The Impact of a Manufacturing Execution System on Supply Chain Performance

Abstract

Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) are still rather unknown compared to their relatives, Enterprise Information Systems. To date, most research about MES focused on technical aspects and implementation approaches. In this paper, five statistical models are developed and a web-based survey among global Operations and Supply Chain managers from the manufacturing industry is conducted. Managers were invited to complete a questionnaire, where the central questions queried the mentioned performance metrics, but also other conditions like the presence of ERP or Lean practices. When comparing the means between companies with and without an MES, it shows that on each performance metric, MES-companies perform better than non-MES companies do. The results of the statistical analysis support the authors’ claim that companies with an MES in place outperform their competitors without an MES on the inventory- and logistics performance, as well as on Order Lead Time.