What Is MES, OEE and How Production Management Works in Modern Businesses

What Does “Production Management” Really Mean?

Production management refers to the set of tools and strategies used to plan, monitor, and optimise manufacturing processes.
Modern businesses no longer rely on spreadsheets or manual reports to run operations — they adopt MES platforms, analyse OEE, and connect the shop floor directly to the management system.

With MASTERSOFTWARE®, the entire production environment becomes intelligent, traceable, and data-driven.

What Is MES?

MES stands for Manufacturing Execution System.
It is a digital layer between your ERP (business planning) and the actual shop floor (operations). MES allows you to:

  • Create and manage work orders

  • Assign and track production tasks in real time

  • Monitor machines, operators and process status

  • Record output, downtime, and performance

  • Ensure quality and compliance

MES connects planning with execution — so managers always know what is happening, and operators follow structured processes.

What Is OEE?

OEE stands for Overall Equipment Effectiveness.
It is a key performance indicator used to measure how efficiently a manufacturing operation is running.

OEE is calculated based on three factors:

  • Availability: Was the machine running when it should have been?

  • Performance: Did it produce as fast as expected?

  • Quality: Were the products made without defects?

An OEE score helps identify bottlenecks, productivity issues, and opportunities for improvement.

With MASTERSOFTWARE®, OEE is tracked automatically, with real-time dashboards and historical analysis.

Production Planning and Scheduling

Good production starts with a good plan.
With MASTERSOFTWARE®, you can:

  • Create production orders from sales, stock, or demand

  • Schedule tasks by operator, machine or product

  • Prioritise urgent jobs and reallocate resources dynamically

  • Track task completion and material consumption step by step

This gives you full control over timelines, resource usage and output targets.

Preventive and Corrective Maintenance

Unexpected breakdowns cause delays and losses.
MASTERSOFTWARE® includes a maintenance module to:

  • Schedule preventive maintenance (based on time, cycles, usage)

  • Register corrective actions during production

  • Track spare parts, suppliers and service times

  • Analyse downtime causes and equipment reliability

This ensures machines are ready when needed, and costs are kept under control.

What Is the Shop Floor?

The shop floor (or chão de fábrica, in Portuguese) is where production physically happens — machines, tools, operators.

In MASTERSOFTWARE®, the shop floor is digitised.
Operators log in via tablets or terminals and can:

  • View their assigned tasks

  • Start and stop production steps

  • Report issues or request materials

  • Record output and quality feedback

Management sees all activity in real time, ensuring traceability and accountability across the entire production cycle.

Final Thoughts

By combining MES, OEE, planning, maintenance and shop floor control, companies can:

  • Increase efficiency

  • Reduce waste

  • Meet deadlines

  • Ensure product quality

  • Make smarter production decisions

MASTERSOFTWARE® provides all of this in one integrated platform, tailored to your business reality and ready to scale.

Want to see it in action? Request a personalised demo and discover how digital production management can transform your factory.