Every packet of biscuits carries a batch number and a date. If a fault is found, the maker can trace that packet back: which line made it, on which shift, and from which lot of flour. Keeping such records is one job of the software that runs the shop floor. The shop floor is the part of a factory where things are actually made.
Traceability: from the batch number on a packet, the maker can find which line made it, on which shift, and from which lot of flour, because the shop-floor software keeps that record.
Three levels of factory software. A factory runs on software at three levels:
The ERPat the top, decides what to make. It holds the customers' orders, the materials in stock and the accounts. (More on ERP in Market Segment 10.1, ERP and business accounting software, in Industry Vertical 10, ERP and business automation.)
The shop-floor softwarein the middle, follows how the making is going. This Market Segment is about it.
The control systemsat the bottom, run each machine second by second. (More on them in Market Segment 37.1, Industrial automation and control software.)
The three levels of factory software: the ERP at the top decides what to make, shop-floor software in the middle, from companies such as CAI Software, Applix, Vegam Solutions and Unifize, follows how the making is going, and the control systems at the bottom run each machine, with an edge platform such as Litmus turning the machines' signals into data.
What shop-floor software does
Manufacturing execution system, or MESIt tracks every order through every machine. It tells workers what to make next, and records how many pieces were made and how many were rejected. It also keeps the record that lets a product be traced back, which the industry calls traceability.
Machine monitoringIt shows whether each machine is running, idle or stopped, and why. Factories sum this up in one widely used measure, overall equipment effectiveness, or OEE. OEE shows how much good output a machine made, compared with what it could have made.
Quality managementIt records every defect, its cause and the fix. Regulators and customers check these records when they audit a factory.
The edge platformA factory has machines of many makers and ages, and each speaks its own language. An edge platform runs on computers inside the factory, close to the machines. It connects to all of them and turns their signals into data that other software can use.
Who buys. The large manufacturers often buy shop-floor software from the same groups that sell their ERP or their control systems. Much of the rest of the market is made of smaller companies. Many of them serve one industry, such as printing, packaging or food, and several are Indian.
Every company named here has posted software engineering jobs in India. Famous companies that don't actively hire software engineers in India are left out.