MESA Smart Manufacturing Community: Manufacturing Operations Software

Description

Come share your experiences, stories, questions, and what you have learned in a safe, non-commercial environment. We seek to understand the state-of-the market, understand what companies have done that has or has not worked, documenting questions that MESA and the community can help answer. Overall, the goal is to accelerate each participant’s learning and progress toward Smart Manufacturing. 

Topic: Return on Data

The 2022 MESA Model provides a comprehensive framework for smarter manufacturing, highlighting Lifecycles, Cross-Lifecycle Threads, and Enabling Technologies that manufacturers rely on to achieve operational and business outcomes. As organizations adopt Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics in Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), a critical question arises: how do we measure the value of these investments? Enter the Return on Data (RoD) framework—a standalone approach designed to quantify how effectively organizations turn data into measurable financial and operational gains.  

This session will explore how RoD enables manufacturers to evaluate the impact of AI-enabled MES systems in areas such as predictive maintenance, quality control, and energy efficiency. By contextualizing RoD within the MESA framework, manufacturers can enhance their understanding of how data flows across Lifecycles, drives decision-making in Cross-Lifecycle Threads like Digital Twins and Analytics, and is powered by Enabling Technologies such as IoT, AI/ML, and Edge to Cloud.

Key Themes:

• Defining the RoD framework and illustrating how it complements the MESA Model in smarter manufacturing.
• How AI-powered MES systems leverage MESA-aligned Cross-Lifecycle Threads to achieve actionable insights.
• Practical strategies for integrating RoD into manufacturing data strategies to accelerate time-to-data, time-to-decision, and time-to-value.

Discussion Questions for the Audience:

1. How does your organization measure the return on its MES and AI-driven data initiatives today?
2. What specific challenges have you encountered in translating manufacturing data into measurable business outcomes?
3. How can the RoD framework complement MESA principles like Digital Twin adoption, sustainability, or compliance management in your operations?
4. What role should technology partners play in supporting manufacturers to integrate Enabling Technologies (e.g., IoT, Edge to Cloud) with RoD principles?

Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on bridging the gap between MES innovation and data value realization using the RoD framework, framed in the context of the MESA Model to guide smarter manufacturing strategies.

Agenda: 

• Thanks to our Sponsor(s) 
• Facilitator introduction 
• Community & Group overview – why participate and what to expect 
• Smart Manufacturing Paradigm 
• Thanks to our Sponsor(s) 
• Summary of last meeting 
• Today's subject 
• Wrap up 
• Next meeting 
• How to keep the conversation going 
• Thanks

The Community meets every two weeks via virtual facilitated meetings. The Community is a benefit of MESA membership. Members automatically receive the Zoom link/invitation. Not a member? Join today! 

Learn more about MESA's Smart Manufacturing Community Groups: