Advanced Manufacturing Execution System (MES)
Advanced Manufacturing Execution (AME) is Frontier ERP’s comprehensive solution for streamlining manufacturing processes and optimizing production efficiency. Our browser-based MES software is a foundational component of our manufacturing ERP system. It supports your lean manufacturing principles by removing non-value-added activities and enhancing communication across the shop floor with paperless work instructions, tracking, and reporting.
Why is MES Software Important?
Manufacturers rely on Manufacturing Execution System (MES) software to boost efficiency, ensure quality, and streamline production processes. It provides real-time visibility into manufacturing activities, automates tasks, and helps control costs. MES enables manufacturers to meet regulatory requirements with production tracking to make informed decisions by providing valuable data insights. As a comprehensive solution to shop floor management, MES software is essential for staying agile, meeting customer needs, and achieving operational excellence.
Benefits of AME MES Software
1. Paperless, Real-Time Data and Processes
Improve production processes and shop floor management with Frontier’s Advanced MES software.
Say goodbye to cumbersome, paper-based processes like work order generation and manual document sorting. Our paperless MES system delivers real-time instructions and schedules directly to the work center. This allows for better resource allocation, reduces waste, and improves production scheduling.
2. Integration Visibility
Integrated advanced MES features like Frontier iSchedule, Frontier Visualizer, and CADFlow provide seamless visibility into job sequencing and Frontier ERP product configurations. Our advanced MES also helps reduce production defects and improve quality by delivering critical engineering configurations directly to the work center. This enables companies to save resources and improve their shop floor management.
3. User-Friendly Interface
One of the key advantages of AME MES software is its flexibility and user-friendly interface. Whether you’re accessing the system from a low-end PC or a rugged tablet, you’ll have all the tools you need at your fingertips. Displays and task filters can be tailored to suit each user’s specific production requirements, eliminating the need for costly programming.
4. Robust Tracking & Reporting
Our AME MES also offers robust data collection and reporting capabilities. Frontier’s RFID reporting tool seamlessly generates reports on material movement, personnel activity, and transactions. It facilitates comprehensive tracking and analysis of stock and customer-specified products, all within a centralized system. This allows you to track production status, analyze scrap reasons, and continually identify manufacturing KPIs to improve processes. KPIs are tracked for each production station to provide detailed reporting for a more informed approach to performance and efficiency.
Key AME MES Software Features
- List View, Task Filter, and Micro Sort to manage and prioritize jobs
- RFID Reading and Reporting to support material and people movement
- Touchscreen Input for streamlined data entry and job tracking
- Allows Triggering Release of the work order upon completion of the prior job for more flexibility when addressing last-minute order changes.
- Supports Work Order BOM Maintenance, Work Order Routing Maintenance, Picking (CE/Window Screens on Lift Truck), Work Order or License Plate (Unit) Hold (with Reason Codes), and calculating process duration time at work center rate
- Triggers Event Notifications for material shortage, inspection required, etc.
- Cut Sheet View to generate a consolidated parts list to be processed, summarized, and totaled by characteristics of the part
- Detailed Cart/Slot processing to record and report by Cart/Slot
With Frontier’s powerful Advanced Manufacturing Execution MES software, you can take your production processes and shop floor management to the next level. To learn more, contact us today!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Frontier’s Advanced Manufacturing Execution (AME) system and what does it replace?
Frontier’s Advanced Manufacturing Execution (AME) system is the shop floor component of Frontier ERP — a browser-based MES that replaces paper-based work order systems, manual job tracking, and disconnected shop floor reporting. On the shop floor, AME delivers work instructions, schedules, and production data directly to work centers in real time, eliminating the printed work orders, manual sorting, and document management that slow down production and introduce errors. Because AME is fully integrated with the rest of Frontier, production data flows directly between the shop floor and the rest of the operation — scheduling, inventory, quality, and financials — without manual data entry at any stage.
How does AME handle work instructions for complex, configured products?
Because AME is integrated with Frontier’s product configurator, work instructions at each work center reflect the specific configuration of each order — not a generic template. When an order for a custom product is released to the shop floor, AME already has the BOM, routing, specifications, and any configuration-specific instructions generated automatically from the PCM knowledge base. Workers at each station see exactly what needs to be built for that specific order, with CADFlow-generated cut sheets and 3D views available where applicable. This eliminates the manual translation from sales order to shop floor that is one of the primary sources of production errors in custom manufacturing.
What hardware does AME work on — does the shop floor need new equipment?
AME is browser-based and runs on any device with a browser — from standard PCs to rugged tablets used on the shop floor. Displays and task filters can be tailored to each work center’s specific requirements without programming. RFID reading and reporting, touchscreen input, and barcode scanning are all supported. This flexibility means manufacturers can often deploy AME on existing hardware rather than investing in new equipment, and different work centers can use the device type that best fits their environment.
How does AME support RFID and barcode tracking on the shop floor?
Frontier’s RFID reporting tool integrates with AME to track material movement, personnel activity, and transactions across the shop floor. RFID and barcode scanning support material picking, job tracking, work order progress, and inventory movement — all captured at the point of activity rather than entered after the fact. This data feeds directly into Frontier’s reporting, giving production managers visibility into job status, work center performance, and scrap analysis in real time. KPIs are tracked per production station, providing detailed reporting for performance management and continuous improvement.
How does AME connect production status to the rest of the business?
Because AME is a native component of Frontier ERP rather than a standalone MES, production data is immediately visible across the organization. When a job completes a work center stage, that status is reflected in order management, customer service, shipping, and financials without any manual update. Event notification triggers alert relevant parties — material shortages, inspection requirements, job holds — automatically. For manufacturers who currently operate with a disconnect between what’s happening on the floor and what the office knows about order status, AME closes that gap without requiring a separate integration layer.
What is the Cut Sheet View in AME and how is it used in production?
The Cut Sheet View is a feature within AME that generates a consolidated parts list to be processed at a work center, summarized and totaled by part characteristics. For manufacturers who cut materials — cabinet components, window frames, door panels — the cut sheet provides a consolidated view of what needs to be cut across multiple jobs at once, grouped by material type and dimension. This allows cutting operations to be batched and optimized across the production schedule rather than processed order by order, which reduces material waste and improves throughput at cutting work centers.
