MITS Insights
Blog
Practical notes on manufacturing execution, plant visibility, integration, and operational performance.
Latest posts
7 posts
Apr 27, 2026
Routing Enforcement and Shift Variability in Manufacturing
Scott McCallum
Senior MES & Shop Floor Systems Engineer
MITS shifts the burden of process compliance away from the operator and puts it entirely on the system. Instead of guessing or relying on the veteran operator who has been there for twenty years, your team follows clear and guided workflows.
Apr 20, 2026
Quality in Execution vs Separate Systems
Scott McCallum
Senior MES & Shop Floor Systems Engineer
Quality doesn’t fail in reports. It fails when a bad part is allowed to move forward on the line. If your system isn’t enforcing the process at the point of execution, you’re only documenting problems after they’ve already happened.
Apr 13, 2026
Why MES Integration Fails After Go-Live
Carter Valente
Senior MES & Shop Floor Systems Engineer
Most MES integrations don’t fail at go-live. They fail when the plant changes and systems can’t keep up. This is usually not a tooling issue, but a breakdown in data ownership, integration structure, and change control.
Apr 06, 2026
Why WIP Visibility Fails Without Execution Control
Brian Olszewski
MES Engineering Manager
Many manufacturers pursue WIP visibility through dashboards or reporting tools, but dashboards can only display the data they receive. Reliable WIP visibility comes from systems that manage how production work actually moves through the plant. When execution is structured, production status becomes accurate and WIP locations become clear.
Mar 30, 2026
Why Traceability Fails During Recalls and Audits
Scott McCallum
Senior MES & Shop Floor Systems Engineer
Traceability doesn’t fail because data is missing. It fails because data is inconsistent, manual, and disconnected from execution. When recalls or audits happen, teams are forced to reconstruct production history instead of retrieving it.
Mar 26, 2026
Why Spreadsheets Last Longer Than They Should in Manufacturing
Connor Cooper
Manufacturing Systems Engineer
Organizations rely on spreadsheets for critical processes, but they introduce inconsistency, weaken traceability, and fail to support controlled execution.
Mar 04, 2026
MES vs. Custom-Built Shop Floor Systems
Brian Olszewski
MES Engineering Manager
When manufacturers evaluate digital transformation initiatives, one common question emerges: Should we implement a Manufacturing Execution System (MES), or continue expanding our custom-built shop floor software? Both approaches can collect production data and support operations. The real difference lies in long-term risk, scalability, integration capability, and total cost of ownership. If your organization is weighing MES vs. custom systems, here’s what you need to consider.