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:
- Event is detected within seconds
- Appropriate alarm is automatically generated
- Responsible person has clear action instructions (e.g., checklist, SOP, work instruction)
- 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.