Business Process Management for MES Deployment: Some Lessons from a Bearings Manufacturer Experience

Abstract

Industrial company’s physical production and information systems have to be adapted in the digital transition context from the automatized Industry inherited from the 70’s to the Industry 4.0. The information system must namely be completed by the deployment of new software solutions such as the Manufacturing Execution System (MES). Controlling this MES deployment is a critical point where structuring frameworks such as the Business Process Management (BPM) can be a solution. Indeed, the BPM allows managers to deal with the company changes, and allows to control them thanks to an iterative cyclic approach. Moreover, recent developments introducing agility in BPM have enabled it to take into account a high level of uncertainty as well as the promoting of team collaboration. Starting from this idea, this article explores this method in an industrial context given by an aeronautics bearings supplier company. This company is deploying a MES solution for a new high-tech manufacturing plant. After a first informal MES deployment for a pilot plant, the company would like to deploy this MES in a systematic way to all its other plants. Starting from some observations made during the ongoing MES deployment, this paper proposes to explore BPM as a means to assist managers and key users in optimizing the existing knowledge and improving the current practice for its further reuse. Then some recommendations coming from this experience are made for helping companies involved in such a MES deployment.