Frequently asked MES questions
Short answers about MES, ERP, SCADA, ISA‑95, OEE, quality, maintenance and cloud deployment.
What does MES do?
MES coordinates and records manufacturing execution: production orders, operations, material, quality, resources, WIP, genealogy and performance.
Is MES the same as ERP?
No. ERP typically manages enterprise planning and transactions; MES manages manufacturing execution closer to production.
Is MES the same as SCADA?
No. SCADA supervises equipment/processes; MES adds production-order, material, quality and operational business context.
What is ISA-95?
ISA-95 / IEC 62264 is a standards framework for enterprise-control integration and manufacturing operations models.
What is OEE?
OEE is commonly calculated as Availability × Performance × Quality, with each factor expressed as a percentage.
Does MES replace a QMS?
Usually not. MES can execute and record production-context quality checks while a broader QMS may own nonconformance, CAPA and enterprise quality processes.
Does MES replace CMMS/EAM?
Usually not. MES can share production downtime and equipment state, while CMMS/EAM owns maintenance work and asset-maintenance history.
Can MES run in the cloud?
Yes, depending on product and architecture. Cloud, on-premises and hybrid models have different plant-connectivity, outage and lifecycle tradeoffs.