Features of an MES Project in the Brewing Industry

An MES project in the brewing industry is characterized by many elements. The first element is certainly to manage production and brewing equipment following product specifications. To do this, we rely on batch systems that drive the production equipment to comply with the brew recipes, execution time and process parameters. But this is not enough in a modern brewing operation.  Standardization of the product produced in different plants is very important along with the need for quality and efficiency. Therefore, it becomes very important to have a tool, positioned between the batch production management system and the ERP, focused on the information needs of the operators and managers.

This system must be able to provide operators with accurate information when needed and must be able to answer five key questions:

1. What is being produced?
2. When will it be produced?
3. How much will be produced?
4. Where should it be produced?
5. How should it be produced?

A system able to answer to these questions can help operators achieve their set industrial goals. Answering the first question, “What is being produced?” prevents unwanted finished products.  Answering the second question “When will it be produced?” creates schedules, and reduces inventories of raw materials while responding to the demands of the market. Answering the third question, “How much will be produced?” prevents excessive stock of finished goods that are not required.  The fourth question “Where should it be produced?” helps optimize the use of production equipment and avoid production faults.  The final question, “How should it be produced?” addresses meeting the required quality parameters.

This system should allow key personnel, from the line managers to the plant manager to control the production and manufacturing processes. In a modern plant, managers are inundated with information and often cannot process it all in order to make the right decisions. Identifying the causes of inefficiency, excessive cost and lack of competitiveness in the market is often very difficult. An MES system can provide a set of KPIs that can illuminate the right direction for managers, help improve the efficiency of the production teams, optimize the use of equipment and help high-level managers make strategic decisions such as whether to buy new lines or move production capacity into other areas.

The primary characteristics of an MES project include

• Standard interface with the Batch system to acquire process data.
• HMI interface with the ERP system to receive production schedule
• KPI engines able to calculate and visualize synthetic information for management