Manufacturing execution systems in international manufacturing networks: from plant- to network-level

Manufacturing companies digitalize their manufacturing for various reasons. Those with multiple plants in an international manufacturing network (IMN) have to distinguish which digitalization steps they take on a plant-level and which ones they take on a network-level. They consider manufacturing execution systems (MESs) usually on the single plant-level. However, a recent study with manufacturing companies from the German-speaking area showed that companies with successful activities in the digitalization of manufacturing see MESs as a topic on network-level. Further research needs to deepen the understanding of the antecedents determining the applicability of MES implementations on a network-level of a certain IMN.