The future of MES: Personalized UIs for a modern workforce

By Jessica Kosar

The growing demand for role-based user interfaces (UI) in manufacturing execution systems (MES) is driven by several factors:

The rise of a younger workforce

The need for personalized interfaces that cater to specific business requirements

The need for flexible deployment options

Combined with an increasing reliance on mobile devices, these market demands call for personalized, intuitive and versatile solutions that enable manufacturing and engineering workers to access critical data and functions from any work site.

In a recent webinar, Personalize your MES to business needs and user profiles with low code, Silvio Saouaf and Matteo Pavan Fracasso discuss how Siemens is enhancing and defining role-based UIs of Opcenter Execution using the power of Mendix low-code capabilities to meet these evolving industry needs. These role-based UIs will target industry-specific customer roles, delivering a complete end-to-end user experience that focuses on the processes each user must follow. In this article, we’ll review two role-based Mendix industry applications to highlight some of the key ways these UIs can support and streamline manufacturing operations and how simple it is to personalize them with Mendix.

Foster an agile operational environment

The Manufacturing Order Management app facilitates production processes with real-time data for an agile, responsive operational environment. It offers a mobile layout, informing workers on instructions and statuses of pre-production to post-production tasks across the shop floor. This access to real-time data supports workers in their daily tasks and allows stakeholders to promptly respond to emerging issues or deviations — enhancing control over production processes and reducing downtime.

In this section of the webinar, Matteo shares a walkthrough of Manufacturing Order Management to demonstrate how easy it is for users to find all the task-related information they need in one place:

Enhance operational visibility and responsiveness

The Operational View Module app provides operators and line managers with a complete overview of a given work area to facilitate an integrated, highly automated workflow. It displays an organized table of tasks in progress and a visual representation of the designated work area. With Operational View Module, you can monitor machines and works in progress with real-time statuses and receive alerts for tasks or issues that require attention. For example, Mendix offers the Microsoft Teams connector to enable your MES to send an automated Teams message in the event of an issue such as an electrical failure.

Discover all the ways using Operational View Module and Mendix can help your team automate shop floor activities:

Role-based UIs in MES are crucial to helping manufacturers streamline operational efficiencies and resource management. When delivered with low-code, mobile-ready apps, manufacturing teams can leverage these intuitive UIs to enhance their decision-making and productivity while reducing downtime and costs.