MESA, its MES models, and what ISA taking over means
MESA closed in June 2026 and ISA took over its content. What MESA's MES models said, how they grew, and what the change means for MES/MOM.
MESA has closed, and ISA now holds its work
On 30 June 2026, MESA International, the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association, ceased operation. The same day, the International Society of Automation (ISA) took on its educational programmes, industry content and community. MESA members can transfer to ISA at no cost until the end of 2026 (ISA, June 2026).
It wasn't a merger in the usual sense. MESA wound down, and ISA agreed to become the home for what it had built.
For anyone working in MES/MOM, that's a moment worth pausing on. MESA gave this industry its most quoted definition of MES and a common language for scoping projects. So let's look at what that legacy is, and what changes now.
Who were MESA?
MESA was a not-for-profit association focused on manufacturing operations and the technology that supports them. Its members were manufacturers, solution providers, consultants and academics, and it was best known for its models of what an MES does.
MESA described MES as a:
"dynamic information system that drives effective execution of manufacturing operations".
The MESA-11 model
In 1997 MESA published the model most people still picture when they think about MES functionality. It set out eleven core functions:
- Operations and detailed sequencing. Scheduling work in the right order on the right resources.
- Dispatching production units. Releasing work to the shopfloor as orders, batches or lots.
- Product tracking and genealogy. Where work is, and what went into it.
- Labour management. Who is working where, and with which skills.
- Quality management. Inspections, measurements and analysis against specification.
- Resource allocation and status. Machines, tools, materials and people, and whether they're available.
- Document control. Instructions, recipes, drawings and procedures at the point of work.
- Performance analysis. Comparing actual results with goals, OEE included.
- Process management. Monitoring production and guiding operators through it.
- Maintenance management. Keeping equipment and tools available.
- Data collection and acquisition. Capturing operational data, from people and from equipment.
Look at that list today and two things stand out.
First, it's far broader than production execution. Quality, maintenance, labour, documents and genealogy are all in there. That breadth is what the term MOM describes now, and I explain the difference in MES vs MOM.
Second, it was a functional map, not a product specification. It described what a factory needs managed. It didn't say one application had to do all of it, which is exactly the decision you face when you choose a platform.
How the model grew
MESA kept extending its thinking. The collaborative MES (c-MES) model in 2004 added how MES connects with the rest of the business. The 2008 model went further, showing how production and production operations link to business operations and strategic initiatives.
The direction of travel was clear: MES stopped being seen as a standalone shopfloor tool and became part of how the whole business runs.
What changes now ISA has it
Probably less than you'd think, at least day to day. ISA-95 and ISA-88 already underpinned much of MESA's educational work, so the content is moving to the organisation that owns the standards it was built on. If you're new to those, start with The ISA-95 model explained. ISA says it will share details on access and future plans through isa.org.
What I'd like to see is MESA's practical, manufacturer-led material sitting right alongside ISA-95, so people learning MES get the standard and the real-world guidance in one place. If you hold a MESA membership, take the free transfer before the end of 2026.
Configure, don't customise
One point MESA made in recent years that I strongly agree with: MES systems should be configurable and largely out of the box. Heavy customisation makes them expensive to deploy and painful to upgrade. More in Configure, don't customise.
Were you a MESA member, and what would you like ISA to do with its content?
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.
