The MES sits at the intersection of two worlds: the business-level planning done in ERP systems (SAP, Oracle) and the physical production executed by machines on the shopfloor. ERP knows what to produce; the MES knows how, when, and whether it was produced correctly.
MESA International and ISA-95 define 11 core MES functions:
| System | Primary Function | Data Focus | Time Horizon |
|---|---|---|---|
| ERP | Business planning, financials, inventory, procurement | Orders, costs, BOMs, delivery dates | Days–weeks |
| MES | Production execution, quality, traceability, OEE | Production orders, WIP, quality results, OEE | Minutes–hours |
| SCADA | Supervisory control, machine data acquisition | PLC values, alarms, sensor readings | Milliseconds–seconds |
See Shopfloor Copilot MES in action → Real-time OEE, predictive maintenance, shift handover, and OPC UA connectivity — on-premise.
Explore Platform →An MES monitors, tracks, documents, and controls production processes in real time. It sits between ERP (which plans production orders) and shopfloor machines (which execute them), translating business orders into machine instructions and reporting actual results back to ERP.
SCADA focuses on real-time data collection and machine control at the equipment level. MES operates higher — tracking production orders, managing WIP, recording genealogy, and reporting to business systems. SCADA feeds data into MES; MES provides business context.
Per ISA-95: Resource Allocation, Scheduling, Dispatching, Document Control, Data Collection, Labor Management, Quality Management, Process Management, Maintenance Management, Product Tracking, and Performance Analysis (OEE).
Related glossary entries: