Proficy Smart Factory MES

My main use case for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is configuring the manufacturing execution system for four plants to digitalize the manufacturing processes.

A specific example of how I use GE Proficy Smart Factory MES to digitalize a process in one of those plants is through the product genealogy module. Here, we monitor the raw materials coming in from the suppliers and how they transition into finished goods, allowing us to have the complete product genealogy that GE Proficy Smart Factory MES displays. This shows how the raw materials are moving through the manufacturing plant, the shop floor, and how the finished goods are being prepared at each stage.

We followed a global template that was prepared with our client meetings and plant users. All the stakeholders were involved, so all the global templates were common for all four plants since the company, the client, was the same. We use global templates for all kinds of modules, including product genealogy, production order management, downtime tracking, and others.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES positively impacted my organization, which at that time was a consultancy firm, by bringing us a lot of business, not just from one client but three more clients after our successful implementation for one of the clients. It brought profitable business for our company.

I measured that positive impact through new contracts. The first client for which we implemented GE Proficy Smart Factory MES at four plants saw a major increase in their production efficiency, with downtimes decreased and their manufacturing plants up most of the time. Even when downtime occurred, GE Proficy Smart Factory MES helped us identify defects very easily, making it a very successful implementation. Due to this successful implementation, we were able to get new contracts for three more clients, and our revenue also increased.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES offers seamless integration with other software, including ERP systems like SAP ERP or GE Historian, so no middleware is required. Additionally, it is ISA-95 compliant, which is very important for batch and hybrid manufacturing.

The integration with SAP ERP and GE Historian helped my team by providing data visibility. It offered data visibility from the historian as well as all the process order data coming from SAP ERP, solving the visibility and data integrity problem for us. One of the challenges we faced was data packet loss because of a SAP ERP connection issue with GE Proficy Smart Factory MES, but once we solved it, it offered us more than 98% data accuracy along the whole manufacturing execution system.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is highly customizable. According to the client's needs, whatever we decided in technical and functional design documents, we could customize GE Proficy Smart Factory MES, making it a good feature.

One aspect of GE Proficy Smart Factory MES being very customizable is also a disadvantage because the learning curve for any IT staff is very steep. Whatever is taught in IT training cannot be completely applied from the day one they join the company; they have to learn all the configurations. GE Proficy Smart Factory MES requires that you learn very fast, and apart from that, the total cost is a concern. GE Proficy Smart Factory MES implementation comes with costs attached that include the implementation itself, integration with other software, and licensing.

Regarding needed improvements, the engineer hired for the GE Proficy Smart Factory MES implementation must be given at least one to two weeks of training from a very experienced person who has already done GE Proficy Smart Factory MES implementation. This would reduce project timelines, which could lead to reduced costs.

I have been using GE Proficy Smart Factory MES for over two years.

In my experience, GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is stable.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES's scalability is quite good. As I mentioned earlier, we implemented one of the modules and then applied it through all the manufacturing plants that our client gave us in the contract, so it is quite scalable.

I did not face any issues that required customer support from GE Digital, but I believe it would be great to have that support available.

I have seen a return on investment from using GE Proficy Smart Factory MES. Once I learned GE Proficy Smart Factory MES implementation, I was the only person in the team working on that. As we expanded and got new clients, I trained quite a few new employees on how to do GE Proficy Smart Factory MES implementation, which saved costs for the company.

On a scale of one to 10, I rate GE Proficy Smart Factory MES overall a solid eight.

I rate it an eight because, while it is standard, it is also customizable. The cost involved and the steep learning curve for a new engineer are key factors keeping it from being a 10.

My advice to others looking into using GE Proficy Smart Factory MES would be to first consider how it fits into their current manufacturing plant operations and second, to explore the total cost involved in implementing GE Proficy Smart Factory MES for their operations, including licensing and integration costs.

My main use case for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is to connect the shop floor machinery with the MES system and pass on the data to SAP, using OPC and Kepware OPC to connect different shops and retrieve data as needed for upper systems or storage in the database.

To handle the integration between the shop floor machinery and GE Proficy Smart Factory MES, we typically use OPC, which includes Kepware OPC on DA and UA connection, and we later adopt the OPC UA unified method for connectivity. While we do not face challenges connecting to the MES due to OPC Kepware being a standard, challenges do arise between GE Proficy Smart Factory MES and Kepware, including occasional data loss. However, we have developed a strong connectivity mechanism to mitigate data loss.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES has positively impacted our organization by significantly enhancing overall equipment efficiency, which enables effective productivity and ensures equipment availability on the go.

Regarding specific improvements or metrics in equipment efficiency or availability since using GE Proficy Smart Factory MES, the equipment efficiency is available in real-time, allowing us to validate how the equipment behaves. We can perform quick maintenance based on equipment performance, leading to maintaining 100% availability for production.

One of the best features GE Proficy Smart Factory MES offers is its ability to connect on-premise systems to SaaS and cloud MES, a feature I find particularly valuable.

While I do not have much experience with it, I have reviewed case studies that indicate it is a seamless process with no anticipated issues when we eventually move to the cloud.

I think it is essential to monitor the real-time data exchange between the MES and shop floor equipment to ensure efficiency when connecting to the cloud.

If I had to pick one thing that could be improved, it would be making the OPC connections from Kepware to GE Proficy Smart Factory MES more user-friendly, perhaps by creating everything on Excel for easy upload.

I have been using GE Proficy Smart Factory MES since 2018, as I implemented it for one of my clients in the UK.

Initially, we experienced some hiccups and issues with GE Proficy Smart Factory MES, but after several implementations on-site, it became stable and functions as expected.

In terms of scalability, GE Proficy Smart Factory MES does not handle growth and expansion well, as expansion is difficult in an on-prem environment. Any additions require a full server setup, making it not easy.

I believe the setup costs may seem higher due to the need for multiple servers for MES and high availability features, meaning licensing could also be high and should be optimized.

I would rate GE Proficy Smart Factory MES as a seven out of ten.

I chose this rating because it has core capabilities such as cloud production management, quality, GE OEE, and other essential features available in the cloud, and its connectivity is quick and fast.

Regarding GE Proficy Smart Factory MES's AI capabilities, it adheres to user or company requirements by following governance and security policies.

As for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES's AI capabilities and the accuracy and reliability of output, I plan to check this area more frequently to assess output accuracy. Based on what I have heard and read, it is almost 90 to 95% accurate, but I want to gather more personal information.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is currently deployed on-premises in my organization.

My advice for others considering GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is to look closely at its features and capabilities to determine if it fits their needs before proceeding.

My main use case for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is that we implemented this in one of the factories two to three years ago as smart manufacturing to calculate the OEE and other KPIs.

We have many use cases for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES because we use it for day-to-day activity. It is not only limited to OEE, as we also manage quality, performance, operations, and end-to-end traceability. Everything is included in this particular MES.

The best features GE Proficy Smart Factory MES offers include its Plant Application, with three main features that calculate performance, availability, and quality. What stands out the most to me is the quality part, which is very important for any manufacturing plant.

The quality feature of GE Proficy Smart Factory MES stands out to me because quality is crucial. For instance, it helps us determine how many parts we have produced correctly the first time without needing rework, which is vital to gauge the efficiency of our plant.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES has positively impacted my organization in many ways. For example, what we used to accomplish in a day as production has increased quite a bit, and our performance and quality of products have also improved, leading to a noticeable increase in OEE, though I prefer not to reveal the exact percentage of improvement.

The improvements in OEE and quality from GE Proficy Smart Factory MES have changed our daily operations and decision-making. Previously we faced many downtimes without a strategy to rectify them quickly, but now we can foresee potential downtimes and act quickly with our maintenance team, resulting in less machine downtime and increased availability, which allows us to produce more.

In terms of how GE Proficy Smart Factory MES can be improved, I believe one key area is the connectivity on the shop floor. We need local connectors that can connect directly to the machines such as CNCs to facilitate direct data acquisition.

I have been using GE Proficy Smart Factory MES for the last five years.

I rate GE Proficy Smart Factory MES a seven out of ten.

I choose a seven out of ten for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES because it has many capabilities, but there is room for improvement, which is why I leave three points available for enhancements.

Regarding GE Proficy Smart Factory MES's AI capabilities, I think its governance and security are very strong, as it provides a very secure solution with two to three layers of security, so we do not need to worry. It has good cloud and on-premises features.

I consider the accuracy and reliability of output from GE Proficy Smart Factory MES to be 90 percent.

My advice to others looking into using GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is that if you are considering discrete manufacturing, you should definitely go with GE Proficy, as it is well-suited for that purpose.

I have additional thoughts about GE Proficy Smart Factory MES. It is a good solution for discrete manufacturing, and it is a well-established product, so anyone thinking of implementing an MES should definitely consider this option. My overall review rating for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is seven out of ten.

I typically work with many types of PLC, but I focus more on GE Proficy Smart Factory MES, so I can connect to GFanuc PLC and then upgrade to RX3i from LM90.

I usually take the alarm trigger from the sensor and then gather data from the sensor regarding pressure values and temperature values. I create trends using GE Proficy Smart Factory MES so I can identify the root cause of my issues. This has been very helpful for me.

The features I appreciate most in GE Proficy Smart Factory MES are the ability to create trends when I troubleshoot during my daily work.

I can also edit the program in GE Proficy Smart Factory MES, and before I download it to the PLC, I can test it first to ensure my program is working correctly.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES has been very useful in my daily work because it is user-friendly. I can also go online and change the IP address easily, which is simpler compared to other solutions.

Troubleshooting with GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is easier than other options.

I think you could add more password protection inside GE Proficy Smart Factory MES. I mean, if someone who is not from your organization or a service engineer attempts to upload it, it cannot be uploaded unless the user who is authorized uploads it.

There are still a few bugs, and anyone can upload easily without a password.

I have used GE Proficy Smart Factory MES for five years.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is very stable based on my experience.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES can grow with my needs.

I have not used the support team from GE Proficy Smart Factory MES.

Since I joined my company, we have already used several PLC options, and some of them include GE Proficy Smart Factory MES.

I do not have information about the return on investment, but I am just a user and receive the program and license from the IT department.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is deployed in public cloud in my organization.

I received the license for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES from my company. Every year, my company releases notes to renew my license.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is what we use for simple programming, and I can access it very easily.

I would recommend GE Proficy Smart Factory MES to others if they want simple software with a simple application that is easy to understand.

As long as the program is password-protected and cannot be uploaded by everyone, I think GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is secure.

Everything appears to be already perfect in GE Proficy Smart Factory MES.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is better for my organization.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is very accurate for output.

The hardware of GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is very strong, and the software is very easy and useful for me. I would give this product a rating of nine out of ten.

My main use case for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is for recipes and batch executions.

When using GE Proficy Smart Factory MES for recipes and batch executions, it depends on the customer process, but in reality, they get the orders, they get the scheduling, and then it goes into the manufacturing system where we can push it around depending on what needs to be done first or if it's a small order or big order.

Additionally, I do quality checks with GE Proficy Smart Factory MES. They go back and take labs and then enter them in for each batch.

The best features GE Proficy Smart Factory MES offers include the integration to Microsoft, enterprisewide development, and the IoT where I can get that information relatively easily without having to put expensive instruments out there.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES has positively impacted my organization by helping clients a lot. I am a system integrator.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES helps solve pains such as reporting for mandated government agencies that require their reporting, and traceability with batching and with the quality on the side doing that. It has made the paper trail more electronic and more accessible.

With GE Proficy Smart Factory MES, it has affected daily operations by making it a lot easier for them. It takes a little bit of load off of their paperwork, but it also allows the customer to really see what is going on and see where they can make some improvements.

As for how GE Proficy Smart Factory MES can be improved, I cannot speak to that at the moment with how I have implemented it on the field.

What I wish was easier or better with GE Proficy Smart Factory MES are some custom extensions in regards to third-party code that integrates into it, making it more of a faceplate and something easier to populate with a single tag number.

I have been using GE Proficy Smart Factory MES for a while now, and it depends on the customer that I have been with.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is stable, depending on the right operating system being configured correctly.

In terms of scalability, GE Proficy Smart Factory MES scales especially well because when I build the templates, it is only in one or two little areas, and then I scale it out to different areas and everything scales pretty well.

The customer support for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is good.

I would rate the customer support for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES an eight on a scale of one to ten.

Whether I previously used a different solution depends on the client, but the last two clients I had that were big projects already had iFIX.

Before choosing GE Proficy Smart Factory MES, my clients did not evaluate other options or use a previous product.

I have not seen a return on investment with GE Proficy Smart Factory MES because I do not have the numbers since I am an integrator.

As for my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES, I did not have to charge for that, so I was the integrator.

Regarding GE Proficy Smart Factory MES's AI capabilities, I think its governance and security is good, but that just depends on how you implement it onto the OT network. The tools are there, and I hope everybody uses them to keep it secure.

Regarding the accuracy and reliability of GE Proficy Smart Factory MES's AI capabilities, right now, my customers have not implemented the AI part, but I have delved into it myself, and I think it is going to turn out pretty well.

My advice for others looking into using GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is to just know your entire scope of what you want to do to allow you to budget for your capital project. I would rate this product a nine on a scale of one to ten.

My main use case for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is to analyze, monitor, track, and maintain downtime and power consumption. I use GE Proficy Smart Factory MES on a regular basis as a Plant Application administrator and Plant Client administrator for my day-to-day health checkup of production level reports, including how tags flow from one end to another.

For downtime monitoring, when production level is down, I have to monitor the exact start time and end time to understand if the power consumption indicates that production was slow or stopped. We receive a report documenting what exactly might be happening at that time. For power consumption, when batches start running, the tag frequency increases, prompting me to check the trigger tag from the PlantApp model, along with the configured model to see how it works. We also check production and downtime events from the PlantApp model.

Regarding my main use case, I face challenges when the Plant Apps models don't match the tag values with OPC Quick Client, which requires me to check and trigger with Historian Proficy, enabling or disabling and checking the data flow to ensure labels are printing correctly from GE Proficy Smart Factory MES. Specifically, in a Plant Application where I check from the stretch wrapper or the unit's placement in the configured models to obtain the source address and verify in the OPC Quick Client.

The best features GE Proficy Smart Factory MES offers include being time-efficient and providing clean software that allows me to utilize my time conveniently and in a hierarchical manner, seeing very clearly how everything is configured with ease of configuration. GE Proficy Smart Factory MES provides the capability to analyze operations related to pulp machines, tissue paper machines, converting lines, and paper machine lines, allowing us to analyze trends effectively and accurately calculate start times, end times, and events.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES positively impacts my organization by providing a tool for real-time production that utilizes our time in various ways, enabling us to gather all data on one page. This prompts organizational interest in future projects because we learn from shop floor to end reporting and analysis of data.

In terms of specific metrics, I can mention cost reduction since getting all data on one page allows us to need fewer resources, contributing to the company's fast growth and improving efficiency and monitoring.

I would like to see improvements in GE Proficy Smart Factory MES, specifically automation done on back-end SQL for helpful buffer file reduction and cache account management.

Regarding needed improvements, when creating cases for incidents, I want to ensure we receive quick monitoring and responses because it affects our service level agreements.

I have been using GE Proficy Smart Factory MES for three years.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is stable.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES handles growth and expansion well.

Customer support for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES gives quick results sometimes, but there are delays at times, so I would appreciate quicker responses from their end.

I previously worked with OSI PI and Plant Information, and transitioned to GE Proficy Smart Factory MES because I wanted to explore more within MES.

I did not evaluate other options before choosing GE Proficy Smart Factory MES. I was using OSI PI and found GE Proficy Smart Factory MES to be a much better tool for understanding event frames, user access, roles in the plant, and how the line and unit work.

I see a return on investment, particularly in time-saving, which is crucial.

The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is managed solely by the company.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is primarily used for MES implementation and support across a variety of industries, including mining and consumer goods. The platform is utilized within the ISA-95 architecture for consumer goods clients, implementing modules such as production, maintenance, and quality. It is used to execute process and planned orders on the shop floor, capturing data on downtime, production, and quality against specific orders, and calculating plant KPIs based on this data. The platform also supports reporting structured data stored in the Prophecy database, using interfaces like Prophecy displays for operators or supervisors. Integration with plant systems such as PLC SCADAs and ERP at the top layer is also a crucial element of my use case.

Integrating GE Proficy Smart Factory MES with plant systems like PLCs and ERP systems impacts daily operations positively, offering smooth execution. Although challenges with SCADA communications do arise, these fall under standard IT support and are managed and rectified efficiently. For recurring issues, problem methodologies such as RCA are employed to identify root causes and implement corrective actions. Overall, integration has been beneficial with no major negative impact.

The best features of GE Proficy Smart Factory MES include its various modules enabling full-fledged MES implementation, offering production, maintenance, quality, and beyond. It integrates with PLC SCADAs using OPCs, and Prophecy Historian is completely integrated for time series data collection. These features facilitate evaluation of order efficiencies, OEE, yield, and other KPIs. Integration with ERP at the ISA-95 top layer and multi-method integration with external systems is possible, enhancing user experience with thick and thin clients for daily operations using a Microsoft SQL database.

In day-to-day operations, the most valuable features are production and quality, which handle data related to gross and net production. They automatically capture downtimes and provide a comprehensive list of highlighted drill-down reasons for downtime, significantly contributing to OEE as a primary KPI. Additionally, the Historian feature collects necessary time series data in line with MES requirements, allowing for advanced reporting and alarm-triggering for operators and supervisors or executing commands back to PLC SCADAs, enhancing decision-making processes.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES facilitates improved data capture, processing, and reporting across organizational levels, from supervisory to managerial to business levels. The reporting structure allows business stakeholders to drill down to specific plants and production lines, monitoring efficiencies in real time and identifying underperforming areas. This effective real-time monitoring provides insights into production performance, offering opportunities for internal brainstorming and action planning to improve KPIs.

Improvements in GE Proficy Smart Factory MES should focus on enhancing the user interface for thick client displays. Feedback from the industry after developing MES applications shows that display structures could be enhanced. Areas such as real-time updating speed of thick clients and the layout structure of horizontal and vertical rows need attention. Competitive modern interfaces could become a unique selling point against competitors.

The platform's current display structures could be enhanced by addressing issues such as slowness in updating thick clients in real time and the structure of horizontal and vertical rows. Since operators have become accustomed to GE Proficy Smart Factory MES thick client displays over the years, presenting the current displays in a competitive manner relative to other products with more modern interfaces would be beneficial.

I have been using GE Proficy Smart Factory MES for 15 years.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is stable.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES's scalability is excellent and 100% scalable.

The customer support for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is good.

I have not previously used a different solution before GE Proficy Smart Factory MES, as I have been utilizing GE Proficy Smart Factory MES since the start of my career.

I did not evaluate other options before choosing GE Proficy Smart Factory MES.

My review rating for this product is 7.5 out of 10.

My main use case for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES includes downtime, overall equipment effectiveness, quality, and reporting.

I use GE Proficy Smart Factory MES for downtime tracking by managing a few events. We have several downtime events that are preconfigured in the system so that we can see the downtime metrics of a particular machine.

Once we have the downtime metrics from GE Proficy Smart Factory MES, my team typically uses them to calculate the OEE of the machine, and then we use the data to reduce the downtime of the particular machine and use it effectively for productivity.

In terms of my main use cases with GE Proficy Smart Factory MES, we are mainly using it for unit operations to scan the raw material. These are the inbuilt views in the inbuilt tabs in the web client or in the Proficy applications client. We get to know all the information at a single point in time. We will be knowing everything that is happening on the plant in the application itself.

The best features offered by GE Proficy Smart Factory MES include real-time view or real-time analysis of the production that is going on in the plant. There are no issues between the quality or the production people that are involved or the users that are involved in the execution. There are no issues in communicating where the production execution is going towards. We get the real-time analysis of what is going on in the plant.

The real-time analysis from GE Proficy Smart Factory MES helps my team significantly. When the unit comes in, it goes through the production and then it reaches quality. We really need to have no delays between this production or quality people or any users that may need the data. It is a one-stop solution for all the users to get the required data in the plant through reporting or anything.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES has positively impacted my organization, as the production has gone up to 33% in the financial year that they introduced the MES system and we upgraded the systems. The productivity increased, the downtime decreased, and the yield that was produced had good values because of implementing this MES.

We measure the productivity increase with specific KPIs within GE Proficy Smart Factory MES by looking into the production data and having key performance indicators as well. When we dig down into the issues of why we have less productivity, we analyze the root cause since we have the data from the MES system. We analyze the data and take the corresponding measures to decrease the errors that happened previously. The productivity increases automatically.

GE Proficy Smart Factory MES should be a bit easier to customize. It should be easy to configure. We are able to configure, but it should be a bit easier on the configuration part.

About the needed improvements for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES, I believe that Proficy needs to update their vendor support. They are currently supporting on weekdays, but some organizations have 24/7 shifts, so they might need support on Saturdays and Sundays as well. Proficy needs to provide support on weekends as well.

I have been using GE Proficy Smart Factory MES for five years and five months.

I would describe the stability of GE Proficy Smart Factory MES as pretty stable. When it is implemented, users may have some confusion on how to use it or on the process flow. However, when they get used to it and we prepare the corresponding documentation on how to use the MES system, it becomes pretty stable. We do not have any connectivity issues. Even if we have any connectivity issues, they get resolved quickly.

The customer support experience for GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is pretty good. They will get in touch within one or two working days and help resolve the issue.

My advice for others looking into using GE Proficy Smart Factory MES is that it is best for the process industries, mostly cosmetics or any batch manufacturing industries that are on a huge scale. I do not recommend it to medium-scale industries.

I have additional thoughts about GE Proficy Smart Factory MES before we wrap up. It is quite a stable application. After you implement it, there are no issues working on it. Even if you have some issues, we have the vendor support, and the issues will be resolved as soon as possible. It is lovely working with GE as an application. It is a good application to use. I would rate this product a 9 out of 10.