The global market for Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) is projected to reach US$22.9 billion by 2025, driven by rising manufacturing competitiveness in the international arena and the growing reliance on technology to enhance efficiency and outrun competition.

With rapidly changing dynamics of competition in the global marketplace and evolving consumer tastes, manufacturing companies are under constant pressure to enhance productivity, better manage inventory, reduce lead times and product development cycles, shorten delivery times, and improve quality across production operations. In today`s world, manufacturers of all types face greater competition than ever before due to growing complexity of supply chain led by globalization and continuing industry consolidation. Manufacturing companies and companies in production business also face heightened scrutiny due to environmental and safety implications of their manufacturing processes. Manufacturing Execution System (MES) is a computerized system used for real-time documentation, control and management of the entire processes involved in manufacturing industries. MES software encompasses the services in the personnel, machines and support departments of the manufacturing enterprise and enables integration of various applications employed for the purchasing, shipping and receiving, inventory control, maintenance and scheduling activities. MES is all about management of operations on the shop floor and strives to connect the administration to the shop-floor operations to have an effective control over them. Even without a direct control over any machine, MES tracks and controls almost all the production activities varying from scheduling a small set of critical machines to managing the entire fabrication operation for a manufacturer. MES, a subset of ERP, is instrumental in execution of the plan outlined by manufacturing resource planning (MRP) system.

MES helps in compilation of bill of materials (BOM); management and scheduling of resources; preparation and shipment of production orders; management and monitoring of work-in-process reports and tracking of production lots. Certain advanced MES systems also feature product definition library having revision history to give regular updates on production status to an ERP system. MRP system, on the other hand, helps determine production schedule, compile the make versus buy list as well as decide on the inventory requirements. MES initiates and tracks each and every step in the production phase of a particular job right from printing bill of materials to the processes in each phase. Given the importance of MES, it is the next big leap for companies as they prepare for the future via digitalization, accelerated innovation and increased responsiveness. For developing countries, share of exports in GDP reveals growing importance of production for exports as against production for domestic consumption. Willingness to invest in advanced technologies therefore remains high as countries try to scale their competitiveness in the international arena. Speed of innovation remains most important for manufacturers today to fight disruptive competition.MES helps achieve this by synchronizing activities across distributed plants and tracking process and product quality.