Industry 4.0 is a name for the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. It includes cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, cloud computing and cognitive computing. Industry 4.0 is commonly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution.
Manufacturing execution systems (MES) are computerized systems used in manufacturing, to track and document the transformation of raw materials to finished goods. MES provides information that helps manufacturing decision makers understand how current conditions on the plant floor can be optimized to improve production output.
MES works in real time to enable the control of multiple elements of the production process (e.g. inputs, personnel, machines and support services).
production processes from the beginning of the order to the release of finished products.
How do MES Systems and ERP Systems differ, and why are they placed on different levels of information structure?
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is being used to plan the execution of orders which means respond to the questions: when and how many products must be produced? MES Systems (manufacturing execution system) focus on the question: how in fact production is produced? and operate with more accurate information about production processes.