You are looking to implement a data collection system on the shop floor to improve your operations. Where do you start looking? There are a myriad of systems across multiple categories that all claim to perform overlapping functions.
MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) systems are manufacturing systems of record that sometimes also perform functions such as planning and scheduling. They are like ERP systems for your shop floor.
OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) Systems are focused systems of improvement that capture information about the performance of your equipment for the purpose of improving that performance. This category also includes Predictive Maintenance solutions with machine learning algorithms tuned to predict when your equipment will fail in some manner.
I-IoT (Industrial Internet of Things) systems are general platform systems of improvement that allow you to quickly construct custom solutions for your shop floor. They allow you to connect to nearly any device to collect information and create workflows and displays to support visual factory, improvement methods and standard work.
There are also additional systems such as Data Historians, general purpose Machine Learning applications, and much more.
In this presentation, we will review when to use each of these different categories along with some of the major vendors at different price points for small, medium and large manufacturers.