This chapter describes the features of the Oracle MES for Discrete Manufacturing, a manufacturing execution system used for discrete shop floor transactions.
This chapter covers the following topics:
Oracle MES for Discrete Manufacturing, is comprised of the MES workstation and the MES Supervisor Workbench that can be used by shop floor operators and supervisors.
The MES Workstation for the operator provides a single interface to perform multiple shop floor functions, without navigating to a number of transaction windows. Shop floor operators can view the jobs assigned to specific work centers, view requirements and instructions for performing work. The Manufacturing Execution System can be configured for actions, display, security, and transactions for the operator and supervisor roles.
You can personalize application pages without modifying any underlying code. All personalizations are added on top of the base product, and do not overwrite the existing interface. Personalizations are reflected immediately on the page. The links for personalization display on your pages. See: Personalizing Your Pages and Portlets, Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide, and Creating Admin Level Personalizations, Oracle Application Framework Personalization Guide
MES Workstation
Configurable dispatch list driven execution
Configurable work content and sequential display of instructions
Clock In/Clock/Out and Shift In/Shift Out for time capture
Enhanced shop floor transaction reporting
Integration with Oracle Quality
Streamlined material transactions with lot and serial entry
Shop floor exception reporting
Document printing including labels and job traveler
MES Supervisor Workbench
Exceptions summary view with drill down capabilities
Exception impact assessment and resolution
Anticipated capacity or resource shortages for bottleneck resources
View of the current state of the shop floor
Capabilities to expedite jobs and reorder dispatch lists
Reporting resource usages
View of job transaction history
Access to job and resource workbenches
Access to manufacturing management DBI
MES Administrator
Role for setting and configuring parameters
Parameters that control the user interface layout, content, system behavior and security
Ability to configure parameters at several levels - site, role, organization, department
Dispatch Lists
Dispatch lists, a listing of all job operations in the queue for work, are the workstation starting point. You have the flexibility to view dispatch lists for one particular resource or resource instance, across multiple resources or departments, or an entire organization. Viewing options and content are customized by the parameter settings in the Administrator mode. This includes the criteria for current or scheduled work, and the order presented on the list. See: Viewing Dispatch Lists
Electronic Signatures
The Oracle E-Records application supports Federal Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) code regulation 21 CFR Part 11. This regulation supports the creation of electronic records to monitor activities by regulated industries such as food, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. These industries are subject to audit, retention of records, and capture of legally binding signatures. Oracle MES for Discrete Manufacturing captures data and provides traceability for the operator or supervisor for move, completion, and material transactions. See: Electronic Signature Support
Exception Reporting
Exceptions are reported and displayed for occurrences preventing work on a job operation. Examples include material shortages, labor shortage, machine downtime, or quality problems. When you are notified about exceptions, you can view other job operations affected and take action in the resolution (such as utilizing an alternate resource). See: Viewing and Resolving Exceptions
Label Printing
Label printing is available from various pages while performing work on the shop floor. You can print labels for job related information and serial numbers for specific jobs See: Job Operation Actions
Labor Reporting
Labor reporting captures both the actual and scheduled time an employee works on a job operation. Four labor performance data elements are tracked including actual attendance, direct labor, scheduled available, and earned hours. You can have one or several employees working on a job operation. Shop floor labor resources are tracked using employee badge numbers and resource instances. Clock In flags the job operation as started, and records the start time for resource usage calculation. Clock In and Clock Out indicate the status of a specific operation and is displayed in the dispatch list. Shift In and Shift Out enables the recording of actual attendance hours entered.
Labor skills validation enables you to set up skilled employees to work on job operations to perform manufacturing activities. When the operator Clocks In for job operations—qualifications are checked. This helps you meet International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9000 quality and regulatory standard. Labor skills validation is integrated with other Oracle applications including:
Oracle Human Resources Management Systems to set employees at the appropriate skill levels.
Oracle Bills of Material to specify skills required for operations and routings.
Oracle Work in Process to define skills required for job operations.
Oracle E-Records to display the details of skills validated during move transactions.
See: Moving and Completing Assemblies, and Operator Skills Validation
Resource Consumption
Resource consumption reporting is supported through direct entry of all hours worked on a task—Clock In and Clock Out. The system captures the machine or person performing the work.
Serialized Manufacturing
Functionality is provided for creating both jobs with serial controlled components, and preassigned assembly serialized jobs. Lot and serial numbers can be manually assigned during operation and work order completion. A serialized job is a discrete job that has predefined, associated assembly serial numbers. After the serialization start operation, the progress on the shop floor is tracked using the assembly serial numbers. The Search Serial Numbers page can be set as the initial starting page. You have the ability to enforce sequential moves for the operation up to the next count point operation. See: Overview of Serialized Manufacturing Transactions
Related Topics
Overview of the MES Supervisor Workbench
Oracle MES for Discrete Manufacturing can be deployed in an integrated mode in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), or in a distributed mode separate from the ERP instance. The distributed instance supports:
24-hour plant level manufacturing operations independent of ERP.
Event driven manufacturing management.
Control of manufacturing processes across multiple plants and applications.
Ability to use MES functionality without upgrading the ERP system.
Oracle provides an implementation approach to deploy the Oracle MES in multiple instances, separately for plants and corporate levels. Operators carry out the manufacturing transactions through these plant level instances. Each group of plants or locations requiring manufacturing independent of the central ERP needs a separate instance of the application. Transactions can be synchronized between the central Oracle ERP and distributed MES instances using the Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle Data Integrator (ODI).
For more information, see: Distributed Oracle Manufacturing Execution System, Note Number 1051812.1 located at My Oracle Support (support.oracle.com).