MESA Blogs

MESA North America Metrics Makeover Success!

2011-11-17T15:20:00.000-08:00

The MESA North America Metrics Make-over was a success! The team presented the accomplishments at the North America MESA Conference, followed by an active question and answer session. Real-time Production KPIs were shown to provide tangible value, and the linkage between these metrics and Financial metrics was demonstrated. Key learning’s included:

Maximize MES or shop floor systems to track key manufacturing KPIs and improve operational performance

Use ERP (or other financial systems) to track and report financial data by operation in as much detail as possible

Analyze and determine correlation between operations and financial performance to find key manufacturing KPI linkage to business drivers

Start small in one operation or area and grow from there

New MESA Bookstore on Amazon

2011-08-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

New MESA Bookstore on Amazon: http://astore.amazon.com/m04ab-20. Purchase MESA-recommended books. Contact books@mesa.org or post here to recommend additional books!

North American Makeover team overcomes hurdle

2011-07-19T12:40:00.000-07:00

As with most projects, unforeseen issues arise during project startup and our makeover was no exception. Determining the initial scope was the first hurdle we encountered. After reviewing the entire process, we decided to focus the scope onto a single high impact process step. By doing this we will be able to focus on a set of Critical Process Parameters (CPP's) that can indeed drive business improvement and success.

We have assembled a strong cross functional team with operations, finance and management (for oversight) and this is a key to project success. Our makeover mission is to ensure that operators know the impact of CPP’s on the process and more importantly that management has the tools to tie the right CPP’s to financial results.

Next up is an example of cross functional analysis and how it can help the business as a whole.

Metrics Make-over Contest Winner Moving Forward After Initial Success

2011-07-13T17:02:00.000-07:00

Cormetech, Inc. of Durham, North Carolina, the winner of the Metrics Make-over Contest, has hosted their kick off meeting with Alta Via Consulting and Rockwell Automation. With an MES system already in place and initial success realized, there is now an on-going effort of continuous improvement and decision support. This next phase is focusing on linking Cormetech operations and financial metrics to create accurate and timely cost and management information. Learn more at www.MESA.org, at the North American MESA Conference in Florida, the European MESA Conference in Jaarbeurs, Utrcht, The Netherlands and from upcoming MESA white papers.

2011-05-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

The MESA International Board of Directors has approved a major expansion of the MESA Global Education Program. We are now in the process of planning new dates in Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Singapore in the second half of 2011,– in addition to our existing countries. While we plan the next set of program dates, you can still earn your own MESA Certificate of Awareness or Certificate of Competency and join this exclusive group. The program instructs Manufacturers, Producers and Solution Providers on how to marry the power of modern Information Technologies (IT) and the process / project rigor to implement them with your operational expertise to unlock the potential within your Operations.

Why Attend?
The MESA Global Education Program aggressively addresses the knowledge gap around practically applying modern IT solutions in your plants and across your enterprise. This knowledge gap is the primary barrier to growth of the Operations Management (MES/MOM) arena. Slowing that growth inhibits the realization of the significant gains available to end users who successfully embrace MES/MOM. So, End User Manufacturers/Producers and Solution Providers alike have reason to attend these programs. Which Program? MESA’s Certificate of Competency (CoC) and Certificate of Awareness (CoA) educational programs combine training materials from a broad spectrum of relevant subject matters and courses into a single learning event. Events vary in length of class time and depth of knowledge sharing of each course, as programs are tailored to their intended audience.

• Certificate of Competency (CoC) Programs are geared toward Systems Analysts, Architects, Programmers, Project Managers and Consultants

• Certificate of Awareness (CoA) Programs cater to executives, manufacturing/operations and IT personnel and sales professionals.

Program overviews, detailed abstracts, and schedules with registration information are online at: www.mesa.org/educationprogram

MESA Explains MES Training and Certification Program

2011-02-11T10:49:00.000-08:00

MESA International, the association of practitioners and suppliers of manufacturing enterprise solutions, has begun a training and certification program. To learn more, the association has scheduled live training on the Web in an open forum manner.

This open forum Webinar will explain the program highlights and answer your questions, such as:

- What is the difference between the Certificate of Awareness and Certificate of Competency?
- Who should attend and why?
- What is the value of the Certificates to me?
- How much will it cost and where are the programs held?
- Do you have a brief overview of the contents?
- Will there be an e-learning program?
- Who is MESA?

Title: What is the MESA Global Education Program all about?
Date: Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST
Register here.

MESA 2011 Conferences Announced

2011-02-03T09:26:00.000-08:00

MESA International today announced the dates for its 2011 Conferences. The North American Conference will be held Sept. 19 to 21 at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld in Orlando, Fla., and the European Conference will be held Nov. 8 to 10 at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, Netherlands. With the theme, “Cloudy with a Chance for Profits,” both conferences will provide attendees with a forum to network with peers and exchange strategies to drive real-time operations excellence.

Today’s fast-paced global economy significantly reduces the predictability of the supply chain environment, said John Southcott, chair, MESA International. “By increasing real-time visibility, companies can gain better control of production and more aggressively influence the cost, quality and profitability of their operations. The 2011 Conferences will address these challenges and showcase best practices for how companies are applying technology and processes to help them improve operations and drive profitability.”

MESA has also opened the call for presenters for both conferences. The call for presenters submission form for both events is available here. Interested presenters are encouraged to submit a proposed presentation title and a 250- to 300-word abstract for consideration by February 18. Speakers will be selected and notified by March 1.

More Info on MESA Training on manufacturing operations management

2011-01-22T04:55:00.000-08:00

MESA International, an international organization promoting best practices in manufacturing execution systems (MES) and manufacturing operations management (MOM), is launching two programs this year in a series of forums that are offering MES/MOM Methodology Certificate of Competency (CoC) and MES/MOM Methodology Certificate of Awareness (CoA).

Much of the training materials are derived from the ISA-95 Best Practices Working Group’s 20 Methodology Papers and the MESA Guidebooks. This new book published by the International Society of Automation (ISA), "When Worlds Collide in Manufacturing Operations: ISA-95 Best Practices Book 2.0," is derived from the papers. The book's outline is:

Chapter 1: Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) for Manufacturing Overview

Chapter 2: Data Architecture for MOM: The Manufacturing Master Data Approach

Chapter 3: Building a Manufacturing Transformation Strategy with ISA-95 Methods

Chapter 4: Work Process Management for Adaptive Manufacturing

Chapter 5: B2MML, Integration Patterns, and Data Mapping

Chapter 6: Integration of Manufacturing Intelligence with MOM

Chapter 7: Lifecycle of Service Creation using the ISA-95 MOM

MESA MES/MOM Methodologies Program: MESA Certificate of Competency (CoC, 4 Days)

This MESA CoC Program is a comprehensive program of MES/MOM Methodologies courses in a 4 Day Curriculum for MES/MOM Consultants, System Analysts, Architects, Programmers, and Project Managers.

CoC Program Courses Overview:

1. Manufacturing Operations Models and Integration Standards (3 hours)

2. The Role of MES/MOM System in Continuous Improvement and the Collaborative Pull Supply Chain (2 hours)

3. Manufacturing Transformation Strategy: Maturity and Roadmap Modeling(3 hour)

4. Metric Framework for Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence (EMI): Aligning Financial and Operations Metrics (4 hours)

5. MES/MOM System Justification and ROI Assessment (4 hours)

6. MES/MOM SOW, RFP and Product Evaluation Method (4 hours)

7. Manufacturing 2.0 Architecture Overview (SOA for Manufacturing) (4 hours)

8. MES/MOM Implementation and Governance: MES/MOM System Requirement Specifications, GAMP and Industrial System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Methods (4 hours)

9. MES/MOM Project Management Techniques (4 hours)

MESA MES/MOM Business Function Program: MESA Certificate of Awareness (CoA, 2 Days)

A MESA CoA Program is a high-level program of the MES/MOM Business Function courses in a 2 Day Curriculum for Executives, IT Professionals, and Manufacturing Professionals are short courses. These short courses are high-level versions of the 4 hour courses in the MES/MEM Methodology CoC Program.

CoA Program Courses

1. Strategic Relationships between MES/MOM, ERP, PLM, Supply Chain, BPM and Automation Initiatives (2 hours)

2. Market Requirement for Adaptive MES/MOM Systems based on Industry Standards (2 hours)

3. Manufacturing Transformation Strategy: Maturity and Roadmap Modeling (1 hour)

4. Justifying Manufacturing Operations System to Business Leaders (3 hours)

5. The Role of MES/MOM Systems in Continuous Improvement and the Collaborative Pull Supply Chain (1 hour)

6. Metric Framework for Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence (EMI): Aligning Financial and Operations Metrics (2 hours)

7. The Influence of Management Philosophy on MES/MOM Deployment and Governance (2 hours)

8. Choose the Right Solution: MES/MOM SOW, RFP and Product Evaluation Methods (2 hours)

9. MES/MOM Project Management Techniques (1 hours)

More information can be found on the Web here.

Course dates and locations are:

Chicago: CoC, March 7-11; CoA; March 14-15, 16-17

Sydney, Australia: CoC, April 5-8; CoA April 11-12.

Melbourne, Australia: CoA, April 14-15; CoC, April 18-21.

Philadelphia, PA: CoC, April 5-8; CoA, April 11-12

San Francisco, CA: CoA, May 5-6; CoC, May 9-12

Johannesburg, South Africa: CoC, May 4-7; CoA, May 11-12

Toronto/Mississauga, CN: CoC, May 31-June 3; 2 CoA. June 6-9

Copenhagen: COA, April 7-8

Haarlem, Netherlands: CoA, March 7 & 8

Nuneaton, UK: CoA, 28 Feb & Mar 1

Nuneaton, UK: CoC, 14-17 June

"When Worlds Collide in Manufacturing Operations: ISA-95 Best Practices Book 2.0," by Charlie Gifford, Editor and Contributing Author. ISA member price is $99.00, while non-members can purchase it for $109.00. Information can be found on the Web.

MESA Global Education Program Launches

2011-01-18T10:22:00.000-08:00

Important initiative addresses knowledge gap in Operations Management field globally

MESA International announced the launch of the MESA Global Education Program, delivering independent competency training in the MES/MOM (Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions/Manufacturing Operations Management) arena. The program aims to remove the recognized lack of wide-scale MES/MOM competency as a barrier to plant and supply chain optimization and global operations excellence.

With members in 78 countries, MESA is an independent, objective community of like-minded enterprises and people working to make Operations more reliable, capable and profitable. The MESA Global Education Program offers Certificate of Competency and Certificate of Awareness programs on different subjects and audiences. The initial programs offered focus on MES/MOM Methodologies and Business Awareness.

MESA Certificate of Competency (CoC): MES/MOM Methodologies – a 4-day, comprehensive program of MES/MOM Methodologies courses aimed at Systems Analysts, Architects, Programmers, Project Managers and Consultants.

MESA Certificate of Awareness (CoA): MES/MOM Business Awareness – a 2-day, high-level program of MES/MOM Business Functions courses geared for executives, manufacturing/operations and IT personnel and sales professionals.

Check here for course abstracts, schedules and registration information.

Locations MES/MOM Methodologies 4-day Certificate of Competency (CoC) MES/MOM Business Functions 2-day Certificate of Awareness (CoA)
Nuneaton United Kingdom June 14 – 17 February 28 – March 1
Haarlem The Netherlands March 7 – 8
Copenhagen Denmark April 7 – 8
Johannesburg South Africa May 4 – 7 May 11 – 12
Sydney Australia April 5 – 8 April 11 – 12
Melbourne Australia April 18 – 21 April 14 – 15
Chicago U.S.A. March 8 – 11 March 14 – 15, March 16 – 17
Philadelphia U.S.A. April 5 – 8 April 11 – 12, April 13 – 14
San Francisco U.S.A. May 9 – 12 May 3 – 4, May 5 – 6
Toronto/Mississauga Canada May 31 – June 3 June 6 – 7, June 8 – 9

MESA Best Practices Working Group Releases White Paper

2011-01-11T17:55:00.000-08:00

In industrial batch/continuous production environments, production scheduling is concerned with allocating resources such as tanks, reactors and other processing equipment to production tasks. Scheduling determines what product is to be made, how much is to be made and when it is to be made. Detailed scheduling optimizes the production schedule through describe the production process with a heuristic model to find the best way of allocating the available tasks and resources. Detailed scheduling is a centerpiece of production and closely interlinks with production control, order processing, material and energy control and maintenance.

In order to be able to provide all the necessary information for making logic decisions, it is in some cases necessary to implement data transfers that are not supported by the ISA-95 standard for enterprise to plant integration. One example of production parameters that are not included in the standard are release dates and due dates of products. The release date is the exact time from which on a product can be produced. The due date is equally important and refers to the date that the product has to be available, usually due to a customer requested time.

The integration of a scheduling solution for a steel plant using the ISA-95 standard is described. The application shows one way of benefiting from the already existing elements and expanding the B2MML files using the means provided. The resulting input data contains much more information than ISA-95 was originally designed for because the optimization takes place as a separate module on an MOM level. All input/output information must thus be provided through ISA-95. On the other hand, the output file fits completely to the ISA-95 landscape. This case study also shows that many practical applications only need to implement a small part of provided elements and there are always several options to make this happen.

MESA White Paper #33 was produced as part of the MESA/ISA-95 Best Practices Working Group through an international peer review process involving 5 or more subject matter reviewers. This MESA White Paper will also be published in one of two methodology best practices collection, Book 2.0, When Worlds Collide in Manufacturing Operations (Collections published by ISA, 1/1/11).

All of MESA's white papers are available at www.mesa.org for $25.00 per paper for individual papers, or become a MESA premium member and have complimentary access to over 250 white papers, presentations, MOM/MES guidebooks, industry studies and web casts.

Whitepaper Released on OEE Reporting in Manufacturing

2011-01-04T07:41:00.000-08:00

MESA International today announced the availability of MESA Whitepaper #34, OEE Reporting in Manufacturing: Value through Operational Improvement, to help MESA members implement OEE reporting to guide manufacturers into better performance.

Jaap Both, one of the paper’s authors noted, “Practical implementation of OEE is usually not as simple as it seems in theory. This whitepaper covers both organizational issues to ease the implementation process, as well as technical considerations you are likely to encounter when designing OEE.”

OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) is a standardized reporting metric that shows the effectiveness of a production line. The OEE-score of a production line is normally a value between 0 and 100 where 100 means: running without losses. The OEE metric provides structured means to collect and represent data about the performance of a line and it identifies when, in a period of time, losses occur: due to reduced speed, bad quality or (unexpected) downtimes.

Setting up improvement teams and implementing OEE-reporting provides an increased focus on improvement potential and this can be very valuable with relatively small and focused projects. This whitepaper is available via MESA’s Resource Library.

MESA premium members have complimentary access to over 250 white papers, presentations, MOM/MES guidebooks, industry studies and web casts in the Resource Library. Others can purchase individual papers from the Resource Library for $25.00 per paper.

Leverage Workflow Technologies in Manufacturing

2010-12-15T12:58:00.000-08:00

MESA International has released Whitepaper #32 to educate MESA members on approaches available to leverage workflow-enabled technologies to drive value in their plants and across their extended operations.

Workflows are structured activities primarily involving human-to-human or human-to-machine interactions, all directed toward the realization of profitable operations without compromising safety, reliability and consistency. Workflow technology is starting to move from a purely IT domain practice into the Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) domain as defined by ISA-95. This shift therefore justifies a deep understanding by MESA for its global community.

Charlie Gifford, Chair of the MESA/ISA-95 Best Practices Working Group and one of the paper’s authors noted, "Bill Gates was quoted as saying 'The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.' His point is especially true in production operations, and that’s why MESA is at the forefront of documenting the challenges, approaches, methodologies and best practices to drive value in this area."

The paper explores the globalization and organizational challenges associated with the introduction of workflow technology into MOM by providing examples of workflow technology implemented in production environments. These challenges, and the associated technologies to address them, are applicable across all manufacturing environments, but the paper provides a focus on the continuous process industries. It also provides a global viewpoint with input from North America and Southern Asia constituents.

This paper was produced as part of the MESA/ISA-95 Best Practices Working Group through an international peer review process involving 5 or more subject matter reviewers. This MESA whitepaper will also be published in one of two methodologies best practices collections by ISA, “Book 2.0, When Worlds Collide in Manufacturing Operations”. (Collections published by ISA, 1/1/11)

This whitepaper is available via MESA’s Resource Library.

MESA Holds European P2E Conference

2010-12-01T19:01:00.000-08:00

The Plant-to-Enterprise 2010 European Conference of MESA Internation convened on Nov. 8 in Dusseldorf, Germany with the 117 attendees greeted with pre-conference sessions on metrics and key performance indicators. Tuesday Nov. 9 and Wednesday Nov. 10 were full days with parallel tracks for breakouts and another well received "Unconference."

Tuesday's keynote address was delivered by Stefan Rosenwald, sr. manager IT, Powertrain, Daimler Engine in Germany. He spoke on Process Efficiency by Integration. Matthew Littlefield, sr. research analyst, Manufacturing, at the Aberdeen Group, an analyst firm in Boston, delivered Wednesday's keynote on "Enterprise Energy and Carbon Management Initiatives: Achieving Greater Profitability."

Pictures of the event can be found here.

MESA Elects New Board for 2011

2010-11-21T02:18:00.000-08:00

True to a commitment made several years ago to change MESA International from a purely supplier membership, manufacturers/producers are playing an increasingly more visible role in shaping the association.

MESA International announced the results of its annual election for its International Board of Directors (BOD) on Nov. 11. As is MESA’s practice, voting was conducted via an electronic ballot made available online to MESA Premium Members globally. The ballot was published in late September with votes cast and tallied in October.

John Southcott, co-CEO of Brock Solutions, succeeds John Dyck, Director of Software Business Development for Rockwell Automation as Chairman of the International Board. Mr. Dyck successfully completed his two-year term as Chairman with many accomplishments to his credit. He will remain on the BOD as a Member-at-Large Representing Rockwell Automation.

Mr. Southcott, as co-CEO of a large independent integration company focusing on Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions and real-time operational systems, brings extensive management consulting and large-scale transformational program experience from multiple industries to MESA. Prior to joining Brock in 2005, Mr. Southcott was a partner at Deloitte Consulting for over 20 years where he held many leadership roles, including CEO of ICS Canada (Deloitte’s SAP and Baan practice), Americas Manufacturing Industry Practice Leader, and Global Managing Director - Strategic Partnerships and Alliances. John is a member of Young Presidents Organization and serves on the Advisory Board at the Center for Business, Entrepreneurship & Technology at the University of Waterloo. Mr. Southcott’s leadership experience and expertise in ERP, CRM, Supply Chain, MES, and Technology Integration over the last 25 years will be leveraged as Chair of the International MESA board.

Tom Troy, Director of MES Solutions at Invensys Operations Management, assumes the role of Vice-Chairman of the International Board, replacing out-going Vice-Chairman Ganesh Wadawadigi of SAP. Mr. Troy’s background includes roles in the product businesses at Wonderware and Rockwell and systems integration experience as the Chief Technology Officer of Interwave Technology. He leverages his strong industry experience to manage the current MES portfolio at Invensys Operations Management.

Doug Weaver, MES Systems & Project Manager at Boeing Commercial Aircraft, continues in his role as Treasurer. Mr. Weaver’s perspective as a manufacturer, with first-hand experience leading an MES team from concept through implementation, is extremely valuable to the International Board.

Joining the association’s elected officers are seven new Board Members at Large, including three manufacturers/producers – Energizer Battery Company, Cormetech, Inc., and Saudi Aramco.

•Juli Crenshaw, System Coordinator at Energizer Battery, is the global system owner and manager of Energizer's MES solution, which currently spans 5 plants in 4 countries. In her MES Team Leader role, she is in charge of deployments and also works to evolve Energizer's MES solution to meet the needs of both Plant Operations and Corporate-level reporting.

•Scott Daugherty, Director of Operations at Cormetech, Inc., brings over 25 years of manufacturing management experience to the MESA BOD, including experience as a Plant Manager for Lenox Incorporated's fine dinnerware operation, a Group Manager at AVX Corporation, and a Direct Electronics Salesman and Digital Control Engineer at Corning Incorporated.

•Fayez Kharbat, Engineering Specialist at Saudi Aramco, has over 20 years industrial experience in integrated enterprise solutions, advanced process control, process automation systems and knowledge management. Mr. Kharbat began and is the chairman of both the MESA Continuous Process Industry Special Interest Group (CPI SIG) and MESA Middle East Regional Working Group.

Ms. Crenshaw, Mr. Daugherty and Mr. Kharbat join current BOD members Carlos DaSilva, Global Quality Manager at Vibracoustic, and Mr. Weaver from Boeing as manufacturers/producers on the International Board.

Rounding out the slate of new Board Members at Large are three business leaders from MESA’s Keystone Sponsors.

•Sheila Kester, GM of Operations Management (OM) Software at GE Intelligent Platforms (GEIP), returns to the MESA BOD for a second time. Ms. Kester is responsible for GEIP’s OM Software business globally and has over twenty years experience in manufacturing and operations, including leadership positions in engineering, consulting, product marketing and operations.

•Chuck Pharris, Sr. Director or Manufacturing Solutions Marketing at SAP, is responsible for driving marketing programs, market analysis and the long-term strategy of manufacturing solutions for SAP. He has over 15 years of experience in manufacturing industries and has worked in all areas of plant automation, including process control, energy management and production management.

•Mark Sutcliffe, President of CDC Factory, is a recognized authority on continuous improvement and change management practices centered on technology. He joins the MESA BOD with a proven track record of deploying technology to leverage human capital and achieve breakthrough performance across the enterprise that spans more than the past two decades.

Ms. Kester, Mr. Pharris, and Mr. Sutcliffe join current Keystone Sponsor representatives John Dyck, Director of Software Business Development for Rockwell Automation, Raj Khoshoo, VP of Strategic Initiatives at Siemens PLM, Matthew Miller, Manager of Customer Interest Groups at OSIsoft, Catherine Minter, President, Americas at Cordys, Andrea Mulas, General Manager, Manufacturing Execution Systems at Siemens, Karl Schneebauer, Partner Manager at MPDV, and Sam Youness, Worldwide Industry Technical Strategist, Plant Operations at Microsoft as Members at Large on the International Board. Jan Snoeij, Principal Consultant at Logica, also continues as a Member at Large on the International Board while additionally serving as Chairman of the EMEA BOD.

Commenting on the incoming Board of Directors and the association’s road ahead, incoming Chairman John Southcott had this to say, “The MESA community is quite diverse. That diversity speaks to the commonality that manufacturers and producers from every industry and every geography share in both the challenges they face and the approaches they take to solve those challenges. I believe that the makeup of the incoming International Board of Directors mirrors that diversity – with several manufacturers and producers joined with industry leading solution providers to drive the entire marketplace forward. I’m very enthusiastic about the future of MESA and its membership.”

Paper On Manufacturing Operations Mangement Published

2010-05-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

MESA announces the publishing of MESA White Paper #28: "Lifecycle of Service Creation using the ISA-95 MOM." The white paper details the lifecycle of Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) Service creation using the ISA 95 MOM standard for services oriented architectures (SOA) for manufacturing. It discusses the process of decomposing the ISA 95 Part 3 core functions from the global and strategic levels of the manufacturing enterprise to the atomic level of the plant’s manufacturing operations. The outcome of this process is 1) the MOM atomic functions are mapped to manufacturing reusable Services across different manufacturing types or forms and 2) an MOM Functional Services Gap Analysis is applied to identify manufacturing automation and operations gaps.
This paper was produced as part of the MESA/ISA 95 Best Practices Working Group through an international peer review process involving 5 or more subject matter reviewers. This MESA White Paper will also be published in one of two methodology best practices collection, Book 2.0, The MOM Chronicles, or Book 3.0, When Worlds Collide in Manufacturing Operations (Collections published by ISA, 10/1/10).
This white paper is available here. All of MESA's white papers are available for $25.00 per paper for individual papers, or become a MESA premium member and have complimentary access to over 250 white papers, presentations, MOM/MES guidebooks, industry studies and web casts.
The content of this paper is part of an open discussion in the below UnConference Session at MESA 2010 North American Conference held June 21-23 in Dearborn, Michigan. Register here for the Conference.
The Unconference session is "Beyond Standards--Unlocking Your Operations Potential" held on Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 9:00am-12:00pm.
Potential specific topics include the following with final conversations determined by the participants' requests:

ISA-95 Maturity Model Assessment and Migration Strategies
Architectures for manufacturing operations master data. And, who and how should it be governed?
Applying SOA to manufacturing operations architectures
B2MML Integration Patterns and Data Mapping
Integration PLM, ERP and MOM in a Discrete Manufacturing Environment
Integration of Manufacturing Intelligence with MOM
ISA-95 Contextualized Operations Workflows for Industrial BPM

Facilitated by:

Charlie Gifford
Chair, ISA-95/MESA Best Practice Working Group
Chair, MES/MOM Ask the Expert Committee for Managing Automation Magazine
Chief Manufacturing Consultant, 21st Century Manufacturing Solutions LLC

Dr. Thomasma / Capgemini Americas / Detroit
Projects & Consulting

Michael Grasley, P.Eng.
Director, MES Consulting
ASECO Integrated Systems

MESA Unconference topic

2010-05-26T05:12:00.000-07:00

The second part of the Unconference--an open-ended discussion on a topic of interest--will be a deep discussion of the metrics you need or use to measure performance for real-time correction.

Metrics That Matter--Developing Metrics For Solving Business Problems

The second track is facilitated by industry analyst Julie Fraser, Chair of the MESA Metrics Committee and Principal Industry Analyst at Cambashi. Co-facilitators include John Jackiw of AltaVia Consulting and Darren Riley of Rockwell Automation. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss what metrics for performance measurement are important with the Metrics That Matter Working Group. Participants can discuss the MESA Metrics Guidebook and offer insights from thoughts and experiences about what practitioners need for using metrics for solving business problems.

Share and learn not be spoonfed

2010-05-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

There are two tracks on Wednesday morning, June 23 of the MESA International North American Conference where you can participate rather than sit back and listen to presentations. Leaders of these areas want active feedback and discussion from interested and knowledgeable thought leaders and practitioners of manufacturing operations management applications.

Beyond Standards--Unlocking Your Operations Potential

The first track will be led by industry expert Charlie Gifford, who is Chair, ISA-95/MESA Best Practice Working Group and Chief Manufacturing Consultant, 21st Century Manufacturing Solutions LLC. Co-facilitators include Dr. Tim Thomasma, Capgemini Americas and Michael Grasley, Director, MES Consulting, ASECO Integrated Systems. The general topic is "Unlocking Your Operations' Potential."

Potential specific topics include the following with final conversations determined by the participants' requests:

ISA-95 Maturity Model Assessment and Migration Strategies
Architectures for manufacturing operations master data. And who and how should it be governed?
Applying SOA to manufacturing operations architectures
B2MML Integration Patterns and Data Mapping
Integration PLM, ERP and MOM in a Discrete Manufacturing Environment
Integration of Manufacturing Intelligence with MOM
ISA-95 Contextualized Operations Workflows for Industrial BPM

Learn more about operations management at workshops

2010-05-21T03:58:00.000-07:00

The MESA International North American Conference June 21-23 in Dearborn, MI is shaping up nicely. Speakers and sessions have been defined and the learning opportunities abound. Much is practical advice you can use to move your organization ahead--making it more flexible, agile, productive and profitable.

The conference itself begins with an opening keynote by the renowned leader Lou Holtz on Monday evening June 21. He'll be sharing ideas garnered from a successful career in American football that you can use to become the leader your organization needs.

If you budget time to come to town early there are extra opportunities for advanced learning. Choose from a series of pre-conference workshops and dig into your biggest challenges with direct access to some of the most experienced practitioners and thought leaders in industry.

There are five workshops scheduled for Monday, June 21st. Each promises to share breakthrough approaches and valuable know-how in the specific topical area listed. There is no added fee required with payment of a full conference registration.

Here is a quick summary of our expert presenters and the content they will share:

Justifying Manufacturing Operations Management to Business Leaders
Charlie Gifford, Chief Managing Consultant, 21st Century Manufacturing Solutions

MESA Education Program: Real-Time Enterprise, 11 Function Model & MES Product Selection
Co-presenters
Mike James, Group Managing Director, ATS International BV, and Peter van Vliet, Director Business Development, SAP

Working Session for MESA's Quality & Regulatory Compliance Guidebook Working Group, Khris Kammer, Sr. Information Solutions Consultant, Rockwell Automation

Performance Management Benchmark, Practices & Roadmap
Mitchell Weisberg, Managing Director, Lumen Inc.

Survive to Thrive
Jon Snoeij, Principal Consultant, Logica

Advanced registration is required, so sign up today.

Discuss Metrics and Operations Management

2010-05-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

Part of the MESA International North American Conference is the opportunity to sit with experts around a table and discuss problems, concerns, ideas and get your questions answered. One session will feature metrics--what you use, what others use, how to develop, how to measure. The other will go deep into best practices and answer questions about building your systems around ISA95.

Check out the agenda and conference details here. Come and be part of the conversation.

MESA Conference Speakers Announced

2010-05-15T04:42:00.000-07:00

Details are coming together for a great MESA International North American Conference. There are many opportunities to learn from practitioners who have implemented information systems in manufacturing--and from a couple of industry visionaries. Here's a sampling. Check out the Web site for details.

Keynotes & Executive Speakers (Tuesday)

Ford's Vice President of North American Manufacturing, Jim Tetrault, will discuss the role that Manufacturing is playing at Ford to achieve it's One Ford Turnaround Plan and what these other leading companies are doing to build their own competitive advantage.

Manufacturing enterprise software pioneer Rick Bullotta will share a vision of the future of manufacturing.

Other speakers include:

Manufacturing Executive Speaker - Dave Klante, VP Engineering & Packaging; MillerCoors

Manufacturing Executive Speaker - Dr. Michael Heidingsfelder, Senior VP of Operations; Freudenberg-NOK

Manufactuirng Executive Speaker - Greg Augustine, VP Information Systems; Network Engines

Maufacturing Executive Speaker - Tim Easterly, VP Corporate Engineering; Keystone Foods

Manufacturing Executive Speaker - Bob Erb, VP of Operations; Biotronik

Manufacturing Executive Speaker - Miguel Angel Espinosa, Global MES COE Leader; Cordis, a Johnson & Johnson Company

Manufacturing Executive Speaker - Kevin Uhls, VP IT; GE Consumer & Industrial

Unconference Featured As Part of MESA Gathering

2010-04-21T06:58:00.000-07:00

Things are coming together rapidly for the MESA International North American Conference to be held in Dearborn, MI June 21-23. A great keynote on Monday evening, June 21 will get everyone ready for two days of intense learning and sharing about using information technology for improving plant and factory operations.

On Tuesday, high level practitioners and thought leaders will share their ideas and experiences. But if you yearn for more than the usual sit and listen conference, we are providing for an unusual experience for Wednesday, June 23. With the new MESA Unconference, you can directly engage and learn about topics that you pick - and get answers to your most pressing challenges. I have gone from the guy throwing out ideas to accepting the challenge of Unconference Director for the event. I am enthused about bringing something new to manufacturing conferences--something that will raise the energy level and intensity of discussion.

At the Unconference, you can share and learn in an open, participatory environment. It is an intense multi-discussion, multi-room event with no script. Bring your ideas and desires to interact with peers - and test the brains and bounds of the MESA community. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is invited and welcome!

In this "confer and conquer" environment, you can present ideas or questions and discuss operations topics with other practitioners and subject matter experts in the spirit of MESA's mission - to provide an environment for the sharing of best practices. Leading industry experts, including members of the MESA Technical Committee, will be on hand to help facilitate discussions.

What kinds of topics? Here's an example from a major battery manufacturer - how to deal with the challenges of operational excellence in an ultra high-volume production environment. Other ideas include ISA-95 implementations, cloud computing, virtual machines, Lean in process production environments, and much more.

Do you have an idea for a topic for discussion on Wednesday? Send me an email at gmintchell@automationworld.com.

Participate at the MESA Conference

2010-04-05T05:06:00.001-07:00

The MESA International North American Conference, Unlocking Your Operations Potential, is coming soon. Organizers have been working hard to assemble an outstanding program. We believe that many people have experiences and knowledge to share. If you are one of these, we have two ways for you to actively participate.

The first way is to present a formal talk, sharing your knowledge and best practices. We are accepting abstracts through Monday April 12. You'll be in good company - and will share the conference stage with nationally-recognized keynotes and industry leading session speakers!

MESA is looking for the best, most quantifiable case studies and real world presentations on the following topics:

Tying Operational Metrics to Financial Metrics
Real-Time Enterprise
Quality & Compliance
Asset Performance Management (APM)
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
Lean
Sustainability

Here are some tips for presentations that would engage attendees:

Focus on how your operations management / plant-wide IT systems support implementation of one or more key initiatives. Subject matter may range from planning and implementation to challenges and results.
Feature Manufacturer/Producer presenters or a joint presentation between a Vendor & Manufacturer / Producer.

Have we missed something? Do you have another topic relevant to industrial companies that isn't listed here - interoperability, SOA in Manufacturing, Industrial BPM, or others? If so, please submit the topic for consideration. MESA is working to facilitate knowledge-sharing on as many of the right topics as possible and we are open to your ideas.

Click here to submit an abstract.

Unconference
If putting a formal presentation together isn't your desire but you still feel like adding in your experiences or engaging speakers and other attendees in greater depth about a topic, the the Unconference program is just for you. Too many presentations can dull your senses. Sometimes you'd like to ask more questions of the speakers and there's no time. Sometimes you see others that share your problems, and you'd like to connect with them.

Rather than hope for a chance meeting in the hallways, MESA has set aside time in the program especially for these meetings. Called an Unconference, attendees can suggest topics they'd like to discuss in more detail. People will self-select into one of these sessions that are led by the attendees themselves with the help of a MESA facilitator. These are all the rage in Silicon Valley. MESA is bringing the concept to manufacturing and production executives.

If you'd like to submit a topic for an Unconference session, please send an email to conference@mesa.org or gmintchell@automationworld.com.

Details Align for Upcoming MESA Conference

2010-03-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

Pre-conference events should entice you to Dearborn, MI on June 21 to get warmed up for what is shaping up to be a great learning and sharing experience at the 2010 MESA International North American Conference, "Unlocking Your Operations Potential."

On Monday, prior to the conference, MESA will be hosting workshops addressing best practices in:

Metrics-driven approaches with findings from the new MESA Research Project
Eco-efficiency and sustainability in manufacturing
Improving operations through our Strategic Initiatives covering lean, product lifecycle management, real-time enterprise, asset management, plus quality and compliance.

Then on Monday evening, you'll want to attend the Welcome Reception and Keynote Address featuring Lou Holtz. The famed college football coach and TV sports analyst will present his Game Plan For Success. His message transcends athletics. It resonates - even to those who aren't sports-minded. The focus is on people and the values that make relationships and organizations excel. Once heard, you will have no doubt why Lou Holtz is considered a legendary team leader and speaker on achievement.

Improving Plant and Business Performance Webcast

2010-03-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a learning opportunity through a MESA Webcast on Tuesday April 13 at 11 am EDT. Speakers will address the question, how can a production company continue to improve its financial results in the face of a global economic crisis? This webcast will provide views from both a processor and a discrete manufacturer that have done that, as well as the MESA research perspective from a recent study Correlating Plant Performance with Business Performance.

Some of the questions that will be addressed:

What differentiates companies that have improved their business performance from others (hint: it has nothing to do with size, location, or type of product)
Why OEE is useful, but not adequate to ensure business gains
What metrics the leaders focus on improving
How one industrial company has continued to grow its margin despite a desperate decline in revenues
How a processor improved its earnings (EBITDA) by over 10% on average during the years of the downturn
How consistent metrics and visibility can improve performance

The moderator is Khris Kammer, Sr. Information Solutions Consultant, Rockwell Automation, and MESA Technical Committee Chair.

Speakers are:

Julie Fraser, Principal Industry Analyst, Cambashi, Inc., and MESA Metrics Working Group Chair
George Strodtbeck, Executive Director, Cummins, Inc.
Lars Wallstén, Head of Performance Systems, Linde

You must first register to attend this event. There is no cost to attend. MESA members and non-members are welcome to participate in the live webcast; however, only Premium members of MESA will have access to the recording and PowerPoint slides.

After registering, you will receive an e-mail confirmation message that will include the dial-in teleconference information as well as the link you will need to participate in the webcast. You will also receive a reminder e-mail.

Exciting Plans for MESA North American conference

2010-03-12T11:02:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to become a blogger for MESA--the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association International. I'm also looking forward to the upcoming conference. It is shaping up as a premier place to discuss IT solutions for manufacturing problems. Look for some uncommon opportunities to discuss problems and solutions with your peers beyond the usual PowerPoint presentations. Looking forward to meeting you there. The Conference is June 21-23 in Dearborn, MI.

The MESA 2010 North American Conference will take attendees deep into some of the most pressing challenges industry faces today and, more importantly, into the Best Practices and actionable steps companies can take RIGHT NOW to meet those challenges. Meet with peers, MESA Working Groups, solution providers, and industry thought leaders to share your experiences and to learn from those of others on the road to Operations Excellence.

Particularly noteworthy is that the conference will be hosted by Ford Motor Company in the backyard of their corporate headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, USA. The main conference location is the Ford Conference and Event Center. Ford has long been committed to being operationally excellent and is one of the world's most advanced users of Information Technology (IT) solutions in their plants and across their global enterprise. They know the importance of manufacturing to the global economy, and MESA is honored to bring our membership and conference to the U.S. Midwest to engage the best-and-brightest minds in industry in Ford's hometown.

However, this is NOT an automotive-only conference or even a conference just for discrete manufacturers. MESA represents the interests of manufacturers and producers across the industrial landscape from discrete to batch and mixed mode to continuous process environments, and the conference will, too. Embracing the intersection of technology and human capital to pursue Operations Excellence, taking costs out of your operations, managing asset performance, or building a Real-Time Enterprise spans all manufacturers and producers in all industries; so, we invite practitioners from all industries and experience levels to join us in Dearborn, MI for the MESA 2010 North American Conference.

The conference will open Monday, June 21, 2010 with an evening reception and Keynote Speaker. (Pre-conference training sessions are planned for Monday afternoon, and more information on the topics and times will be posted shortly.) Tuesday, June 22, will be a full-day of general sessions, networking opportunities and Strategic Initiative Workouts/Wednesday, June 23, will feature a similar structure to Tuesday but a shorter schedule of events.

The Workouts will be lead by MESA Working Group leaders and will follow end-user presentations on the subject. Specific speakers and subjects will be updated as slots are filled but will center around the following topics:

* Tying Operational Performance Metrics to Financial Metrics
* Real-Time Enterprise
* Quality & Compliance
* Asset Performance Management (APM)
* Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
* Lean
* Sustainability
* Reducing Operational Costs

Click here to register.

Performance Metrics Critical in the Down Economy

2009-02-18T16:53:00.000-08:00

As manufacturers all over the world scramble to keep the business running while the economy stumbles, the work MESA has been doing is more important than ever. MESA's Metrics Working groups are ramping back up to help members understand how to gauge their performance, troubleshoot issues, improve finances through operations projects, and how to leverage sound performance measurement practices to improve business outomes during thesevolatile market conditions.
Join us for our 2009 kickoff calls in the next few weeks. We will be finalizing our program of sharing and research in these meetings, and we want your input on what will help you the most!
Look for an e-mail soon if you are already a part of the MESA Metrics Working groups - and please contact MESA headquarters or go to the "Get Involved" section of the MESA web site and click to indicate your interest if you have not already done that!

Keeping Manufacturing in Europe

2008-11-04T07:07:00.000-08:00

Offshoring is not all success stories as Jan Snoeij of Logica points out - productivity is lower in lower wage countries; container transport costs are skyrocketing, and competition for labor in countries such as China is fierce, to labor costs are up and re-training costs are very high. Hidden costs for management travel, delivery issues, insufficient quality, cultural differences.
To produce in Europe, executives need to involve the plant floor personnel - get them to understand the new direction and what it means for them. Challenges in resources abound: materials & shortages of skilled people - also equipment, since Europe is competing for the latest & greatest with developing economies. Spend money on training people is a key for hidden champions. An important question is whether IT is flexible enough, integrated with the business. So maybe everyone here at the MESA EU conference can work to keep jobs here.

Volvo uses MES to Add to its Reliability

2008-11-04T05:50:00.000-08:00

Did you know Volvo Group no longer includes cars, but is 66% trucks and other heavy vehicles (construction, buses, aerospace) and parts? The Volvo Production System - initiated in 2005 was "proudly stolen" concept from TPS. Created VPS Academy central team to build and promote the framework and maintain the momentum, including regular assessments. VPS is then implemented in MES to achieve real-time and global visibility. To drive instructions to employees and make devices do their job, you need high availability, fast MES. And it needs good infrastructure and maintenance. It's always evolving and paperless instructions are hard to get ergonomic - user acceptance and people are still a big issue.

Effectiveness of People is a Key Theme for MESA EU Conference

2008-11-04T00:38:00.000-08:00

The SmartFactory demonstration appears to be nearly free of people. However, much of the discussion here has been about how to ensure that people can work effectively. Jan Baan of Cordys talks about the ability to use human intelligence effectively in business processes. Every employee as a decision-maker - what a great vision. Harks back to Grace's empowering message that everyone can be an entrepreneur or intrapreneur. The ability to change a rule the moment before a transaction happens truly enables people to keep the business dynamic. MESA as an organization is also so much about people connecting with each other, learning from each other.

Factories of the Future

2008-11-03T23:50:00.000-08:00

Dr. Detlef Zuehlke talked about the Internet enabled everything - SmartHomes, SmartCars, a SmartHospital, and SmartOffice, and SmartFactory showing how to use newer technologies to become more agile. Complexity is a major challenge - but by making devices abstract and communications and power wireless, some of the complexity and sequential planning goes away. Now 22 partners and 10 sponsors have after a few years led to the SmartFactory. The SmartFactory is now fully tested and working for the past 3 weeks - making colored liquid soap. They also perform R&D projects and offer information panels on viz. RFID, wireless, safety & security. Check out the live webcam at: http://www.smartfactory.de/webcam.de.htm - may sometimes be a still picture due to German law. Over 30 companies are involved - so this could be moving into broader application soon!

Great first Day for MESA EU!

2008-11-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

I'm about to retire for the night, but a few last thoughts. MESA brings together such a knowledgeable group of people that once you get to the event, you just want to be part of it. I have had several people offer to pitch in on current projects that we've discussed here. The type of enthusiasm we see is infectious - and I'm just delighted to be part of it. Strategic initiatives, Metrics research, and new topics for the conference are all getting more support by the day. Thanks to everyone for coming and contributing!

Over 1/2M Euro/year Savings!

2008-11-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

Thales reports that a 90-user MES yielded savings for under 18 months ROI. This was not without challenges - identifying the right mix of skills for configuration and implementation in a core project team was one. Balancing trade-offs between strategic investments and low-risk implementation allowed the 2-month pilot period to lead to roll-out. People are critical - team skills but also ensuring quick operator training.

Inventory Reduction Opportunities Abound

2008-11-03T03:09:00.000-08:00

In these tight economic times, surely everyone wants to reduced excess inventory and increase inventory turns for cash-to-cash improvements. However, Gary Goddard of IQS is showing a way to optimize inventory - eliminate excess with an inventory quality ratio. With tools to set targets and play what if, can change safety stock and cycle replenishment times - might improve 50% or more from today's average of 30-45% excess inventory cost on average. Carrier's conservative approach to gaining this visibility and their ability to write custom reports on this type of inventory issue have lead to doubling sales with the same inventory - and increasing inventory turns. Shortages are down by up to 75%.

Setting Manufacturing Footprint Strategy is Continuous

2008-11-03T02:05:00.000-08:00

Why lean and offshoring are not enough is the first topic Paul Christodoulou of Cambridge University's Institute for Manufacturing is addressing. Problem is: manufacturing networks are inherited, not designed - M&A and other issues have created them. Can save 30-45% of landed cost by optimizing the manufacturing footprint - can also access growing markets. However, it's not easy to do - moving manufacturing often does not work (skills, supply chain, risk to IP and macroeconomics). What leaders are doing shows variety: some outsource production, some focus there - with or without offshoring. So single approach to footprint strategy from Cambridge from plant thinking to network thinking - simple 4 questions: Why, what, where and how. Working for companies in many industries. Need to check out the Sealed Air example on the web.

Embrace the Power of the Conference

2008-11-03T00:40:00.000-08:00

Keynote speaker Grace Boldewijn encourages us all to use this conference to find the missing link - through networking, sharing and listening. Whether entrepreneur or intrapraneur, the keys to excellence are the same. Investing in people and closing the gap between board and operational personnel is part of that. (Builds trust and confidence.) Learn from the current financial crisis - the fight to survive will leave only those who are creative and innovative - to differentiate and think outside the box. Stay #1 by hiring and developing qualified people - invest in excellence, even if it's more expensive than the price-quality ratio. Must be flexible to react to changes - plant intelligence across the enterprise for B2B optimization.

MESA Europe Kicks Off!

2008-11-03T00:29:00.000-08:00

John Dyck, MESA Chairman, has introduced the conference underlining pressures on innovation and the ways that manufacturers can innovate more powerfully - tying it into the MESA Strategic Initiatives and the guidebooks that are almost finished now. Wiki format to keep the guidebooks evolving and to enable new strategic initiatives. MESA Europe's second annual conference is getting off to a good start - some very enthusiastic people from manufacturers and solution providers. Information as the next Industrial Revolution is the main theme for John and MESA.

MESA Europe P2E Conference Prague

2008-11-02T06:33:00.000-08:00

Hello, just arrived in the Top Hotel in Prague. The hotel looks great, the food is great, the weather is grey, cloudy.
It's nice to meet all these enthousiastic MES(A) people. I'm looking forward to the Roundtable session that will start in 20 minutes, and the program for tomorrow and the day after. It is a great program.

I hope you all enjoy this conference!

Reinoud Visser
Co-Chair of MESA P2E Conference Europe 2008

Hail to the new MESA Chief - John Dyck wraps it up

2008-09-23T14:08:00.000-07:00

What an information and networking-packed few days! The new Chairman of MESA International, John Dyck, reported on what we've heard and is asking everyone to participate. Growing membership and contributing to this association 2.0 - we're all about interaction and learning from each other!

SVP can see all 10 plants from his desk

2008-09-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

Common data and measurements are everyone's goal - but Bay Valley appears to have really gotten it linked up all the way to the Senior VP's office. Coaching from plant management - not padding the metrics.

Point of maximum impact is not any level of management - but the operator where the problem is happening. Capture the rationale and way to avoid it from happening again AS IT HAPPENS.

Secret to low-cost producer status: People!

2008-09-23T13:11:00.001-07:00

Bay Valley Foods has connected OEE to financial outcomes. Empowering operators in a private label food company, where rising costs are systemic, not cyclical. One day's run of an SKU can now impact whether or not a product is profitable that day. Getting to the root cause - which is mostly people and process, not equipment related.

Improving in small parts of the business does not lead to financial results. Rubber meets the road in taking action, not in measuring it. We know that, and this was a good example of actionable intelligence. Let workers take more control and gather the context from the operator rather than fully automated from the PLC -

Keep thinking about how to engage people to turn data into information.

Quality System Disconnect

2008-09-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

MESA members recognize that their quality systems are disconnected from both MES and ERP. We would really benefit from having quality professionals involved - they see information in the metrics that many in manufacturing may miss.

Quality professionals, please come into the MESA fold!

Exceeding expectations

2008-09-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

Networking is an important part of every MESA event. This year, because of the good food, we've been nourished by not just the great knowledge, but the great eats. The network opportunities make MESA a great place every year, and this year's event has lived up to expectations so far, with our major evening network event still to come at Sea World.

Metrics driving Continuous Improvement

2008-09-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

Steve Kaplan of Murata, , a practitioner Member who has taken a leadership position, has led a diverse group of companies through a process of defining a diagnostic process, and sharing best practices on how to leverage metrics for that. It's great to see Steve present again - and this time, not only his experiences, but that of the entire group.

MESA's outputs point to pragmatic ways to improve businesses. How do we get more people involved in this work? Everyone has the issues - and working together can accelerate problem solving, as one of the team members illustrate. That's what MESA wants to do.

Innovation: Hot topic to the Core of the Organization

2008-09-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

Innovation often easy with the right managers. How to bring that innovation to the core no matter who the leaders are? Peter Skarynski a consultant CEO talks about how to innovate when current performance and resources are not a predictor of future success.

Innovation because of not in spite of the organization - many companies not doing this yet. Systemically tap creativity of the people in the organizations. Brainstorm in the context of the business flow. This guy uses Dilbert to tell this story - LOVE it.

Will ERP go away?

2008-09-23T06:04:00.000-07:00

Jan Baan says BPM will replace ERP - but shows ERP as a data source still. I think the latter is closer - we need to get beyond ERP and all of the other applications - and create workflows that do include people and systems on top. Future views that might allow information flows to keep up with business and our business processes.

Jan Baan's view of end of complexity

2008-09-23T05:25:00.000-07:00

I once worked for the company named after Jan Baan - now hearing him talk about his 30 years and how ERP has gotten more complex - creating resource problems rather than planning.

Big mistake: moving from customer-driven to shareholder-driven. The customer focus has come up again and again in how to drive success for projects - or in this case, for a company.

Beyond ERP that is data driven, on to investing in TopTier and WebEx. And now to Cordys - business process focused. Referring back to last year's keynote by Peter Fingar. BPM for both systems and people. Less than 10% of processes can be totally automated. So this combo is key to moving forward.

MESA P2E Fun Continues

2008-09-23T05:21:00.000-07:00

The reception and book signing by Jan Baan was very active last night. More great food - gotta be sure to get some exercise! The networking here is outstanding. I've met many first-time MESA attendees as well as many people I've known in this community for years. The discussions are wide-ranging.

Review of the growth of MESA and the great efforts of the Chairman for the past 2 years, Matt Bauer. Gave him not only a plaque, but cigars - which he'll really appreciate!

Cool work for visibility

2008-09-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

Both Coca-Cola Bottling and General Mills have done some outstanding work in standardizing information and making it visible more broadly than in most companies. This is a direction MESA member companies will continue to go...

MESA's growth

2008-09-22T07:06:00.000-07:00

To me it amazing to see the uptrend in Basic Manufacturing endusers over the last 2 year.
Creating the industry's leading guidebooks is an additional milestone in MESA's history.

Opening MESA

2008-09-22T06:59:00.000-07:00

The MESA opening was completed in top style by Matt Bauer. He spoke clear and direct. Best of all, he had a great set of PowerPoint eye candy on the screen. This presentation in both visual and delivery was well receive as it was delivered!

Climate Change - Threat or Opportunity

2008-09-22T05:41:00.000-07:00

What a wake-up call! Dr. Peter Williams of Big Green Innovations reports that experts at NOAH say there is a 1 in 5 chance that we'll extinguish all life on earth within the next few 100 years. Russian roulette odds. Unequivocal evidence that human activity is causing these risks.

40% population increase. Water, food, diseases, extinction of 30% of species, coastal sea level rise causing up to 30% lost of coastal wetlands. Every industrial sector has a responsibility for these problems.

5 companies use as much water as the entire world for daily personal needs!
Carbon cap & trade is going in Europe, likely here in the US. Water cap and trade might also happen. JP Morgan report "Watching Water" points out physical, regulation and brand risk.
Carbon risk is factoring into financial investment banks too. Affecting your stock price?

Lean helps make you greener. Next MSI guidebook might be on green or sustainability. Opportunities - many areas to think about for manufacturers. Changing world for utilities.
IBM Saved $291M of energy from 1990-2006. 100K of 380K IBMers work at home. I love working at home!

Opening address - scare us into action!

2008-09-22T05:16:00.000-07:00

Globality is the topic - I didn't think it was a real word, but apparently it is. And it's causing change. MESA Chairman Matt Bauer points out the shortages in personnel for US and China - IT and production - with commodity price surge. Financial crisis hurting capital availability Gotta do something different! All of the inputs are challenged.

Coordinating resources in real-time - with new employee generation who expects something different. Information as the fuel for manufacturing innovation is the story of MESA.

Linking plant operations to strategic initiatives has been a cornerstone for this - the MESA Strategic Initiatives or MSIs we heard about yesterday. Plenty more to do! The Wiki format will allow easy contribution and refinement... Moving MESA into Web 2.0 in new ways.

Metrics Continues to Generate Buzz

2008-09-22T03:36:00.000-07:00

The MESA Metrics working group dinner was a LONG table of 20+ folks interested in performance metrics. Obviously, we'll be working on some of the same and some new things next year. In addition to the current work on metrics for diagnostics, across plant and warehouse, linking operations to finance, and IT for performance metrics - some new ideas are:
* Linking quality into the diagnostic metrics
* Working with even more organizations beyond MHIA and WERC to create standard metrics
* Creating a framework for metrics to use in the strategic initiatives guidebooks
* Studying metrics for low-volume production
* Creating global metrics across dissimilar plants (different products, processes, volumes, mix, etc.) in one company
* Ensuring front-line supervisors and operators have appropriate metrics to drive action
* Lead-time and TOC metrics for lean environments
* Ensuring metrics link up between strategic and tactical levels and top to bottom
* Moving past metrics per manager
* Developing a short list of operational metrics that will help drive interest in MES into the C-level

Okay, who's ready to get moving?

MESA P2E Off and Running

2008-09-21T15:58:00.000-07:00

Having arrived at the Rosen Plaza, I'm just getting immersed in the MESA Strategic Initiatives (MSI). Leaders of each team are presenting what their group has developed so far in their guidebook development. A good roomful of us - some who participated in creating this material and others who are just understanding what's happening.

We're hearing about how the product engineering side is tying in to manufacturing - and the touch points are many! The PLM guidebook team has gathered lots of great information, and it's clear I need to get our company more involved in this activity. Great information from the MSI working group - also describing the process to define a PLM roadmap, which I think quite a few companies will need to undertake in the next few years. Lots more work to do that they have pointed to as well - beyond discrete and into specific areas of interest.

MESA MSI sessions alive, fruitful and interesting

2008-09-21T14:52:00.000-07:00

The Sunday afternoon sessions for the MSI overviews have wrapped up and the session was full of lively discussion and great idea exchange. The MSI guidebooks will be available in wiki format soon for al members to contribute to- I am looking forward to seeing how the curent drafts will evolve over the next 2 months or so. If you attended the session and are not already on a committee, hopefully it will inspire you to contribute content, thought an case studies. I know I had to personally sit on my hands and keep from volunteering for too many initiatives. If you could not attend the session but are curious about all the fuss, be sure to check out the MSI pages on the MESA website. Me? I am off to talk to more vendors and rink some beers-- hope to see you tonight......

Real-time Enterprise MSI Spreads its Wings

2008-09-21T13:35:00.000-07:00

The real-time enterprise MSI has actually created a concise 1-sentence definition! A breakthrough for such an abstract and underlying initiative. Not just speeding things up - but transforming work processes to flatten an organization and distribute decision-making.

This guidebook is about making information timely, intuitive (roles-based), trusted (as a foundation for business processes), in (business) context, integrated and related, normalized to enable comparisons, event-driven, aggregated & disaggregated to allow decision and action, actionable - where the value is delivered.

Another excellent piece of work for MESA. Now we're getting ready for food & drink - the reception!

Lean MSI Team Talks Process and IT

2008-09-21T13:14:00.000-07:00

The Lean MSI team is clearly articulating that Lean grew up in a certain type of manufacturing (think Toyota and TPS) and that some of the particular practices may not suit every manufacturing style. The team leader points out that many major companies have developed their own production systems using techniques that fit - this aspect of the guidebook is an important starting point. If everyone understood that they need their own version for higher mix or other production styles, companies could be much further along in their success with lean.

Taking it head on - they are also talking about the role of technology. When the constraint is the supporting business processes like PLM, CAPA, maintenance staging, etc. (high mix) information flow needs more than visual cues. 21st century lean IT - creates a common library for BOM & work instructions across PLM and Manufacturing - workflow in the plant. Meta data model gets leaned out as the standard work for IT.

How to justify a lean project is not simple. Great work in explaining how to get CapEx for initiatives.

Early Registration Starts

2008-09-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here in the Rosen Plaza Bar with my MSI teammates, prepping for the afternoon MSI session. Registration is starting to hop and get busy... with a little over 200 manufacturing folks registered expect some lines tomorrow morning unless you get in early. Premium members also get a very nifty travel bag bonus, which is looking very useful not just for picking up goodies in the exhibit hall, but as an overnight bag as well. If you have any interest at all in the current Manufacturing Strategic Initiatives, either to learn what they are about, give feedback or to volunteer for the continuing effort- be sure to get down to the Ballrooms for a while this afternoon.

Arrival!

2008-09-20T14:00:00.001-07:00

The weather is great here in Orlando, and the Rosen Plaza Hotel is beautiful. There is just a bit of wind, but from my 4th floor window, it makes the palm trees sway beautifully. I have not gone to check, but I am sure the MESA staff is all busy in their temporary office downstairs. Me? I am thinking a pre-conference nap might be a good idea to shake off the travel blur. I am looking forward to a great conference.

Conference Updates

2008-08-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

Watch this space during the Mesa P2E North American conference for live blogs of sessions, conference stories and images. If you have requests of particular sessions to have live blogged, please comment below.