How to choose an MES: 12 questions to ask every vendor
The 12 questions every manufacturer should ask when evaluating MES/MOM, plus the RFP mistakes that make selection harder than it needs to be.
Selecting MES/MOM is one of the most consequential decisions in any smart factory programme.
Get it right, and you have a platform that grows with you for years. Get it wrong, and you'll be evaluating again in three to five years, this time with the added pain of migrating away from a system that didn't fit.
I've seen too many selections go wrong because the focus was on price, or on a narrow set of today's problems. Here are the questions I'd ask every vendor.
Technical foundation
- What's your approach to master data synchronisation with ERP? Who owns materials, BOMs and routings, and how do changes flow?
- How do you integrate with our existing landscape? ERP, PLM, scheduling, warehouse, quality, equipment. Standard connectors, or custom work?
- Can you handle our industry's specific requirements and compliance? Show me, in a demo built for my type of manufacturing.
User experience
- How does it work on tablets, mobiles and shopfloor terminals? Not just the office screens.
- Is the interface genuinely intuitive for operators? Put it in front of one of yours and watch.
- How much training will our people need? Operators, supervisors and the team who'll configure it.
Functional scope
- How deep is your coverage beyond production? Quality, inventory and traceability, maintenance, tooling, energy, connected worker.
- Will it stop people across departments needing multiple systems? One application, one data model, or several products integrated together?
- Does it give real-time visibility across all production processes? Including the awkward ones.
Scalability and future-proofing
- What's your roadmap for AI and advanced technology? And what's genuinely available today versus planned?
- How do you support IIoT and modern connectivity? OPC UA, MQTT, unified namespace, edge.
- Will it grow with us? Across sites, and across functions we don't need yet but will.
Don't write a wish list
Many RFPs read like a list of nice-to-haves. If you're asking for everything, you don't know what you want.
I once saw an RFP asking whether an MES could publish production results directly to social media. A head-scratcher, for sure.
My advice:
- Focus on your real requirements, and document them accurately.
- Be clear about what you need now, and separate it from what you might need later.
- Think about future needs at the level of platform capability, not detailed features.
- Base it on your process maps. If you've done the work in Process before technology, your requirements will be specific and vendors can answer properly.
Going overboard makes it harder for everyone, gives you misleading answers, and slows the whole process down. If you're using consultants to write the RFP, be cautious. Some, not all, go overboard to demonstrate their knowledge.
See it, don't read about it
Written answers to 400 RFP questions will mostly say "yes". Demonstrations tell you far more.
Give shortlisted vendors your real scenarios: one of your products, one of your processes, one of your awkward exceptions. Ask them to configure it, not just present slides. And ask to speak to customers who look like you.
Choose the partner too
You're not only buying software. You're choosing the people who'll help you implement it. Look for a partner who understands manufacturing, not just technology, with a track record in your industry.
Be wary of choosing a cheaper solution as a stop-gap. It's rarely cheap by the time you've outgrown it.
What other questions should manufacturers be asking? I'd love to hear yours.
Matt Barber
VP & General Manager for MES at Infor. Started as an MES developer, then ran projects, solution design and product. Writes about the smart factory, shopfloor AI and the MES/MOM foundations underneath them.
