Background
A plant still used paper shop-floor reporting — managers saw yesterday’s truth, and exceptions arrived late. The client wanted a reporting + daily board pilot, not a full MES replacement. Delivery followed our digital transformation pilots path; method notes: MES implementation path.
Pilot rule: crews must use it daily, numbers must reconcile, metrics must be comparable — then replicate or expand.
Pain points
- Next-day summaries; stand-ups still ran on verbal updates
- Exceptions (stoppage, rework, shortage) discovered late with unclear ownership
- Existing ledger/ERP fields made a rip-and-replace too risky
- Fear of “demo works, floor doesn’t”
Feature list (pilot scope)
- Lean, configurable step/station reporting
- Daily progress board: completion, WIP, open exceptions
- Simple exception lifecycle (open → in progress → closed)
- Field mapping from existing ledgers (WO, material, crew, etc.)
- Optional supervisor roll-up / export
UI sketch
Sketch: daily completion and exceptions (not a confidential client screenshot)
Timeline & outcomes (indicative)
Single-line pilots often take 6–10 weeks including a 2–4 week trial. Wider replication is estimated separately.
Indicative ranges; agreed acceptance metrics decide success.
Implementation steps
- Pick one line; define reporting fields, exception meanings, and out-of-scope items.
- Confirm terminals and network; evaluate weak-Wi-Fi patterns if needed.
- Ship reporting + daily board with ledger field mapping.
- Trial 2–4 weeks for data trust and real usage.
- Retro metrics, then replicate lines or add MES modules (quality/inventory, etc.).
Roles
- Operators / leads: report and log exceptions
- Supervisors: boards, exception follow-up, stand-ups
- IT / process owners: master data and field definitions
- Leadership: pilot metrics and expand/stop decision
Floor rollout notes
- Validate station network/terminals first — office access is not enough.
- Keep fields lean so crews will fill them every day.
- Limit board KPIs to a few items usable in stand-ups.
- Define exception close criteria or the board stays permanently red.
Acceptance examples
- Agreed reporting completeness across N workdays on the pilot line
- Sampled reports match ledger/WO within agreed tolerance
- Stand-ups use the board; exceptions have owners and closes
- Written retro: before/after metrics + phase-2 advice
FAQ
Is this a full MES?
It is a focused MES capability (report / visibility / exceptions). Expand later via the MES path.
Poor Wi-Fi on the floor?
We can assess offline cache, delayed sync, and station-level network upgrades without requiring plant-wide coverage for the pilot.
Must we replace ERP?
No. Map critical fields first; two-way write-back after trust is proven.
What if operators won’t enter data?
Reduce field count and entry time; lead-by-example from supervisors. High entry cost kills adoption.
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