The News:
Parsec Automation Corp. announced today several new interface enhancements to its TrakSYS manufacturing execution system (MES) software, which is designed to allow production managers and analysts to monitor, manage, and analyze real-time machine data to drive efficiency, process improvement, and quality improvement and control, among other use cases.
The objective of the updates to TrakSYS 12 are to improve the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) of stakeholders who interact with the real-time data being generated by manufacturing or process machinery, by offering an interface enhancement and new toolsets, which includes a modernized color pallet, a card layout scheme, new side navigation options, section menu improvements, and improved drag-and-drop page building capabilities.
Parsec Highlights Customer-Focused Interface Enhancements to its MES Platform
Analyst Take: Parsec previewed several enhancements to its manufacturing execution system (MES) platform, which is used to monitor and provide a real-time picture of what is happening on the production floor. By taking live data streams from each piece of manufacturing equipment, as well as other relevant sensors in the environment, manufacturers can gain real-time visibility and control over processes. Data from an MES can also be used to enable condition-based maintenance alerts, provide cross-channel visibility into inventories, and adjust variables to improve quality, yield, or other aspects of the product or process.
Machines involved in production or process tasks are equipped with a programmable logic controller (PLC), a computer control system that continuously monitors the state of the machine, and can make changes based on user controls or custom programs. These PLCs then sends operational and production data using a specific protocol, often Modbus or Profibus, via middleware software using OPC standards, which is the family of interoperability standards for exchange of industrial data, to the MES, where it can be monitored and analyzed.
Interface Enhancements
Ryan McMartin, Parsec’s product marketing manager, took me through a demo of the latest version of its MES, TrakSYS 12, which incorporated several interface enhancements that are designed to make it easier to make sense of the data being captured from the production floor.
The TrakSYS interface has undergone a redesign so that it’s easier for users to select certain data feeds, and then drag-and-drop them onto a layout. Instead of being restricted to a row-and-column format, the user can adjust the placement and size of various objects, making it easier to digest the information coming in. These interface enhancements have also been built on standardized platforms, including jQuery, Bootstrap, Backbone, and SignalR, ensuring robustness and scalability.
Menus have been redesigned and streamlined, and the ability to nest sub-menus have been added, making the interface feel much more like a data visualization tool or ERP platform. Parsec has also enabled drag-and-drop field mapping, which allows users to automatically create scripts that connect external data in third party systems, which saves a significant amount of time for implementation teams.
All told, the interface enhancements are essentially designed to make it easier for users to quickly organize the information coming into the MES in the way they want to see it, without needing to involve internal developers to write specific scripts. From a B2C or non-industrial B2B perspective, it seems odd that these software interface enhancements aren’t commonplace across all types of software, but it’s a good sign that manufacturing software vendors and customers – two segments not known for focusing on UI and UX – have clearly recognized the benefits of making access to data simpler, easier, and more convenient.
Challenges with Managing Complex, Real-Time Data Streams Have Pushed UI and UX to the Bottom of the Priority List
One of the key reasons why modern interface enhancements have not been incorporated into MES platforms as quickly as in modern CRMs or CDP platforms is that an MES platform must contend with managing massive amounts of real-time, continuous data that is streamed from the factory floor. As such, there’s been more emphasis ensuring that these very complex systems functioned properly, with user experience and interface enhancements being relegated to a lower priority for platform developers.
That appears to be changing, as vendors and manufacturing organizations are realizing the value of incorporating interface enhancements that make it easier to monitor and manipulate data, regardless of one’s job profile or software proficiency. In addition, as the need to incorporate AI and machine learning on data analysis continues to increase, MES platforms need to make it easy to support connections with external tools.
Author Information
Keith Kirkpatrick is VP & Research Director, Enterprise Software & Digital Workflows for The Futurum Group. Keith has over 25 years of experience in research, marketing, and consulting-based fields.
He has authored in-depth reports and market forecast studies covering artificial intelligence, biometrics, data analytics, robotics, high performance computing, and quantum computing, with a specific focus on the use of these technologies within large enterprise organizations and SMBs. He has also established strong working relationships with the international technology vendor community and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events.
In his career as a financial and technology journalist he has written for national and trade publications, including BusinessWeek, CNBC.com, Investment Dealers’ Digest, The Red Herring, The Communications of the ACM, and Mobile Computing & Communications, among others.
He is a member of the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP).
Keith holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Magazine Journalism and Sociology from Syracuse University.
