Issue: A competitive environment that tolerates nothing short of manufacturing excellence will drive the growth of the Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence (EMI) market.
The use of real-time manufacturing performance information is not new for many industries. Large continuous process plants, such as petroleum refineries, petrochemical plants, and more recently, power plants, have widely adopted Plant Information Management System (PIMS) products, such as OSI Software's PI and Aspen Technology's InfoPlus21. They adopted PIMS products to help optimize the performance of their plants, mostly to maximize production and yields. The applications are primarily used locally by engineers, managers, and operators, and the information rarely leaves the confines of the plant.
Today, the demand for information on the status of manufacturing and, more specifically, on the status of products coming out of manufacturing, does not stop at the plant gate. Customer service agents, salespeople, supply chain managers, warranty managers, traders, production partners, and even customers expect and need to have access to real-time manufacturing information at their fingertips in order to compete. The need has given rise to a whole new class of software applications called Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence (EMI).
EMI does not supplant PIMS; it encompasses it. Manufacturers can build an EMI infrastructure on top of their existing real-time plant information systems, such as PI or InfoPlus. OSI or AspenTech can provide applications and services to build an EMI system or you can buy products from EMI pioneers, such as Executive Manufacturing Technology, IndX Software, Lighthammer Software, Mountain Systems, Real World Technology, or Verticore. Alternatively, a manufacturer can choose to outsource EMI functionality by using a manufacturing portal service, such as that provided by IndustrialEvolution.com. There are nuances in how each of these vendors builds and delivers their products, but they all result in the same thing -- a way to access manufacturing information anywhere, anytime, using a browser and an Internet connection.
Leading manufacturers such as Chevron, DuPont, Ford, Magna, Atlas Tubing, International Paper, and Shell have recognized the opportunity and implemented systems from the new EMI vendors. Indeed, one of the hallmarks of EMI is its reach across all industries, not simply process manufacturing where PIMS was so successful. The most telling validation for the EMI market is the fact that large discrete manufacturers have begun implementing EMI systems. Discrete manufacturers, especially automotive companies, have always looked upon PIMS enviously, but have been unable to put the masses of data into a usable business context. Ford is using Mountain Systems and EMT to change the reams of inaccessible production data into manufacturing events and product genealogy at specific plants. This was traditionally a role for a large MES application and the effort and cost involved in implementing MES resulted in limited penetration. The lower price point of EMI-type systems will allow capital-sensitive discrete manufacturers to implement an event management and product genealogy system without executive approval.
In order to be successful in the new economy, every manufacturer will need to implement an EMI system. It is not simply for the Process industries or even just large manufacturers. EMI products deliver measurable returns on investment for any manufacturer, and the availability of hosted alternatives from companies such as IndustrialEvolution make EMI available to even the smallest manufacturers. If 2001 is the year B2B means Back-to-Basics, then one of the first steps must be to deliver manufacturing visibility throughout the enterprise. Most manufacturers recognize the opportunity and are making the necessary investments. As a result, the EMI market is expected to grow by at least 25%. The market leader will continue to be OSI, with estimated revenue of $65M in 2000 and $80M in 2001.
Recommendations
- If you don't already have enterprisewide visibility into manufacturing performance, get it now.
- Don't add any more data collection systems until you have an EMI strategy in place.
- If all you need is product genealogy or manufacturing event management, consider EMI over MES.
- Make your EMI decision in the context of your existing investments. The more fragmented and isolated your existing plant systems are, the more attention you need to pay to your selection.
