For some time I have been working with MES based applications and tried to convince new and existing customers that it would help them in their day-to-day business and bring value to their company to implement a MES solution.

Some decision makers are reluctant to start a MES implementation in their factory, because they have heard so much about the size and costs of such projects.

Instead of forcing these companies into a Big Bang implementation of a MES solution, I have had good experience using a simpler approach.

I start with the core functionality of any MES - the integration - to make the implementation simple and to fit it into the customer's needs, and then extend the functionality later, when the organization is ready and need it.

The solution is based on commonly known standards like ISA-95 and B2MML and this paper describes the functionality and gives examples of how the standards can be used in “real-life”.