The MES industry will be 16 years old next year, and it has been a stormy childhood indeed. The term was first coined by AMR in 1990, and MES rode the Gartner hype cycle almost to perfection, with one glaring exception: MES was almost always the manufacturing investment that was postponed for other, more popular solutions. Recently, however, MES has become more celebrated than ever, and finally crossed the $1 billion barrier in 2004 (according to AMR Research). MES continues to be recognized as a critical tool in reaching compliance goals, achieving the real-time enterprise, and delivering on the ERP promises that ERP solutions themselves could not deliver.
As a two-term Chair of MESA International during the mid- to late-1990s, I saw firsthand how ERP vendors aggressively marketed MES-like capabilities with no real ability to deliver, while automation vendors, who had the potential to deliver, were still transforming from hardware-centric product/distribution models to a more software-driven enterprise solutions model. While MES seemed a more natural fit for automation, the rapid rise of ERP vendors and the sheer size of enterprise ERP deals made them an analyst's dream.
Now MES is in the headlines and is finally gaining its rightful place as a must-have solution for manufacturers, while the mature ERP market is rapidly consolidating. MES is now discussed in the same context as service-oriented architecture (SOA), which is one of the hotter areas in information technology today, while ERP is being discussed in the context of last decade's answer to integrating the manufacturing enterprise.
Rockwell recently acquired DataSweep, an MES vendor whose success inspired renewed interest in the space. The acquisition is part of Rockwell's strategy to offer a united solution for MES-like functionality to finally bridge the gap between the plant floor and business systems of the manufacturing enterprise. Rockwell hopes to introduce the concept of SOA to the MES domain and eliminate the integration burden that has plagued the MES space since its inception. Yet while Rockwell claims to deliver an SOA in its FactoryTalk suite, that statement suggests a misunderstanding of SOA. SOA cannot be acquired as a product from any vendor, and as much as they would like it to be so, Rockwell's claim that FactoryTalk is an SOA is just that -- talk.
Rockwell is not alone. SOA and Web services are very misunderstood in most organizations today, even in early adopter industries, and despite the fact that most are moving forward with SOA implementation plans over the next few years. Other manufacturing software vendors allude to SOA and Web services in their marketing literature, hoping to use the buzz to enhance their solutions.
The point is this: MES is enjoying its day in the sun because of its ability to solve real problems and deliver tangible value to manufacturers. Its vendors can benefit from incorporating SOA concepts into its solution architectures, but they should shy away from claiming they are implementing an SOA. Perhaps such vendors should offer their products as a set of "services" that are discovered and invoked by consumers in a producer/consumer model.
While its childhood was challenging, MES should blossom in adulthood -- because it really does work, really does offer tangible value, and really does what it claims. MES does not have to latch onto SOA hype for its success, but helping an organization's SOA strategy will surely help. Enjoy the prom, MES!