M A N U FAC T U R I N G E X E C U T I O N SYST E M S
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MES in bakeries Every bakery is familiar with software terms such as cash register system, ERP, merchandise management, recipe management, shipping system and a few more. In the meantime, the term MES has also entered the vocabulary of innovative bakery businesses.
What is the difference between ERP systems, MES and recipe management? ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, also known as merchandise management systems, regulate the business processes in companies. In the ERP system, suppliers are managed in food companies, orders are triggered at suppliers, branches or other customers’ orders are accepted or invoices are created. These are functions that map the commercial process. MES systems regulate the production process. In MES systems three main resources are managed: Personnel, Material and Equipment. These resources are also used in ERP systems to calculate products. Production plans are also created in the ERP system, but ERP systems lack real-time reference to production. MES systems are closer to production. In the MES system, detailed production planning is carried out on the basis of the actual availability of resources. Compliance with the production plan can be monitored in real-time and short-term measures can be taken to reschedule in the event
of deviations. Qualitative production data acquisition in real-time in the form of continuous quality checks by tapping machine data or recording random checks by employees are also typical features of MES systems. In contrast to ERP systems, the data in MES systems is recorded promptly and punctually made available to the employee as support in production. In this way, the production manager or line supervisor has a view of the actual situation of production quality and performance at all times and can react immediately in the event of deviations. Recipe management is a module of a MES system. Recipes are of course also required in ERP systems for product costing. In MES systems, recipes are referred to as processes. Processes take into account all three resources: material, personnel and equipment. In ERP systems, only the material list, the so-called Bill of Material (BOM), is required for price and nutritional value calculation. In MES systems, the entire production process can be described in the recipes. In this way, technical steps such as kneading times, stirring times for sourdough production, temperature setpoints for production processes, etc. are also defined. These steps are then passed on to the plant or plant section in the correct sequence at the correct time. The actual measured values are returned by the machines as feedback. In this way, it is
I NETSE R M I NV IBE AWK E R I E S
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MES, Manufacturing Execution System is a software solution that manages, controls and monitors a production process. An MES system can map the entire production process from planning to quality assurance, effectiveness measurement and much more, from goods receipt to goods issue.
