SAP Takes MES to the Cloud

There are many things manufacturers must consider as they adopt the devices and sensors that will empower the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), from communication interoperability to infrastructure scalability. Just as important is the ability to manage the massive amounts of data that all these “smart things” will generate.

In response to these new business needs, SAP announced last week the availability of its SAP Manufacturing Execution System (MES) deployed in the SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud, a scalable and secure private cloud offering that, the company said, is tailored to companies on the road to becoming a digital enterprise.

Here’s how: The ability to run MES in the cloud helps manufacturers to connect and control operations that integrate business and manufacturing processes as part of Industry 4.0 strategies. With that comes the data generated from IIoT-enabled sensors and devices. The MES cloud offering leaves the IT infrastructure to SAP HANA to minimize complexity in system installation and maintenance.

Of course, there are other cloud-based MES applications on the market. But SAP is trying to differentiate its offering with the transactional processing power of SAP HANA—an in-memory computing platform that combines database, application services and analytics—thereby enabling companies to connect manufacturing processes with IIoT data for better visibility into shop floor operations and optimized asset utilization and productivity.

“Companies of all sizes need to be more responsive to the variability in market demand and customer-specific product requirements,” said Hans Thalbauer, SAP’s senior vice president of extended supply chain and IoT, in a statement. “The solution delivered through SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud gives manufacturing companies the speed in production to meet these dynamic needs in a cost-effective manner.”