MES Integration & Scalability
We connect any machine on the market. Not “most machines” – any: modern PLCs, twenty-year-old controllers, machines with no protocol at all. Our own automation engineers do the work, from the wiring and the gateway to the signal arriving in your dashboard, and we stay accountable for the whole chain.
Manufacturing system integration in both directions: down to the automation layer, and across to ERP, WMS, CMMS, QMS and BI. Then the same solution scales from one line to every plant in the group.
What is MES integration - and why does it decide the project?
MES integration is the work of connecting a manufacturing execution system to everything around it, and it runs in two directions at once. Downwards to the automation layer: PLCs, sensors, scales, HMIs and test rigs – the machines that actually know what happened. Sideways to the business systems: ERP, APS, WMS, CMMS, QMS and BI – the systems that plan the work and settle the numbers.
This is where MES projects are won and lost. The software demo always works. The schedule slips on the machine with no documentation, the PLC nobody has the password for, and the SAP interface that turns out to need a middleware licence nobody budgeted for. Integration is not a phase at the end of the project – in practice it is the project.
Accevo treats it that way. We employ the automation engineers, we install the hardware, and we own the interface to your ERP. One contract, one team, one party accountable when a signal stops arriving at 3 a.m.
20+
industrial protocols
OPC UA and DA, MQTT, Siemens S7 and S5, Allen-Bradley, GE Fanuc, B&R, Omron, Mitsubishi, Modbus TCP and RTU – plus custom OEM drivers.
0
third-party integrators
Our own automation engineers do the protocol analysis, the wiring, the gateways and the signal validation. No partner network in between.
2 mos.
per factory rollout
Once a model solution exists, each additional plant is a rollout rather than an implementation – as proven across the MOWI group.
100+
machines on one site
Bormioli Pharma's largest Italian facility, connected end to end including all the automation work.
How we connect any machine on the market
Depending on the machine specification there are several ways in, and we will use whichever one works: Ethernet directly, a converter, a gateway, or a physical wire onto an I/O module. Where nothing standard exists, we develop the method. Full protocol detail lives on our IIoT machine connectivity page.
OPC UA, OPC DA & MQTT
The standard route where the machine or its SCADA already exposes structured data. Fastest to deploy and usually needs no new hardware at all.
Direct PLC integration
Siemens S7-300, S7-400, S7-1200 and S7-1500 over S7-TCP/IP with Put/Get access, plus Siemens S5, Allen-Bradley, GE Fanuc, B&R, Omron NJ/NX EtherNet/IP, Mitsubishi and Modbus TCP or RTU.
I/O modules on existing signals
Where a PLC will not give access, we read the existing D/0 to D/n signals directly through I/O modules – the method that connects the machines everyone else calls impossible.
Converters and gateways
RS-485, RS-232 and MPI converters bring serial and legacy equipment onto the machine network without touching the machine programme.
HMI files, web services & XML
HMI shared-file readouts, web service calls and XML client or server exchange, for equipment that publishes data but speaks no industrial protocol.
Custom OEM protocols
Checkweighers, vision systems, test rigs and specialist OEM equipment with proprietary interfaces – we develop the driver rather than dropping the machine from scope.
Our own automation team - which is why "any machine" is a promise, not a caveat
Most software vendors can only connect what their driver library already covers. We employ the automation engineers, so a machine outside the library is an engineering task rather than a change of scope.
In-house automation engineering
Protocol analysis from your machine documentation, PLC list preparation, communication testing and signal validation – by Accevo engineers who stay with the project through go-live and hypercare.
Hardware installed by us
Edge devices, field servers, gateways, sensors, counters and the wiring between them. We deliver, install and configure the physical layer – no separate hardware contractor to schedule around.
End-to-end accountability
One supplier from the PLC terminal to the dashboard on the wall, with machine and factory networks properly segregated and every source monitored.
When a signal stops arriving at 3 a.m., there is one number to call
One accountable team vs a subcontracted integration
Integration is the part of an MES project most often handed to a third party – and the part where ownership matters most, because every unexpected machine becomes a commercial negotiation rather than an engineering decision.
Accevo does the protocol analysis, installs the edge devices, runs the wiring, configures PLC access and validates every signal before go-live.
Integration subcontracted out:
- Software vendor and integrator each certain the fault is on the other side
- Machines quietly dropped from scope because "that PLC is not supported"
- Change requests priced separately by two companies, twice
- Nobody accountable end to end when a data source goes silent
Integration delivered end to end:
- One contract and one team, from physical wiring to the number on the dashboard
- Any machine on the market connected - if no protocol exists, we add the hardware
- Protocol analysis, signal validation and communication testing before go-live
- Our automation engineers on site, not a partner network you have never met
ERP integration and master data
MES ERP integration is where the shop floor stops being an island. Orders and master data flow down, confirmed production flows back, and both sides finally agree on what was made.
ERP: SAP, Microsoft, Infor, Oracle
SAP MES integration via RFC or web services, plus standard connectors for the other major platforms. Orders, BOMs, routings, materials and employee data in; confirmations, consumption, scrap and quality results back.
APS, WMS, CMMS, QMS, BMS, HR
Order sequences from planning, stock movements to and from the warehouse, work orders into maintenance, deviations into quality, shift patterns from HR.
Data warehouse, lake and BI
A clean copy of production data delivered into Snowflake or your own warehouse, consumable by Power BI, Dataiku and whatever your group standardises on – one definition, every plant.
Interface methods that exist in reality
REST and SOAP web services, SAP RFC, intermediate databases, and XML, CSV or flat-file exchange where that is what the other side speaks. AI sits on top of the same clean data.
Architecture built to scale from one line to a global group
Scalability is an architecture decision made before the first line goes live, not a migration you run later. The same code and the same data model run on-premise, in the cloud or hybrid.
Edge collection with buffering
Data collected at the edge on a field server, buffered through network or server interruptions and synchronised with correct timestamps when the link returns. No lost production history.
Cloud, on-premise or hybrid
Azure, AWS, Google Cloud and Alibaba Cloud, or your own servers, or both – with multi-tenant hosting and a separate database schema per factory. Cloud manufacturing.
Modern microservices, segregated networks
TypeScript, React, Node.js, Java, Docker and NATS on AKS with PostgreSQL and SQL. OT and IT networks kept separate, with VPN, SD-WAN, firewalling and ISO/IEC 27001 certified controls.
The Accevo deployment model
Accevo defines steps for each implementation. We conduct a predictable plan to meet customer’s expectation. Everything technical is assessed before a line of configuration is written – and the automation assessment in particular is done from your documentation and your real PLC list, rather than discovered on site in month four.
1
Start & analysis
Factory team creation, project introduction, scope definition, systems integration plan, automation assessment against your PLC list, and the IT environment – architecture, network, VPN, servers and edge devices.
2
Environment, hardware & connectivity
Industrial network and cloud or server preparation, edge device and sensor installation, PLC configuration, then machine connection with communication tests and data acquisition validation.
MOWI: one model solution, rolled out across the group
The clearest proof that scalability is an architecture decision rather than a slogan. Accevo prepared a single OEE model solution for all factories in the MOWI group, and each additional plant became a rollout rather than an implementation.
Model solution first
One solution for the whole group – prepared by a dedicated Accevo team for the global MOWI project, covering the common scope across every factory.
Factories chosen deliberately – the model sites were selected to span different processes and different levels of digital maturity, so the model would survive contact with all of them.
A Center of Excellence inside MOWI – the customer owns the standard, which is what stops a group rollout becoming twelve local variants.
Rollout, at MOWI’s pace
Roughly two months per factory – because the model solution already exists, each new site is configuration and local connection work rather than a fresh project.
MOWI sets the pace and the scope – the group decides the rollout sequence and freely selects which lines are included at each site.
Local machine acquisition – Accevo handles the connectivity and local customisation at each plant, whatever equipment is standing there.
Predictable, and extensible
Fixed price – a global price list and a purchase order covering all lines gave MOWI a stable, predictable budget for the entire programme.
Scalable scope – from the same OEE platform the group can add quality controls, traceability, paperless, energy monitoring, production scheduling and maintenance.
One platform underneath – every module added later reuses the machine connections made during the OEE rollout.
Send us your PLC list. We will tell you what we can read.
The fastest way to test any integration claim is to test it against your own equipment. Send us the PLC list, the machine documentation and a description of the systems you run, and we will come back with the connection method for each asset, the signals we can read today, and where hardware is needed.
If a machine turns out to need something unusual, that is our engineering problem to solve – not a line item you discover in month four.
Contact with our Expert
Sebastian Perz, Industrial Software Expert
- AÂ 60-minute online meeting with a dedicated specialist presenting a top system from an industry similar to yours
- Live modeling of your production process
- A budget quotation after the meeting
Frequently Asked Questions
MES integration and scalability, explained
MES integration is the work of connecting a manufacturing execution system to the systems around it: downwards to PLCs, sensors and machines on the automation layer, and sideways to ERP, APS, WMS, CMMS, QMS and BI on the business layer. It is usually the largest and riskiest part of an MES project.
Yes, because we employ our own automation engineers rather than relying only on a driver library. Where a machine speaks a standard protocol we use it; where it does not, we use converters, gateways or I/O modules wired to the existing signals; where the equipment is proprietary, we develop the driver. Machines are not dropped from scope.
OPC UA, OPC DA and MQTT as standards, plus direct integration with Siemens S7-300, S7-400, S7-1200 and S7-1500 (S7-TCP/IP with Put/Get access), Siemens S5, Allen-Bradley, GE Fanuc, B&R, Omron NJ/NX EtherNet/IP, Mitsubishi and Modbus TCP or RTU. Also HMI shared-file readouts, web services, XML client/server and custom OEM protocols.
Through SAP RFC or web services, bidirectionally. Production orders, BOMs, routings, materials and employee data come into the MES; confirmed quantities, consumption, scrap, downtime and quality results go back to SAP. Intermediate databases and file interfaces are supported where they suit the landscape better.
Not for the machine layer - Accevo engineers do that work themselves, including hardware installation and wiring. On the ERP side we work with whatever your landscape already uses, including middleware such as MuleSoft where it is present, but we do not require you to buy one.
All three. The same platform runs on Azure, AWS, Google Cloud or Alibaba Cloud, on your own servers, or hybrid - with data collected at the edge and processed centrally. Multi-tenant hosting keeps a separate database schema per factory.
The edge field server buffers collected values for a configured period and synchronises them with correct timestamps once the connection returns. Connection status is monitored per source, so an interruption is visible rather than silent.
Once a model solution exists, roughly two months per factory - as demonstrated across the MOWI group. The standardised solution covers the common scope; local machine acquisition and customisation are handled per site, and a global price list keeps the programme budget predictable.
Machine and factory networks are segregated, access is authenticated and encrypted, and hosting uses VPN, SD-WAN, firewalling, container security and centralised logging. Accevo holds ISO/IEC 27001 certification, with certificate copies and audit evidence available for supplier qualification.
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