Making MES fit for Industry 4.0

VDI Guideline 5600

Mara Hofacker, 21.06.2021, 04:54

Making MES fit for Industry 4.0

The new Sheet 7 of VDI Guideline 5600, which MPDV experts were involved in creating, shows where a classic MES needs to improve.

Experts from MPDV are involved in the Association of German Engineers (VDI) in terms of standardizing requirements for MES. © VDI, MPDV

For a long time, a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) was considered an established tool for transparent and efficient production. With Industry 4.0, however, many new requirements have been added. Using practical case studies, the new Sheet 7 of VDI Guideline 5600 explains where a classic MES needs to make improvements. Experts from MPDV were involved in the creation of this guideline.

"The ideas that the future project Industry 4.0 brings with it require new applications and functions. The MES concept also benefits from the new challenges," explains Markus Diesner, Marketing Specialist Products at MPDV, who was actively involved in the creation of VDI Guideline 5600 Sheet 7. "We are involved in the VDI for two reasons: On the one hand, we contribute our expertise to the standardization process. And secondly, we value the exchange with other experts. That way, we always have our finger on the pulse." Markus Diesner is already involved in the next VDI project: Sheet 8 of VDI Guideline 5600 will deal with new interfaces, interfaces that an MES needs in the age of Industry 4.0.

"If you read the new VDI guideline correctly, it becomes clear why we chose the platform as the only sensible implementation architecture with HYDRA X," says Diesner. "The flexibility required for Industry 4.0 can only be achieved through appification and platform economy. Our Manufacturing Integration Platform (MIP) can do both - on the one hand, it is the basis for HYDRA X and, on the other, it offers many other providers, users and integrators an open ecosystem for manufacturing IT."

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