem.” The engineering and IT departments need to work together on this issue, she says. Adds Stuebler, “There was an engine manufacturer where the IT department implemented an MES and looked into RFID for data collection. They didn’t talk to the controls department who already had RFID installed all over the plant.”

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