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MES (manufacturing execution system) architecture for FMS compatible to

ERP (enterprise planning system)

Article  in  International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing · May 2002

DOI: 10.1080/09511920110059106 · Source: DBLP

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INT. J. COMPUTER INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING, 2002, VOL. 15, NO. 3, 274–284
MES (manufacturing execution system)
architecture for FMS compatible to ERP
(enterprise planning system)
BYOUNG K. CHOI and BYUNG H. KIM
Abstract. Presented in the paper is MES (manufacturing
execution system) architecture, which is suitable for managing
FMS (flexible manufacturing system) lines under an ERP
(enterprise planning system) environment. An IDEF0-model of
an ‘order handling’ shop floor having an FMS line is developed
to identify functional requirements of MES, and then a two-tier
MES architecture satisfying the functional requirements is
proposed. The proposed MES is composed of a Main-MES
(for the main shop floor) and an FMS-MES (for the FMS line).
A BOP (bill of processes) is used as a means to represent
process plans, and a LS-Net (loading schedule network) is used
as a mechanism for representing and manipulating loading
schedules. Object models of BOP and LS-Net are presented,
and the effectiveness of the proposed MES is demonstrated
by applying it to two FMS lines, a stamping-die machining
line and a mechanical part machining line.
1. Introduction
In this paper, the term FMS (flexible manufacturing
system ) is used to mean a computer-integrated machin-
ing system consisting of machining centres, automated
handling systems for jobs and tools, AS/RS (automated
storage/retrieval systems), auxiliary processing facil-
ities, and set-up stations. If properly managed, a FMS
has a high potential for increased productivity with
enhanced flexibility (Basnet and Mize 1994, Pyoun and
Choi 1994).
An ERP (enterprise resource planning) system is an
integrated information processing system supporting
various business processes such as finance, distribution,
human resources and manufacturing. Since the 1990s,
Authors: B. K. Choi (e-mail: bkchoi@vmslab.kaist.ac.kr) and B. H. Kim,
Department of Industrial Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science
and Technology (KAIST), 373-1, Kusong-dong, Yusong-gu, Taejon, 305-701,
Republic of Korea.
International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing
ISSN 0951-192X print/ISSN 1362-3052 online # 2002 Taylor & Francis Ltd
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/09511920110059106
ERP systems have gained an explosive popularity
among manufacturing enterprises worldwide (Hicks
and Steche 1995, Welti 1999). An ERP system by nature
is not suitable for controlling day to day shop floor
operations, and for this purpose, a new type of
industrial software called MES (manufacturing execu-
tion system) emerged during the 1990s. An MES aims to
provide an interface between an ERP system and shop-
floor controllers by supporting various ‘execution’
activities such as scheduling, order release, quality
control, and data acquisition (MESA 1997). In parti-
cular, this role of MES has been well established in the
semiconductor industry (SEMATECH 1997).
For a manufacturing company employing tradi-
tional manufacturing facilities and conventional MIS
(management information systems), a FMS and ERP
system may be the two major areas of investment if the
company wants to be more competitive. The amount of
investment for a typical FMS is about US$5 – 10 million
(Kim 1996), and that for a typical ERP system is about
US$3 – 5 million (Welti 1999). Thus, for a company that
has invested on both FMS and ERP, it is essential to
have a suitable MES that can provide an adequate
interface between the two. However, to the best of our
knowledge, there are no known MES models for this
purpose.
Existing works on MES include a Gantt Chart based
MES for die and mould manufacturing (Choi et al.
1995), an integrated MES framework (Scott 1996), a
CIM framework for semiconductor manufacturing
(SEMATECH 1997), a distributed and object-oriented
MES framework (Cheng et al. 1999), and MES
development cases for semiconductor manufacturing
(Pickett and Zuniga 1997, Cheng et al. 1998, Westphal
and Gramlich 1998). Quite a few commercial MES soft-
ware systems are also available, but unlike ERP systems
 MES architecture for FMS compatible to ERP
there are no reference MES models that can be used for
general manufacturing environments (MESA 1997).
Proposed in the paper is a two-tier MES architecture
suitable for bridging the gap between an FMS
controller and an ERP system. Since an FMS line is a
portion of a ‘main’ shop floor, the two-tier MES consists
of a main-MES in charge of main shop-floor operations
and an FMS-MES in charge of FMS operations. The
main-MES is connected to the ERP system, and the
FMS-MES is connected to the FMS controller. The two-
tier MES architecture has been implemented for the
two FMS lines shown in figure 1. The FMS line in figure
1(a) is an automobile stamping-die machining line
having three high-speed machining centres and a
CMM, and the FMS line in figure 1(b) is a mechanical
parts machining line having four machining centres
and a washing machine.
The paper is organized as follows. In section 2, a
structured model of FMS operations is presented
together with a set of functional requirements for
MES. A two-tier MES architecture satisfying the func-
tional requirements is presented in section 3, and some
details of the internal structure of the proposed MES
architecture is described in section 4. A brief descrip-
tion of implementation experience is given in the
section that follows, and concluding remarks and
discussions are given in the final section.
2. Functional modelling of FMS operation
As mentioned earlier, a typical FMS line consists of
such ‘devices’ as machining centres, automated hand-
ling systems, AS/RS, auxiliary processing facilities, and
a b
Figure 1. Two FMS lines for which the two-tier MES architecture was applied: (a) stamping-die machining, (b) mechanical parts
machining.
275
set-up stations. The devices in the FMS line are
controlled by an FMS controller that is responsible for
releasing orders (for machining, set-up, etc) and for
receiving status reports and messages from the devices
(SNK 1996, Kim 1996).
2.1. Overall structure of shop floor operations
In general, the ‘main’ shop floor containing an FMS
line is a part of an Order Handling Manufacturing
System (Wu 1994). Depicted in figure 2 is an IDEF0
model of such shop-floor operations. The IDEF0 model
was constructed based on a detailed analysis of the two
shop floors having the FMS lines given in figure 1. The
shop floor operations may be grouped into the
following categories (A1, A2, . . . represent Activity
boxes of the IDEF0 model in figure 2):
(1) Customer Inquiry Handling: Inquiry receiving
(A1)ïTemporary process planning (A3)ïLoad-
ing scheduling simulation (A5)ïConfirm due
dates.
(2) Received Order Handling: Order receiving
(A1)ïShop-level process planning (A2)ïLoad-
ing schedule generation (A5)ïDispatch jobs to
FMS or main shop.
(3) Load/Progress Control: Job operations (A6:
FMS; A7: main shop)ïMonitoring and data
acquisition (A8)ïLoading schedule re-gener-
ation (A5) ïDispatch jobs.
( ) ECO (engineering change orders) Handling:
4
Planning for ECO/repair (A4)ïLoading sched-
ule generation (A5)ïDispatch jobs.
276 B. K. Choi and B. H. Kim
Figure 2. IDEF0-model for the main shop floor having an FMS line.
In figure 2, BOP (bill of processes) represents a
network structure in which BOM (bill of materials) and
the routing information for a product are stored (Choi
et al. 1995). Contained in the Master Data are all the
technical data related to production resources, produc-
tion processes, components of the products, and
working hours and maintenance schedules.
2.2. Overall structure of FMS operations
Details of Activity box A6 (FMS operations) of figure
2 are described in figure 3 as a level-2 IDEF0 model.
Once FMS production orders are dispatched, FMS
operations for ‘repeating’ jobs whose NC-programmes
and tooling information are already available are
carried out as follows.
(1) Retrieve detailed machining-process plans for
the jobs (A61).
(2) Generate FMS machining schedules and send
out NC-file transfer instructions and tool prep-
aration instructions (A62).
(3) Download NC files and send out set-up instruc-
tions (A63).
(4) Tool presetting and installation (A64).
(5) Perform machining operations (A65) while
collecting data (A66).
For a ‘new’ job whose NC-programmes and tooling
information are not available, the FMS operations are
carried out in two phases (planning and execution
phases ). During the planning phase, a tentative process
plan for FMS machining is generated in A61, and FMS
loading schedules together with NC programming
requests are generated in A62. Then, NC files together
with a UMO (unit machining operation) list for the job
are prepared in A63. The FMS operations for ‘new’ jobs
at the execution phase are similar to those for repeating
jobs.
Once the NC files are downloaded and the tools are
installed, the FMS line may operate in an ‘unmanned
mode’ as long as the jobs to be machined are available.
The length of the unmanned operation is an important
design parameter when planning for an FMS line. For
example, to run an FMS line in an unmanned mode
 MES architecture for FMS compatible to ERP
Figure 3. IDEF0-model for FMS operations.
‘over the weekend’ (18:00 Friday–8:00 Monday), the
required length of unmanned operation is 62 hours.
2.3. Functional requirements of MES
There are a number of distinctive features of a shop
floor having an FMS line. First, as can be seen from the
shop floor model of figure 2, an FMS line is a
component of the main shop. Thus, FMS operations
are tightly coupled with the rest of the shop floor
operations. Namely, a job can be dispatched either to
the FMS line or to non-FMS machines, and an FMS job
may need pre- and/or post-processing operations
performed on non-FMS machines. Existing research
works (Basnet and Mize 1994, Sabuncuoglu and
Karabuk 1999) focus on finding ‘optimal schedules’
only for FMS operations and, as a result, there is a gap
between those research results and industrial practices
(Sauvaire et al. 1998).
Second, it is obvious from the FMS IDEF0-model
(figure 3) that timely delivery of reliable NC files and
cutting tools is critical to a successful operation of FMS.
Thus, it is essential to have an interface mechanism for
277
coordinating the activities of the NC programming
room, the tooling room, and the FMS operators. Third,
it is required to allocate jobs having a longer processing
time to the ‘over the weekend’ unmanned periods (to
prevent starving). A commercial FMS controller that is
designed as a ‘standalone’ controller does not easily
accommodate these requirements (Lin and Lee 1997,
Maione and Piscitelli 1999).
The above ‘distinctive features’ have to be handled
by an MES system. Thus, in summary, major functional
requirements of MES are:
(1) De-coupling the FMS operations from the rest of
the shop floor operations.
(2) Interfacing and coordinating the activities of
various sub-systems (programming room, tooling
room, FMS control room, etc).
(3) Allocating ‘longer processing’ jobs to over-the-
weekend unmanned periods
In addition, the MES is required to communicate
with the corporate ERP system as well as with the POP/
DAS (point of production/data acquisition systems ) of
the main shop floor.
278 B. K. Choi and B. H. Kim
3. MES architecture for FMS
A shop floor having an FMS line may contain a
number of sub-systems, including POP/DAS, NC
programming room, tooling room, and FMS controller.
The shop floor interacts with the outside world through
an ERP system.
3.1. Two-tier MES architecture
As discussed in the previous section, FMS operations
need to be de-coupled from the main shop floor
operations by introducing an MES. To meet this
requirement, we propose a two-tier architecture com-
posed of a Main-MES and an FMS-MES. (We could have
two FMS-MES systems if the shop floor has two FMS
lines). The Main-MES is directly linked to the ERP
system and to the POP/DAS system of the shop floor,
and the FMS-MES is connected to NC Programming
and Tooling rooms. In fact, the two-tier architecture is
similar to the ‘proper hierarchical form’ of advanced
manufacturing system control (Dilts et al. 1991).
Hierarchical architectures are widely employed in
scheduling systems for a general job shop (Tagawa
1996) and for an autonomous and distributed shop-
floor environment (Tharumarajah and Bemelman
1997).
Referring to the shop floor model of figure 2, order-
receiving (A1) is handled by the corporate ERP system,
and the main-MES is responsible for shop-level process
planning (A2, A3, A4) and loading schedule generation
(A5) for the entire shop floor including FMS oper-
ations. As shown in figure 4, the schedule generated by
the main-MES is sent to the FMS-MES in the form of
‘FMS order’ to be used as constraints when the FMS-
MES is generating its ‘FMS schedule’, which is then
Figure 4. Two-tier MES architecture.
sent back to the main-MES. When there is a conflict in
the FMS schedule, the main-MES will generate a
revised schedule, and so on (until the conflict is
resolved).
3.2. Architecture of FMS-MES
Referring to the FMS model of figure 3, the FMS-
MES is responsible for FMS-level process planning
(A61) and FMS-schedule generation (A62). Figure 5
shows an overview of the FMS-MES architecture
containing three ‘internal modules’ – FMS-level process
planning, schedule generation, and schedule editing.
For FMS-level process planning, it receives an FMS
order (shop-level process plan) from the main-MES
and a UMO (unit machining operation) list from the
NC P/G room. Process planning is carried out
interactively by ‘editing’ the standard BOP stored in
a database, and the resulting BOP is stored in the
actual BOP database. For schedule generation, a
‘loading simulation’ is performed by assigning avail-
able resources in the resource DB to the individual
processes in each of the actual BOPs while taking into
account the existing loading status. It is a ‘finite
capacity scheduling’ method that is widely used (Ying
and Clark 1994, Kim 1995, Yeh 1997, Baker 1998). The
resulting schedules are stored in a LS-Net (loading
schedule network).
In practice, the schedules obtained from loading
simulation may have to be ‘edited’ manually (e.g. by
outsourcing some of the over-loaded processes and/or
adding overtime schedules), which is called schedule
Figure 5. Architecture of FMS-MES.
 MES architecture for FMS compatible to ERP
editing. Every time a new schedule is generated for a
job (or the existing schedule is updated), the FMS-MES
takes the following actions:
(1) A ‘schedule report’ of the FMS schedule is sent
to the main-MES;
(2) Instructions for set-up and machining are sent to
the FMS controller;
(3) Instructions for NC-data preparation are sent to
the NC programming room;
(4) Instructions for tool preparation are sent to the
tooling room.
The existing schedule is updated every time execu-
tion reports are received from the FMS controller.
4. Internal structure of FMS-MES
Described in this section are object model structures
for BOP (bill of processes) and LS-Net (loading
schedule network) as they play a key role in FMS-MES
(figure 5).
4.1. BOP structure
As explained earlier, BOP is a network structure in
which BOM (bill of materials) and routing information
for a product is stored. To support the FMS-MES
requirements, the basic BOP structure (Choi et al. 1995)
has to be extended in a hierarchical manner. Shown in
figure 6 is an example of hierarchical BOP structure for
Figure 6. Hierarchical BOP structure.
279
a machine component to be machined in an FMS
(figure 1(b)).
In the shop floor level, a process in the BOP
represents a group of operations of a given type such as
NC milling (NM) and drilling (DR). The shop-level
BOP is utilized by the main-MES, and associated with
each shop floor level process are earliest start time
(EST) and latest finish time (LFT). A shop-level process
is decomposed into machine-level processes. For
example, NM01 is decomposed into FX (fixturing),
SM01 (surface milling 01), etc. The machine level
process SM01 is again decomposed into a number of
tool-level processes called unit-machining operations
(UMO).
Processes (and parts) at the machine and tool level
are stored in an FMS-BOP. Machine level processes in
an FMS-BOP may be grouped into: (1) fix-type
processes (fixturing, refixturing) in which such data
as pallet type, number of parts on a pallet, and
processing times are stored; (2) NC-type processes
(machining, measuring) in which a UMO-list is stored;
and (3) auxiliary-type processes (washing, unfixturing).
A portion of an FMS-BOP is shown in figure 7.
In an FMS-BOP network, a node (BOP-node)
represents either a process (circle) or a part
(rectangle). Stored in a process-node are such items
as eligible resources (i.e. machines that can handle
the process) and expected processing times, while
stored in a part-node are production volume, size,
material type, order number, etc. Shown in figure 8 is
an object model of FMS-BOP in which detailed
relationships among the object classes (BOP-node,
part, processes, and BOP) are specified.
280 B. K. Choi and B. H. Kim

An FMS-BOP is constructed every time a job is

dispatched to the FMS line, and it is updated when an
ECO (engineering change order) is received or when
the process plan is changed (due to defective proces-
sing and/or machine breakdown, etc).

4.2. LS-Net structure

Figure 7. FMS-BOP structure. Once a resource is scheduled to every process of

each BOP, we obtain a linked-list structure, called a LS-
Net (loading schedule network), in which the entire
schedule for all jobs is stored (Choi et al. 1995).
However, for FMS operations, more than one part may
be set up on a pallet, and multiple parts on a pallet are
treated as a single job. Thus, this ‘palletizing effect’
must be explicitly represented in the LS-Net as shown in
figure 9. In the LS-Net object model of figure 9, a
‘Palletized Part’ represents multiple parts on a single
pallet and a ‘Palletized Process’ represents the proces-
sing operation for a palletized part, and the BOP model
(the shaded rectangle) is called a Palletised BOP.
The palletizing effect can be modelled as follows.
When the number of parts to be machined is n and the
Figure 8. Object model of FMS-BOP. pallet size (i.e. number of parts on a pallet) is s, n/s

Figure 9. Object model of LS-Net for FMS-MES.

 MES architecture for FMS compatible to ERP
palletized parts are created. In addition, a palletized
process is created for each palletized part in the
palletized BOP of the LS-Net. The LS-Net may
conveniently be displayed using a Gantt chart: a Gantt
chart for a job (or a group of parts) is called a ‘progress
chart’, and a Gantt chart for a group of resources is
called a ‘load chart’.
5. Implementation of the MES architecture
The two-tier MES architecture proposed in the
paper has been implemented for a passenger car
stamping-die machining shop having the FMS line of
figure 1(a) and for a mechanical parts machining shop
having the FMS line of figure 1(b).
5.1. FMS-MES for stamping-die machining
An overall layout of a stamping-die shop together
with a detailed layout of the FMS line shown in figure
1(a) is depicted in figure 10. In the FMS line are
three M/Cs (machining centres) equipped with ‘high-
speed’ attachments, one CMM (coordinate measuring
machine), four pallet stockers, one set-up station, and
seven pallets that are transported by a RGV (rail-guided
vehicle). Mainly large-sized dies are dispatched to the
FMS line (the average machining time on a M/C is
about 20 hours).
A FANUC FD-Mate controller controls the FMS line.
Its main functions are to (1) download NC files to the
M/Cs and CMM; (2) issue machining/measuring
commands to them; (3) issue set-up orders to the set-
up station; (4) control the RGV operation; and (5)
receive messages from the devices (SNK 1996). The
main objectives for developing an FMS-MES (on top of
the main-MES that had been in use when the FMS line
was installed in 1997) were:
Figure 10. Shop floor and FMS line layout for stamping-die machining.
281
(1) Scheduling of FMS operations to meet the due
dates of stamping-dies.
(2) Scheduling of FMS operations to cope with
disturbances of the main shop floor in preparing
‘raw’ dies to be machined in the FMS line.
(3) Elimination of machine idle periods due to
delays in NC-file and tool preparation.
(4) Scheduling of FMS operations to provide
enough jobs for the over-the-weekend un-
manned period of 44 hours (Saturday 13:00 –
Monday 8:00).
An FMS-MES software system was developed during
1997 using C++ and Motif, and was deployed in the FMS
line in early 1998. The programme runs on a Work-
station under an X-Window environment. Establishing
an interface with the FMS controller was the most
difficult part of the development project (the commer-
cial controller was not friendly for an ‘open’ interface).
Shown in figure 11 is the main screen of the FMS-MES
software. Shown at the left of the screen is a list of
stamping-dies dispatched to the FMS line. The status of
the FMS line is displayed at the upper-right portion,
and a list of ‘current’ and ‘waiting’ operations is shown
at the lower-right portion.
It is not easy to quantify the effectiveness of the FMS-
MES software system, but it is regarded as a successful
project since the main objectives of the project have
been met to some extent. Currently the FMS line is
operated at a utilization rate of 90%. Along the line,
however, the FMS line went through a number of ‘trial-
and-error’ processes in setting up a stabilized manage-
ment procedure.
5.2. FMS-MES for mechanical part machining
Sketched in figure 12 is an overall layout of a
mechanical part machining shop together with a
282 B. K. Choi and B. H. Kim

Figure 11. Main screen of FMS-MES for stamping-die machining.

Figure 12. Shop floor and FMS line layout for mechanical part machining.

detailed layout of the FMS line shown in figure 1(b). In
the FMS line are four M/Cs (three 3-axis M/Cs and a
5-axis M/C), one washing machine, one stacker crane,
three set-up stations, and a pallet stocker system of 96
cells. Medium-sized ‘prismatic’ parts are machined
(milling, boring, drilling, tapping) at the FMS line
(with an average machining time on a M/C of about 5
hours). Unlike stamping dies, multiple parts are set up
on a pallet.
A proprietary controller, TONGIL-Mastrol shown in
figure 13, controls the FMS-line (Kim 1996). The main
objectives for developing an FMS-MES were similar to
those for the stamping-die shop case. FMS-MES and
main-MES were developed simultaneously using Visual
C++ and Oracle DBMS. The software runs on a PC
under a Windows 9x/NT environment. The establish-
ing interface with the FMS controller posed no
difficulty because the company makes the controller.
However, difficulties encountered during the MES
development came from the ‘DB interface’ because
different database systems were used for different
applications: IBM’s DB2 for the ERP system (BPCS);
 MES architecture for FMS compatible to ERP
Oracle DB for the POP system; MS Access for the FMS
controller.
The Main-MES is in use currently, but the FMS-MES
is in its final tuning stage. Shown in figure 14 are a
progress chart for a group of parts and a load chart for
the major resources in the FMS line. It is too early to
assess the benefit of the FMS-MES, but the MES system
is expected to serve its purpose.
6. Conclusions and discussions
Proposed in the paper is a two-tier MES architecture
suitable for managing FMS operations under an ERP-
system environment. The proposed MES architecture
was developed based on a set of functional require-
ments observed in ‘real’ FMS, and the effectiveness of
the two-tier architecture has been demonstrated by
Figure 13. Structure of the FMS controller for mechanical
part machining.
a b
Figure 14. Gantt Chart display of FMS schedule (mechanical part machining): (a) progress chart, (b) load chart.
283
applying it to two FMS lines in Korea. Key character-
istics of the proposed MES architecture are:
(1) It has a hierarchical structure consisting of a Main-
MES and an FMS-MES. The former controls the
latter, but the two have the same basic structure.
(2) The Main-MES is in charge of the entire shop
floor operations (including FMS) and is directly
connected to ERP System and POP/DAS System.
(3) The FMS-MES is in charge of the FMS opera-
tions and is interfaced with the FMS controller,
NC programming room, and tooling room.
(4) The concept of BOP (bill of processes) is
utilized as a vehicle for representing, planning,
storing and displaying process plans.
(5) The concept of LS-Net (loading schedule net-
work) is utilized as a mechanism for represent-
ing, generating, storing, and displaying
schedules.
The proposed MES architecture is derived from the
operating characteristics of two ‘linear type’ FMS lines
that may not necessarily possess the general character-
istics of a generic FMS line. Thus, it is necessary to
validate the effectiveness of the proposed MES archi-
tecture for different types of FMS. An architecture
represents a set of rules that defines (1) a unified
structure consisting of constituent parts and (2) the
connections that establish how those parts fit and work
together (SEMATECH 1997). In this respect, it is
necessary to develop object-oriented models for the
semantic/syntactic behaviour of the MES components
(the paper focused on the first aspect of the MES
architecture ).
284 B. K. Choi and B. H. Kim
Acknowledgements
The Ministry of Science & Technology of Korea
supported the research through a ‘National Research
Lab’ grant to the first author of the paper. The research
was also supported by the Korean government through
a ‘G7 Project’ grant.
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