MES Highlights at the IMTS 2018

The IMTS International Manufacturing Technology Show at McCormick Place in Chicago from September 10-15 was six tradeshow days full of attendees walking the show floor looking to digitalize their production process and get the newest update on advanced manufacturing techniques like 3D printing. The show’s theme of “Where Dreamers & Doers Connect” could be clearly seen from the people who attended the show: Motivated executives, directors, and plant managers of small and large manufacturing organizations combined with engineers looking for cutting edge technology.

MPDV USA Inc. was positioned ideally in the hall for advanced manufacturing software like CAD/CAM/PLM and Manufacturing Executing Systems (MES). At the MPDV USA Inc. booth where the MES HYDRA was on display many high-level executives and IT staff came actively looking for a MES with concrete project requests. The awareness of the attendees to Industry 4.0 and Smart Factory was noticeable from the questions they asked and their understanding of MES and how it would fit into their organization and IT landscape. This clear vision to become digital supported by an MES is a big change from what MPDV saw two years ago at the IMTS. Back then the words Digital Transformation and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) were merely managerial buzz words in IT with no sticking application to the organization.

This year, the MES experts from MPDV presented a digital shop floor approach starting with a detailed scheduling solution with advanced planning capability for machines, maintenance, personnel, and inventory. MPDV also had its OEE reporting, serial traceability and quality inspections on display which interested many attendees. The clear need from the visitors of the MPDV booth was that of an advanced scheduling solution that can be very detailed to plan many contingencies and constraints that production may see. Many companies already use a solution to schedule orders but lack the visual guidance to spot capacity issues, or upcoming maintenance activities that would affect their production. Within the HYDRA scheduling module HLS they can see how they are planning and run optimization and simulations before they lock in a certain schedule to make sure they are reaching their ideal manufacturing situation.

The IMTS attendees who walked the exhibit floors were doers who had an idea of what they needed and were looking for the partners with the necessary experience level to get them to continue to innovate. MPDV USA’s CSO Stefan Loelkes was excited: “This show’s lead results and their quality exceeds our boldest expectations. It clearly pays back that MPDV has meanwhile established a full-blown MES competence center in the States. Also being listed as a selected vendor in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for MES systems was certainly a booster. Now, we have quite some work ahead of us, but we are of course excited to see what 2020 IMTS will bring.”