MES Alarm Management: Notification & Alerting

What is MES Alarm Management?

MES Alarm Management encompasses all MES functions that monitor, evaluate, and translate shop floor events into targeted actions:

• Machine failures, control limit violations, quality deviations
• Automatic alarms and notifications
• Structured escalation paths and feedback

Objective: Fast Response—drastically reduce reaction times and downtime minutes.

Notification System & Smart Alerting

An MES-based notification system replaces the traditional "someone calls someone" approach with:

Smart Alerting Based on Rules:

• Which events (failure, OEE drop, high defect rate) trigger alarms?
• Which roles (shift supervisor, maintenance, quality) are informed when?

Multi-Channel Notifications:

• Andon boards, HMI, email, messenger, SMS, mobile app—depending on criticality

Prioritization & Suppression:

• Avoiding "alarm fatigue" through clear thresholds, grouped alarms, and quiet periods

Smart Alerting means: fewer, relevant alarms that reach the right person—not continuous bombardment.

Event Monitoring & Fast Response

Event Monitoring in MES means:

• Continuous monitoring of states (run/stop/changeover), counters, process values, quality events
• Correlation with orders, lines, shifts, and products
• Visualization in dashboards ("where's the fire right now?")

Fast Response occurs when:

1. Event is detected within seconds
2. Appropriate alarm is automatically generated
3. Responsible person has clear action instructions (e.g., checklist, SOP, work instruction)
4. Root cause and response are documented in MES (basis for continuous improvement/OEE analysis)

Escalation Management in MES

Escalation Management defines the escalation path when problems aren't resolved on time:

• Escalation levels based on time, severity, affected resource, or customer
• Example:
  • Failure > 5 minutes → Team leader
  • 15 minutes → Maintenance + production manager
  • Quality deviation on safety-critical component → immediate quality management + block

In MES, these rules are mapped as workflows: Who receives what information when, with what responsibility?

Benefits of MES Alarm Management

MES Alarm Management directly impacts OEE and continuous improvement:

• Shorter downtimes through faster response
• Less wasted effort because everyone knows their responsibilities
• Better data foundation for OEE and failure analysis
• Demonstrable compliance with response times (SLAs, OEM requirements, audit readiness)

In a Cloud MES like SYMESTIC, alarm management isn't just a "popup" but part of an integrated event and workflow system—from event monitoring through smart alerting to escalation management, directly linked with OEE, quality, and maintenance data.