Often there is a problem of aligning production management systems (equipment, personnel) called manufacturing execution systems with resource planning systems such as Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management. Custom MESs that are tailored to the manufacturer's requirements can be created for a variety of reasons. At the same time, manufacturers face difficulties when integrating such systems with ERP systems.

In this excerpt, we will talk about the most common problems in integrating these two systems. We will also understand how integration can help shape the concept of the manufacturing floor.

Challenges met while integrating

There are several problems that can be caused by the integration of MES with ERP systems:

• Cost: Since the integration often takes more time, the cost can be much higher than originally planned by the customer.
• Archiving and signal playback: If there is no implementation of this possibility during integration, then it is difficult to reproduce a signal when incoming or outgoing data.
• Debugging: Troubleshooting becomes difficult when two different systems are linked. In this case, error messages appear. This means that data is not syncing or validation is not performed.
• Key Points: There are signal bursts in the production floor, for example, many reports are completed in a short time. Of key importance is the importance that, after integration, the system would cope with such spikes.
• Personal Notification: Very often, integration causes the problem of not being able to notify a specific team or specific person. Even if the responsibility for integration lies with one person, it takes time to determine who is exactly responsible for solving any issue.
• Data fragmentation: data can be present both in the first and in the second system, but not be synchronized. However, synchronization is important for an accurate picture of the status of orders on the shop floor.
• Out-of-order or multiple deliveries: Each system has its own set of deliveries and releases. Updates can occur at different times and should not affect the other system. Delivery synchronization can be one of the integration issues.
• Limited reusability: Once the integration is complete, it is usually shared between the two systems. When a different production site is involved, a completely new integration implementation may be required.

Keep your data up to date in an integrated solution

The need for manual input and the ability to maintain the relevance of data in both systems is possible only thanks to the automated data exchange in an integrated solution. For example, if a material use is marked in MES, then it will also be registered in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management. Inventory data is available for planning and sales. To solve all of the above integration problems, Microsoft is releasing a tool for smooth and hassle-free integration.

Article publication source:
https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/