1. MES Migration HGP Asia Knowledge Day 2017
THOMAS
Thomas Halfmann Partner HGP Group

2. How to execute an MES migration MES migration: upgrade or replacement?
Planning and implementing MOM/MES migration projects
Migration strategies and considerations
Data migration
THOMAS

3. MES Migration
THOMAS

4. Does this sound familiar?
THOMAS / CLAIRE
Our MES was implemented in the early 2000s…
In order to support our processes and to integrate it into our IT landscape, the system was more or less heavily customized
After approximately 10 years of successful operations, it was time to think about an upgraded solution
the organization (and the ERP system) became more and more data hungry…
technology was outdated and not supported anymore
the vendor announced a new MES platform
The initial decision was to upgrade to the new platform offered by the current vendor
After initial investigation, project planning and deeper financial analysis, some critical challenges were identified:
Entire new solution technology stack will be required
Financial investment nearly as large as implementing an entire new system
Migrating functionality from previous customized solution onto new platform at least complicated or undoable
How to solve the archiving problem? (so far all data was kept in the MES database)
How to migrate existing master batch records / recipes from the current system to the new system
One-to-one migration technically not possible or at least difficult
New functionality and design concepts were introduced
An immediate question came up: Upgrading or replacing?
Isn’t an upgrade to an entire new platform, even from the same vendor, not also a replacement?

5. MES Migration: Upgrade or Replacement?
Moving an existing system to a higher version
Ability to retain the key configuration and setup of the existing system
Might not be as easy as it sounds…
Replacement?
Changing the system platform (this might be the case even when staying with the same vendor)
Existing system is unable to meet the current and future business needs or
Technology stack of the existing system is completely outdated (and not supported anymore)
CLAIRE

6. Process to Evaluate Best Option
CLAIRE

7. Considerations in Decision Making (1)
Migration Effort
Writing the programs for automatic migration
Manual entry of data directly into new system
Validation of data migration and data entry
Process redesign to make use of new functionality
Validation of revised processes
System downtime
Level of customization
Changing in the customization strategy need to be assessed to identify the overall impact of the migration
Using the standard system and trying to adapt to best practices
Allow a high degree of customization to meet their needs
CLAIRE

8. Considerations in Decision Making (2)
Standardization Strategy
IT application landscape
Diversity of manufacturing, quality assurance, and supply chain processes
Multi-site interaction
Lessons learned from experience with current MES
Were the business benefits achieved?
Relationship with vendor
Review of functional requirements
Process redesign
Integration issues
Roll-out and implementation strategy
CLAIRE

9. Understanding the MES Architecture – What Is Impacted?
CLAIRE

10. What Is Impacted? IT Technology Migration Data Migration
Involving IT infrastructure or IT platform
Technical risks, business risks and risk of cost overrun shall be taken into consideration during planning
Data Migration
Data migration is driven by a change of data storage, database platform or changes in business processes
Application Migration
Changes at application level to enhance user interface, system functionalities or consolidation of MOM functionalities
Business architecture migration
Changes at business architecture involve manufacturing processes and people, such as optimizing process or organization
Such changes drive the changes in application layer, data layer and technology layer
CLAIRE

11. Planning and Executing MES Migration
CLAIRE

12. Migration Strategies Big Bang Migration Phased Migration
Usually chosen to replace legacy MES system
This is a straightforward migration, there is no need to operate or maintain business processes with 2 different systems
Challenges arise from user training, post go-live system support and contingency planning
Phased Migration
Project is divided into sub projects with incremental deliverables
A less risky approach and allow users to have more time to adapt with changes
Parallel Migration
Running the both new and existing system at the same time
A less risky approach, however it can be a costly migration due to the resources required to maintain both systems for a period of time
CLAIRE

13. Data Migration Data to be Migrated Potential Migration Approach
Master data
Depending on master data system…
If master data is managed by ERP or external master data system, little migration effort
If master data is (also) managed by MES, either master data can be migrated on data base level or requires manual re-keying
Inventory data
If ERP is the leading system for inventory management, no to little effort
If MES is managing inventory, it might require re-keying
Equipment statuses
Most likely, all equipment status must be re-entered into new system
Master batch records
Automatic migration of master batch records might result in loss of efficiency due to not considering new functionality
Most likely, all master batch records must be reviewed, improved and re-entered into the new MES
Historic data
Archiving is an option, however how do we access historic batch data with all relationships
Transferring historic data into the new system is not possible in case of new vendor or new platform by same vendor
CLAIRE

14. Case Study: Data Migration Considerations
Situation
Analysis
Solution
Current MES was replaced by a new platform of the same vendor
Historic data was never archived (kept in data base of current system)
Migration of historic data was not possible due to new technology stack and architecture
Various options were analyzed:
Printing off all historic batch records into pdf-files
How to relate to equipment log books, alarms, etc.?
How to deal with supporting documents that are part of the batch record?
Data validation effort
Printing effort
Migrating the data base to a new (supported) data base
Keeping a copy of the system
Keeping a copy of the system as a virtual machine
Keeping all master data relationships
Keeping all equipment log book data
Validation of decommissioning / sunset of the old system required
CLAIRE
Relationship between batch record, alarms, equipment log books, etc. must be maintained

15. Conclusion MES migration projects can be very complex
The data migration issue is not (really) solved
Batch data must be retained and accessible for a (very) long period, including supporting documents, equipment status data, alarm information data, …
Recommended approach in most cases would be archiving of legacy system
MES is not purely an IT project, it is a business transformation change and affects the entire organization!

17. Contact
Halfmann Goetsch Partner AG St. Alban-Vorstadt Basel Switzerland
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Thomas Halfmann Partner E T