APS & MES: What does each offer?

We live in a moment where the manufacturing market becomes every day more competitive and dynamic, making companies seek solutions that allow them to have better control of their production, increase their productive efficiency and reduce losses. This need comes the desire to find technologies that help us produce more quickly, cheaply, qualified and effective.

By starting the demand for expert tools to assist in the management, planning, programming and control of their production, many companies end up with a doubt about which type of solution is the best to meet their needs and actually solve their problems. When you start research, different options begin to emerge, and we often can't translate into practice the role of each tool and how they can help us.

Within this context, two types of tools emerge as capable of helping companies improve their monitoring of the production process and seek to obtain a competitive advantage through PPC: MES software and APS software.

MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) software is a tool focused on production execution and control. The main objective of MES software is to enable the efficient execution of production orders and monitor equipment and production records. Some of the benefits you can expect from MES software are: reduced scrap and rework, reduced maintenance costs, improved machine efficiency, reduced material losses, and improved quality of production information.

Among the main functionalities of an MES we can list:

• Automation of production data collection;
• Online production management;
• Equipment Performance Analysis ( OEE - Overall Equipment Effectiveness );
• Material and inventory control automation;
• Aid in quality control;
• Capture of real cost data;
• Online maintenance control.

Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) software are widely used tools in production planning and programming . It is focused on sequencing and planning with finite capacity, that is, taking into account various restrictions of the factory floor such as resources, labor, productive calendars, tooling and others. Among the benefits that APS software can highlight: Reduction of factory crossing time, inventory reduction, setup reduction, better use of resources and improvement in delivery deadlines.

APS, in turn, has its main features listed below:

• Production planning generating the mesproduction plan;
• Inventory policies planning;
• Generation of production orders;
• Sequencing of finite production orders;
• Simulation of different sequencing scenarios;
• Material management.

Generally speaking, MES is used at the operational level, monitoring work in progress and ensuring its execution, mesalso generating a comprehensive diagnosis of the historical production situation—an important input for the company's tactical decisions. Conversely, APS works at the operational and tactical levels, outlining plans with a short- and medium-term vision to meet the industry's objectives, and long-term vision to assist in strategic decisions related to production capacity and resource allocation. Both systems work in conjunction with the company's ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), maintaining constant communication and providing decision-makers with the information they need to be more assertive.

In the following image we seek to temporally exemplify the scope of acting of each solution:

MES and APS: Different scopes that complement each other.

It's worth noting that, despite having distinct scopes, the distinction between MES and APS isn't always clear. Each software has its own peculiarities and range of functions; however, you may find some overlap in the proposed features. Some MES software can provide functions that are generally within the scope of APS, and vice versa.

But the doubt persists, which one do I need? Well, we regret that there is no ready answer to this question. The list of features of each tool can be quite attractive, but the answer will depend on your company's short and long term needs. Often the answer is both, because far from being competing systems, they are actually complementary systems. And it is the combination of both that will give us complete control of production, ie planning, programming and control.