No abstract

This article is focused on Manufacturing Execution System (MES) functions, their main classification according toManufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association International, division from other view by their information value and utilization for various purposes in enterprises. Furthermore, this paper discusses how the appropriate selection of core or support functions can help with meeting the challenges of greater competitive advantage and increasingly complex problems solving. MES are widely used in many branches of manufacturing and automation for their possibility to link MES with planning and scheduling systems, simulation software, quality management tools, and other applications for improving working process.

Manufacturers are today faced with increasing market competition. Acknowledging considerable pressure by competition, efficient planning and scheduling of production therefore become essential requirements. Satisfying customers' needs and, moreover, benefitting economically, is thus owed to detailed plans of rational production, sales and distribution. Understanding planning, allocating resources and controlling processes of production are indispensable for success in business activities. In conditions of fast changes, when increasingly less time is available for optimal organization of production, it is a must to implement methods (algorithms) utilized towards finding an appropriate solution with relatively low number of attempts (evolutions). Genetic algorithms, as part of a wider field of artificial intelligence, are being increasingly employed and are indeed successful in dealing with hard-solving issues (NP-hard).