MES Replacement
Why and How to Migrate MES to lower risk
Today, many manufacturers are faced with a decision about whether to invest more in the current MES or migrate to a modern MES. It’s a complex question. Yet for more and more companies, the risk of status quo with an outdated MES is higher than the risk of changing to a new MES.
This is true even though replacing the system that keeps a facility operating clearly carries many risks and challenges.
Some manufacturing IT professionals who work with older Manufacturing Execution Systems don’t know what they don’t know. Like how much risk those systems present. Or how dramatically more functional, usable, and upgradeable modern commercial MES can be. Some may also not be confident they know how to migrate in a way that is appropriate for their situation.
Why Replace MES
Your products, processes, operators and customers have no doubt changed dramatically since you first implemented an MES. For most older systems, these changes come at a high cost both in IT time, and in business risk based on the delays of setting up the system.
The reasons to switch range from supporting digital transformation initiatives and meeting customer needs to needs to accommodate new technologies in production and products. Understand how this replacement can forward your business’
- ability to compete
- agility to respond
- resilience to move into the future
- ability to leverage new technologies
How to Migrate to New MES
There is no single “best practice” approach to migrating from an older MES to a new one. The decision of which migration strategy to use is driven primarily by three factors that must be weighted depending on the levels of interdependence, automation and downtime impact.
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Risk: how much risk and risk exposure (probability x cost) is associated. |
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Time: how much time the project takes from start-to-finish, including the pre-migration, migration and post-migration phases.
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Cost: how much costs are involved in the planning and execution of the selected strategy, including opportunity costs (e.g.: downtime).
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Explore how to evaluate your situation, select and execute the optimal migration approach in this infographic:
INFOGRAPHIC - How to Plan and Execute an MES Migration Project
