While manufacturing execution systems (MES) have been the traditional anchor point for integrating the plant with enterprise-level systems such as ERP, an Aberdeen Group report finds best-in-class manufacturers utilize manufacturing intelligence (MI) solutions to provide greater visibility and an added level of intelligence, enhancing the value gained from both ERP and MES.
"Best-in-class manufacturers are leveraging intelligent solutions that provide real-time visibility, event management and analytical tools that enhance proactive and predictive control to drive execution, instead of operating as another data collection system," says Maura Buxton, author of the study, "The Manufacturing Intelligence Benchmark Report."
In fact, best-in-class performers gained an average of 27 percent improvements in yield after implementing an MI solution, along with significant gains in capacity utilization (12 percent). Through this enhanced layer of intelligence, the best-in-class are placing a priority on quality measures, providing portal capabilities from operators to decision-makers and enabling root cause analysis. These gains exceeded the results of average and laggard companies, with yield in particular 20 percent higher than companies on average. Further analysis revealed that this is due to 68 percent of best-in-class performers placing priority on using manufacturing intelligence to reduce variability.
In addition to following best-in-class actions, the report recommends that companies should also evaluate their processes to ensure they effectively accomplish the following:
More than 440 companies participated in the quantitative study, including Ghirardelli Chocolate, Pfizer, Gillette and Nestle.
To obtain a complimentary report, visit http://aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=3594