Efficiency, quality standards, accuracy, and cost efficiency are the classical topics that have dominated the manufacturing industry and are the factors driving it forward. But, since the IT infrastructure of most manufacturing companies is fragmented, often with older ERP systems in place, there is a lack of seamless data flow between systems, affecting production efficiency. In an age abuzz with digital factories and paperless workflow, most of the manufacturing companies lack the tools to become completely digitized. MPDV, a family-owned business, is helping manufacturing companies address these evolving needs and modernize their business and shop floor environment with its best-of-breed MES solutions. The company enables organizations to effortlessly collect, evaluate, display, and control data from production, quality management, and HR along the value chain in real time. “When companies approach us, they not only buy great MES solutions, but they also purchase 40 years of experience in the manufacturing arena and successful implementations in over 1100 sites worlwide,” says Stefan Loelkes, Chief Sales Officer, MPDV.

Enveloped within its flagship offering, HYDRA, a modular MES system, are a broad range of field-tested MES applications that can be integrated with clients’ existing solutions to address specific issues. With the growing demand for quality assurance, manufacturing companies need to ensure that products are manufactured at a specific quality grade. In addition, they also have to monitor and improve process quality. To make quality assurance as part of production management, MPDV provides a full-blown Computer Aided Quality (CAQ) management suite, which seamlessly integrates into the HYDRA platform. CAQ tools provide a complete view of on quality of goods receipt, the entire manufacturing process, and goods issue.

The company has prowess in dealing with cluster manufacturing where aspects like material movement on the shop floor and profit variables are integrated into one system, allowing manufacturers to remain responsive. The MES Manager at Phoenix Contact—a provider of electrical components, systems, and solutions to various industries—confirms that the implementation of HYDRA gave them a significant point of information directly at the workstation, which is increasingly being used to improve their processes. This association has proved to be a big step toward paperless production for Phoenix.

Besides shop floor, MPDV also brings ease in HR management. The company’s HR solutions track the performance of the workers, organize incentives, and provide data required for scheduling efficient personnel for a particular process taking into account qualification profiles of employees and tracking them. “Through these comprehensive MES solutions, we help manufacturers to build a digital twin of their entire paperwork,” says Loelkes.

Today mobility is ruling every industry and the manufacturing sector is no exception. To be in lockstep with this movement, MPDV has developed Smart Mobile Applications (SMAs) for smartphones, tablets, and PCs. The company’s SMAs allow users to remotely access MPDV’s server and inspect the functioning of machines, conduct quality analysis, and shop floor maintenance. Another add-on to MPDV’s functionality is its business intelligence suite, dubbed MES-Cockpit, an in-memory-based solution that enables manufacturers to distantly analyze the performance of multiple plants, located across the globe.

“We work in a wide spectrum of industry verticals, from automotive supplier and pharmaceutical to food and beverage, providing them adequate training to use our standardized highly configurable system, through our six training centers worldwide,” says Loelkes. MPDV has MES and shop floor specialists with ERP and backend integration knowledge who support the operations of its global clientele.

Taking a step closer toward industry 4.0, MPDV has launched an Edge Computing Suite to glean iIoT data, which can later be analyzed by various tools in HYDRA. The company has also recently introduced an open vendor-independent platform “MIP” (Manufacturing Integration Platform), targeted to reach bigger clients and IT firms which desire high flexibility to combine apps from multiple sources to arrive at a digital twin of production processes.