MES Alternatives: When a Lightweight OEE Platform Beats Full MES in 2026 The default assumption in many plants is that improving production performance requires MES. This assumption comes from a decade of industry marketing, a reasonable concern about piecemeal...
MES RFP Template: How to Structure Vendor Proposals to Get Comparable Answers The typical MES RFP failure pattern looks like this: the plant sends a 30-page RFP to six vendors, receives six 80-page proposals back four weeks later, and then spends three months trying...
The MES Buyer’s Checklist: 42 Questions to Ask Before Signing the Contract in 2026 An MES selection is one of the higher-stakes decisions a manufacturing operation makes in any given five-year window. The software touches production scheduling, quality records,...
The impact of 5S on OEE is a subject underestimated by most manufacturers. 5S is often reduced to a tidying-up exercise, a cosmetic exercise to be carried out before an audit or a customer visit. This is a fundamental misunderstanding. 5S is a direct lever...
Make-to-order vs. make-to-stock OEE is a subject that most manufacturers ignore. A make-to-stock plant and a make-to-order plant may use the same machines and the same ERP. But the way OEE impacts their performance, production planning and profitability is...
When we talk about OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), we immediately think of the field: availability machines, rates, scrap. OEE has an impact on suppliers and customers far beyond the shop floor, yet most manufacturers still treat it as a “business...
