The regulated sector, including pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, is going through a period of transformational change. These changes are being driven by new product innovations, market pressures, the evolving regulatory landscape, and customer/end-user demands. MES solutions, powered by the platform Ignition, are enabling manufacturers to respond, including manufacturers in highly regulated industries.
SL Controls is a Gold Certified integration partner with Ignition. We have developed and deployed MES (Manufacturing Execution System) solutions for a range of clients, including pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers.
Why MES Solutions are Important in the Pharma and MedTech Industries?
MES solutions optimise processes and line management, as well as providing you with optimisation tools that improve OEE. MES solutions also improve product quality and deliver cost and efficiency savings through:
- Improved resource allocation
- Real-time management of operations
- Improved maintenance processes
- Enhanced inventory control
- Smoother process changeovers
- More effective interoperability with other manufacturing systems
- Minimised product recalls
- Reduced time to market
- Improved use of data
- Elimination of human error, particularly in data handling
- Shorter production cycles
Why Choose the Ignition Platform as the MES Solution for Your Facility?
At SL Controls, our experienced engineers and system architects have spent considerable engineering hours investigating, working with, and developing solutions for a vast range of MES platforms, including the largest and most well-known.
We understand the opportunities that these systems present to pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, but we are also acutely aware of the challenges, limitations, and frustrations.
Ignition stands out from other MES platforms. With the Ignition platform and our expertise in regulated industries, we have delivered significant improvements and return on investment for our clients through MES solution deployments.
Some of the key features of Ignition that make it stand out include:
- It is a server-based, single-platform solution that includes everything from machine control to scheduling to data management to reporting. As it is server-based, the platform is always up-to-date, and it is easy to distribute.
- Everything is included in Ignition, simplifying the development process and minimising deployment timelines.
- It is easy to expand into other lines or facilities, or to scale according to business needs.
- It has a simple-to-use interface, and it is easy to operate, with a short and shallow learning curve.
- Ignition is more cost-effective than other platforms, and it operates a flexible licensing model that facilitates innovation and makes it easier and less costly to scale. Specifically, it operates a pricing model with unlimited licensing and unlimited free tags and runtime clients.
While it may not be as well-known as other MES platforms, Ignition is used by tens of thousands of facilities across a range of sectors in 75 countries.
Benefits of SL Controls’ Ignition-Based MES Solutions
- Manufacturing efficiency improvements
- Reduce downtime
- Minimise waste
- Capture, monitor, analyse, and control manufacturing data
- Optimise quality control processes and eliminate product defects
- Enhance high-level oversight of entire operations
- Integrate production (OT) with ERP and other business systems (IT)
- Reduce OT and IT costs
- Improve the utilisation of assets and OEE through downtime tracking and visualisations that include OEE calculations
- Identify production trends and manage processes and inventory in real-time
- Track raw materials through to finished state with real-time oversight
- Suitable for applications that range from single lines to enterprise-wide
- Highly flexible and customisable. For example, if you have an existing SCADA system, you can choose to use Ignition for MES or you can use Ignition to expand your SCADA system into an MES. Modules can also be easily added and removed.
Your Ignition and MES Integration Partner
At SL Controls, we have engineers on our team that is fully trained on the Ignition platform. We also have direct experience developing and deploying MES solutions for clients in regulated sectors. In addition, we are continuing to expand this team of Ignition specialists as demand for MES solutions increases in the industries that we serve.
The adoption of MES solutions is a key priority for improvement-minded, forward-thinking pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers. An SL Controls developed, deployed, and supported MES solution, powered by Ignition, will help your business achieve its modernisation objectives.
