ATLANTA – Manufacturers that adopt manufacturing execution system capabilities are more likely to realize best-in-class performance levels, reveals a new report from the Aberdeen Group research firm.
 
The survey of more than 650 manufacturing executives found best-in-class manufacturers had 98% products in compliance, 95% first-pass yield, 36-minute response time to nonconforming shipments, and 96% on-time delivery.
 
The study, "Compliance and Traceability in Manufacturing," was undertaken to better understand key capabilities that help manufacturers manage compliance and traceability initiatives. (Visiprise Inc., a supplier of MES software, helped underwrite report.)
 
The report defines best-in-class manufacturers as the top 20% of performers, while laggards represent the bottom 30% in a weighted average across the four measured areas.
 
The report notes "a direct relationship between best- in-class performance and technology adoption." Companies experiencing best-in-class performance are 53% more likely to have invested in MES capabilities than companies experiencing laggard performance to support their compliance and traceability initiatives.
 
Aberdeen further reports companies can gain visibility into product and process information across their value chain by establishing real-time interoperability between MES and other systems. “Best-in-class performance is differentiated by the adoption of MES and Quality Management System capabilities, which helps ensure comprehensive product and process traceability for manufacturers," said Mehul Shah, research analyst, Aberdeen Group. "Best-in-class manufacturers are further linking these applications with enterprise solutions, so that this traceability continues across the supply chain to customer receipt and beyond, enabling manufacturers to quickly and effectively respond to nonconformance incidents."
 
The report is available for free download at: http://aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410184&cid=4138.