Make that change: The transition to MES technology

Paul Fay, senior MES service manager at Zenith Technologies, discusses the industry needs and trends which are driving the transition to manufacturing execution system (MES) technology.

Transitioning to MES technology

Evolving regulatory landscapes and regulatory pressures are driving pharmaceutical companies to make the transition to MES technology. These intelligent systems improve efficiency and enable the better utilisation of resources, which can help manufacturers to optimise their overall production processes in single plants, as well as across global manufacturing facilities. With emerging Industry 4.0, manufacturing system environments are becoming more essential but also more complex, creating a need for sustaining support for organisations to ensure availability and compliance.

Ensuring data integrity is a priority for all manufacturers. They need to ensure that data is accurate and stored securely, while also providing the transparency and accessibility to streamline operations across their enterprises. At the same time, the complexity of managing drug programmes is increasing, with faster turnaround times for new products, a trend towards personalised medicines for smaller patient populations, and corporate policy changes, all calling for better ways to record data and standardise processes, while helping to facilitate faster decision-making.

When making the decision to implement or upgrade their MES technology, manufacturers generally create a project proposal that considers system, development and integration costs. Some manufacturers also consider the staff development that will need to occur. In these planning stages, one area that is often overlooked is the costs associated with supporting MES technology during its lifecycle. Companies often make decisions to replace their systems for the wrong reasons, for example if a software issue occurs or a fault develops, when in reality proper maintenance and system updates can avoid this.

Addressing the challenges

MES solutions are too frequently being replaced without their true value being recognised. Getting the most out of MES often requires the expertise of skilled engineers that can provide on-going support. Consider car ownership, as an example, and the need for a professional service – why shouldn’t it be the same for MES technology?

Most operational challenges occur when systems are not adequately supported. This can have a real impact on the return on investment achieved, as the system is not running efficiently, suffers downtime and it can appear that it needs replacing. However, if a structured support system was in place managing the lifecycle of the system, the technology would have a considerably longer life.

A cost-effective support model

In implementing a support model, there are several factors that should be considered. These include the resources available, the number of sites covered and the specific teams in place. For example, a single site team will often have one or a small group of people responsible for delivering support requirements. While they can provide the required support, they can also act as a single point of failure. For a multi-site company, this resource would have to be replicated on each site, which is not a cost-effective way to operate.

On the other hand, remote resources with a larger team of experts can support multiple sites and prove much more economical. This is known as a managed service, giving accountability to another company to support the continued running of the MES. This type of service can support multiple sites, across different geographic regions, seamlessly, while also helping companies easily account for growth by bringing unmatched levels of scalability based on current needs.

A managed service approach enables the sharing of resources between sites, using common processes. As a global team, all parties can see all issues that affect the MES system. Therefore, knowledge and capabilities grow, which benefits all sites, not just those that have seen a particular issue. At the same time this brings standardisation and the capability to implement and improve corporate policy. Each service request or incident should be viewed as a learning opportunity.

Manufacturing systems should be supported in the same process driven way that IT operations are managed, on an on-going basis. The processes to execute an IT support framework are equally applicable to manufacturing systems. The information technology infrastructure library (ITIL) model provides a best practice way of doing this, increasing long term value. ITIL provides a service management framework, which includes resource and service level management, through to service and system lifecycle management.

Conclusion

In summary, by keeping MES technology updated and supported, its lifecycle can be prolonged. By considering the requirement for ongoing support at the conception of the project, this can easily be incorporated into the project plan and budget. This will not only mean that projects are more cost-effective, as the lifecycle is extended, it will also ensure that operations run smoothly, getting the maximum output from manufacturers’ investments.