In the aerospace & defense (A&D) industry, choosing a manufacturing execution system (MES) can be a defining moment for the individuals involved and the organization they serve. Being successful means choosing an MES that streamlines communication between engineers and the shop-floor technicians.
We’ve all seen how, without an MES, instructions can be less than clear and timely, often buried or lost in exhaustive email chains. But an MES built with A&D in mind helps clarify these important communications, delivering precise information when and where it’s needed. The result is increased throughput, with fewer mistakes and a lower cost of poor quality (COPQ).
How an MES Fosters Effective Communication
As a former engineer on the operations floor, I’ll readily admit engineers often consider themselves to be responsible for saving companies money, for their very success, everything short of world peace. But deep down, we know where the rubber meets the road is with the technicians and mechanics on the shop floor. Your customers, contracts, and bottom line are beholden to them. The more we can reframe our mindset to realize how important they are, the more we’ll increase profit, reduce backlogs, and lower that all-important COPQ.
Engineers should always strive to make life easier for the technicians, who, let’s face it, are the kings on the shop floor. Put them first, and you’ll enjoy success. But the way communication flows between engineering and the shop floor is often at odds with that goal, and that’s what a good MES should remedy.
Techs on the floor need clear, timely, approved instructions. It’s best when these instructions follow a consistent structure and format, especially when any changes are communicated. Missing information or insufficient detail – such as visuals, 3D models, DWGs, various manuals, and technical publications – can create delays and lead to issues, including costly mistakes and overall frustration.
When information is fragmented or disconnected from the product or process, even experienced shopfloor technicians can struggle to interpret it effectively.
Consider an email that says, “Stop working on product X until I provide instructions.” Work has to stop until those instructions come along later in the same email chain, but likely not with the level of detail required to instill complete confidence in the technician. Maybe the tech restarts the process anyway before additional details arrive, perhaps doing more harm than good. Or the tech waits while more questions go back and forth, all the while losing valuable time.
Now consider the same interaction using the right MES. First, the MES will house a work order with all salient details on the process, including relevant standards, diagrams, and other visuals. If a change comes along, it is likewise communicated via the MES. Importantly, any change must first be properly approved, which won’t happen unless it addresses all relevant steps in the process. These changes must then be highlighted so shop floor techs can easily see what needs to be addressed, and exactly what’s different from the original instructions.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of clear, complete, timely communication. That’s what instills the sense of confidence that the email method lacks. Anything less can lead to rework, which costs time and money. Nobody wants to do things twice and have to scrap parts. An MES ensures processes are completed correctly the first time, with no wasted work.
How management benefits from an MES
Upper-level executives, of course, applaud nearly anything that cuts costs. The same MES provides them with high-integrity data capture, enabling them to immediately begin running reports and seeing the return on investment through increases in throughput, along with decreases in rework and late deliveries.
In many cases, executives are themselves engineers who came from shop-floor environments, so they intuitively understand the benefits MESs bring, including the various disparate systems an MES can potentially displace, many of which are paper-based.
For middle management, MESs address a pressing concern: a lack of instant and accurate metrics. In A&D, many organizations are metric-poor. It falls on middle managers and their subject matter experts to help correct that, often by collecting and correlating spreadsheets to derive meaningful numbers and statistics. We all know those spreadsheets are often riddled with human error, and can take so long to create that they’re outdated by the time you click send.
An MES, on the other hand, is based on accurate, up-to-date data. They enable executives to generate reports on their own, including from predefined templates. Managers can likewise generate real-time reports to keep tabs on the products and customer deliveries under their supervision and identify when course corrections are necessary.
The Difference a Purpose-built MES Makes
But not just any MES will meet the needs of these various constituencies. It helps to have deep knowledge and understanding of the industry requirements.
When it comes to aerospace & defense manufacturing, that’s what iBase-t brings. We were born in the A&D space and have spent decades refining Solumina MES, driven by requests and requirements from our A&D customers. I’m confident that if you spend some time with Solumina, you’ll immediately recognize the value it brings.
We want to make sure that when your company chooses Solumina, it will be a career-defining move for all those involved – in the best possible way. I’d suggest watching this video to see how the Solumina MES helps modern manufacturers create a connected, digital-first environment that meets the needs of the most demanding A&D environments.
If you have questions or would like to share your thoughts. Reach out to me on LinkedIn.
