Production control from the cloud with SAP DMe Digital Manufacturing Cloud for Execution as a central hub in production

Attentive readers of our blog may remember: In one of the last blog posts, we looked at the general features of SAP's cloud MES system, the Digital Manufacturing (DM). This is SAP's response to the growing trend towards new cloud technologies, which are making visions and ideas around the topic of "Industry 4.0" a tangible reality. This time, we are continuing with the second part of our blog post series and are devoting special attention to the DM component Digital Manufacturing for Execution (SAP DMe) and its application scenarios and potential benefits.

Overall, the SAP Digital Manufacturing is made up of two central components:

1. SAP Digital Manufacturing for Execution (DMe).

2. SAP Digital Manufacturing for Insights (DMi).

All components are briefly introduced in the first blog post on SAP DM.

SAP DMe: Creating an intelligent factory

The SAP DMe component is responsible for shop-floor level production control. In addition to the detailed orchestration of resources (via Resource Orchestration), it also includes flexible workforce scheduling. For this purpose, SAP DMe establishes a close link between the enterprise systems (top floor) and the production facilities (store floor). It is a cloud-based production control system based on the SAP business technology platform.

SAP DMe performs a central integration task and ensures bidirectional, vertical communication between the ERP or S/4 system and the executive level of a plant: this enables the creation of a smart factory, making SAP DMe the central hub in production. The cloud MES system acts as a link and the planning of production orders made at the administrative level (top floor) can be transferred to manufacturing.

Production Process Designer & Production Operator Dashboards

With the Production Process Designer integrated in DMCe, even highly complex manufacturing processes can be mapped by means of a graphical user interface, taking into account various scenarios that could potentially occur. Different machine types can be fully integrated - reducing production costs while improving product quality and manufacturing efficiency.

Intuitive plant terminals, so-called production operator dashboards, are used to display relevant information (such as work instructions) to production workers and guide them through the assembly process. This support can take the form of text descriptions, photos or videos, or even an interactive 3D model that visually assures the assembly process. The use of paper becomes obsolete.

Dynamic responsiveness using REO

The production environment is usually characterized by enormous dynamics: In addition to administrative planning and execution, there is a significant need for flexibility: schedules or the priority of certain production orders often have to be adjusted situationally in order to meet agreed delivery promises. In case of an emergency, required tools may be defective or employees* may not be available. The answer to these challenges is the Resource Orchestration (REO) included in SAP DMe, which consists of the two main applications Dispatching and Monitoring and Schedule Labor.

Curious or have questions about SAP DM? Contact us for a joint exchange

Do you have questions or would you like more information on the topic of digital manufacturing? If you are currently dealing with the digitization of your production processes, please contact us or join us live at one of the following webinars. There you will gain insights into past projects and learn how we have solved demanding challenges in the production environment based on SAP standard software together with our customers.

The next blog post here will be about SAP DMi and the Digital Manufacturing Network (DMn) - look forward to it!