Design choices for next-generation IIoT-connected MES/MOM: An empirical study on smart factories

The role of enterprise information systems is becoming increasingly crucial for improving customer responsiveness in the manufacturing industry. However, manufacturers engaged in mass customization are currently facing challenges related to implementing Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) concepts of Industry 4.0 in order to increase responsiveness. In this article, we apply the findings from a two-year design science study to establish the role of manufacturing execution systems/manufacturing operations management (MES/MOM) in an IIoT-enabled brownfield manufacturing enterprise. We also present design recommendations for developing next-generation MES/MOM as a strong core to make factories smart and responsive. First, we analyze the architectural design challenges of MES/MOM in IIoT through a selective literature review. We then present an exploratory case study in which we implement our homegrown MES/MOM data model design based on ISA 95 in Aalborg University's Smart Production Lab, which is a reconfigurable cyber-physical production system. This was achieved through the use of a custom module for the open-source Odoo ERP platform (mainly version 14). Finally, we enrich our case study with three industrial design demonstrators and combine the findings with a quality function deployment (QFD) method to determine design requirements for next-generation IIoT-connected MES/MOM. The results from our QFD analysis indicate that interoperability is the most important characteristic when designing a responsive smart factory, with the highest relative importance of 31% of the eight characteristics we studied.