Integrated Manufacturing Execution Systems — Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: From Systems Integration to Comprehensive Optimization of Business Processes

Today, the optimum management of complex production plants requires a complex data processing network connecting the logistic, technical and economic world. Consequently, systems integration projects, in which such IT systems are installed, take up a central position. At the same time, these Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) — here also called Operation Management Systems — represent integration projects, which primarily focus on business processes between the Process Control System level and the organizational management level and involve several different systems. Looking at the history of integrated Operation Management Systems at

Bayer AG

, this article will give an example of the gradual convergence of Process Management systems and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) — also called Organizational Management Systems here. It will become evident that a consistent data model is of crucial importance for the horizontal and vertical integration of all systems within an organization. In order to achieve maximum optimization, the business processes must be represented appropriately. As an example of a modern, recipe-based, and fully-integrated Operation Management System, we will examine order processing inside a state-of-the-art, multioperational company. Finally, we will give an outlook on the future development of Operation Management Systems.