|
by Stephanie Neil, MA Editorial Staff   | Abstract: | One MES vendor makes a case for the pure-play approach. |
While most manufacturing execution system (MES) software vendors are cozying up with their ERP counterparts, some companies are content to fly solo. Take VIA Information Tools Inc., a discrete-based MES vendor with a specialty in automotive. This 20-year-old company is not lining up to get NetWeaver-certified. Why should it, asks President and CEO Gregory DeLaere, when perfectly good integration methods already exist? "The ERP [systems] we deal with are easily integrated with APIs or middleware," DeLaere says. "I'm not sure what value there is with 'extremely tight integration' beyond what is available already. There are reasons why the ERPs have these APIs and set transactions for you to link into." Getting certified can be extremely expensive, DeLaere says, and from a functional standpoint, it is not necessary. "We can do it already," he says. [Click to continue] |