Adaptable Manufacturing Execution Systems for Scalable Production

In today’s rapidly changing industrial landscape, the need for constant evolution is crucial for manufacturing companies to maintain competitiveness. This paper places a particular emphasis on scaling the generated production output and implementing product changes. The aim of this paper is to derive change requirements that arise within the core IT system on shopfloor level, the Manufacturing Execution System (MES). In this context, a multi-tier MES framework is developed, alongside the identification of twelve key mechanisms of change. Through a series of expert interviews, this paper explores the evolving needs for change that emerge during the process of creating an adaptable MES. Highlighting the current static nature of systems, this paper clusters the emerging needs for change across the various levels of the framework. The resulting impact model defines change requirements for adaptable MES and therefore contributes significantly to enhancing manufacturing flexibility on the system side.