ERP plans the business; MES follows production execution
ERP, or enterprise resource planning, supports business planning and records such as orders, purchasing, and inventory. MES, or manufacturing execution system, supports the execution and recording of production work. The exact boundary depends on the systems and configuration at the manufacturer.
ISA-95 provides a framework for the exchange between business planning and manufacturing operations. It is useful when deciding which system owns a work order, a production event, or a material transaction. The important implementation question is how those records connect.
WIP tracking answers where unfinished work stands
WIP tracking focuses on the current state of work moving through production. A team may need to know which station has a job, whether it is queued or running, and what is blocking its next handoff. That visibility can be part of an MES or connected to it.
| Need | Typical question |
|---|---|
| ERP | What has been ordered, planned, purchased, or recorded in inventory? |
| MES | Which production work is being executed and what results were recorded? |
| WIP tracking | Where is this unfinished job, and what is its current state? |
The missing layer may be the floor update
A capable MES can still have late data if the update depends on an operator stopping to scan, enter a result, or close a work order. Adding another dashboard does not resolve that source problem.
Map the event that should change the record. A finished assembly reaching a defined location might support a completion update. A measured test result should come from the test equipment or the responsible operator. A blocked job needs the issue and its context, not merely a timestamp.
Choose a first integration around one complete workflow
Define the source event, job identifier, destination system, update, and exception path. Check repeated events, partial completion, rework, and a job returning to an earlier station. Agree on how a supervisor corrects a mismatch.
Seneca connects work instructions, operator inputs, camera observations, WIP visibility, and configured system updates. For an existing MES or ERP, begin with the production record that creates the most manual work or uncertainty, and assess the interfaces available to keep it current.