Every global manufacturer accumulates manufacturing execution systems the same way. An acquisition brings one vendor’s MES. A greenfield plant launches with another. A legacy facility runs a homegrown system that nobody wants to touch because the engineer who built it retired in 2016. Five years later, the company operates eight plants on six different execution platforms, and the VP of Manufacturing can’t answer a straightforward question: what does the company’s overall equipment effectiveness look like across the network right now?
This pattern is remarkably common. Research from multiple industry sources confirms that the MES installed base remains highly fragmented, with enterprise integrators capturing roughly 73% of the market as companies attempt to stitch together disparate execution tools. The global MES market reached $16.67 billion in 2025 and continues to grow at over 11% annually, yet much of that investment goes toward adding point solutions rather than rationalizing existing systems. The result is a sprawling collection of disconnected shop-floor systems that generate data no one can consolidate and insights no one can act on quickly enough.
The real cost of MES fragmentation
Fragmented MES doesn’t just create IT headaches. It creates operational blind spots that cost real money every quarter.
When each plant runs its own execution system, quality data stays trapped in local databases. A defect pattern emerging at one facility can’t be cross-referenced against production data at another. Process improvements validated in Plant A require months of manual translation before Plant B can implement them. KPIs that appear identical on paper can measure different things because each system defines downtime, scrap, and yield using different logic. As Mike Bradford, business development director for DELMIA Apriso at Dassault Systèmes, has explained across industry publications, MOM doesn’t replace MES or ERP. It connects and extends them. The distinction matters because fragmentation isn’t a technology problem. It’s an architecture problem. You can’t solve it by upgrading individual MES instances. You solve it by changing the layer at which execution is governed.
Bradford has been direct on this point: traditional production systems tracked isolated operations, whereas modern MOM platforms unify quality, maintenance, inventory and workforce management in one digital system. Fifteen MES instances won’t spontaneously start sharing best practices, normalizing metrics or propagating process changes. A MOM platform makes that coordination its central purpose.
Why the shift from MES to MOM is accelerating
Three forces are compressing timelines for manufacturers who have been debating this transition.
Smart manufacturing investment is no longer optional. A 2025 Deloitte survey of 600 manufacturing executives found that 80% plan to invest 20% or more of their improvement budgets in smart manufacturing initiatives. The focus areas, including automation hardware, data analytics, sensors, and cloud computing, all depend on a unified data foundation. You can’t run predictive quality algorithms when half your plants report quality data in incompatible formats. You can’t deploy AI-driven scheduling when each facility maintains its own disconnected execution layer. MES fragmentation is now the bottleneck blocking smart manufacturing ROI.
Trade volatility demands network-level coordination. More than three-quarters of manufacturers responding to the National Association of Manufacturers’ 2025 quarterly outlook surveys cited trade uncertainty as their top concern. When tariffs shift sourcing economics or a supplier fails, the response requires production rebalancing across multiple facilities. That rebalancing is only possible when every plant shares the same process definitions, material specifications, and production metrics. Fragmented MES forces manual coordination. Unified MOM enables automated, real-time response.
Workforce constraints make standardization essential. Deloitte projects the manufacturing sector will need approximately 3.8 million new employees by 2033, with as many as 1.9 million positions potentially unfilled. More than a third of manufacturing executives now cite workforce skills as their top talent concern. When experienced operators retire, and new hires take longer to reach proficiency, you can’t afford to train workers on a different execution system at every plant. MOM platforms capture manufacturing knowledge as digital templates, including work instructions, inspection plans, and process recipes, that travel with the product regardless of the facility. Standardized systems mean standardized training, and that translates directly into faster time-to-competency for every new hire.
What the roadmap actually looks like
Moving from fragmented MES to unified MOM is not a rip-and-replace exercise. The most successful transitions follow a phased approach that delivers value at each stage rather than demanding years of investment before results appear.
The first phase is assessment and architecture definition. This means cataloging every execution system, integration point, data format, and process variation across the network. The goal isn’t to eliminate all variation. It is to distinguish between variation that adds value (local regulatory requirements, specific equipment configurations) and variation that simply accumulates over time. A MOM platform like DELMIA Apriso supports this distinction architecturally through its Global Process Manager, which allows engineering teams to define a global process template representing the best-known method for each operation while enabling approved local variations at individual sites.
The second phase is pilot deployment and standardization. Rather than attempting a simultaneous rollout across all facilities, leading manufacturers select a representative plant, deploy the unified MOM layer, validate the integration architecture with existing ERP and automation systems, and establish governance for global process definitions. This is where the configurability of the platform matters most. Low code configurability, as opposed to customization, means the platform adapts to your operations through parameter settings and business process configuration rather than custom code. That principle prevents the technical debt that eventually turns today’s solution into tomorrow’s legacy problem.
The third phase is global propagation. Once the template is proven and governance is established, it deploys to additional sites. Each facility inherits the global standard while configuring approved local adaptations. Process improvements validated at any site propagate to every relevant facility instantly, with full traceability. This is the operational advantage that fragmented MES can never deliver: a continuous improvement insight discovered on Monday in one plant becomes an executed change across the network by Tuesday.
Harmonizing operations at a global scale
Eaton, a global manufacturer of connectors for harsh environments operating ten factories worldwide with approximately 3,400 employees, provides a concrete example of this transition in practice. The company needed to digitalize production operations, improve traceability, and harmonize processes across facilities that varied widely in size and capability. By deploying DELMIA Apriso as a scalable MOM solution that communicates efficiently with their ERP and PLM systems, the company achieved what fragmented execution systems couldn’t deliver. As an EATON representative described it: “The greatest advantages brought forth by these changes include increased transparency in our production operations, the ability to make real-time decisions, and a unified solution for the entire production chain.” That transparency across ten factories, not just one, is the defining outcome of a successful MES-to-MOM transition.
The mid-tier manufacturer’s starting point
MES rationalization is sometimes perceived as an enterprise-only challenge. It shouldn’t be. Mid-tier manufacturers face the same fragmentation dynamics with fewer resources to manage them. Two facilities running different execution systems create the same data silos and coordination problems as twenty facilities do, just at a smaller scale with proportionally larger impact on margins.
DELMIAWorks provides a practical MOM entry point for manufacturers scaling beyond basic MES. It proves that modern MOM is accessible to mid-tier organizations without requiring enterprise-scale complexity or multi-year implementation timelines. The same configurability principle applies: operations scale without accumulating the custom code and workarounds that eventually become the next generation of technical debt.
Bottom line
The transition from fragmented MES to unified MOM isn’t a technology upgrade. It’s an architectural decision that determines whether your manufacturing network operates as a collection of independent facilities or as a coordinated enterprise. In an environment where 80% of manufacturing leaders are increasing smart manufacturing investment, and trade volatility shows no sign of stabilizing, fragmented execution is a liability that compounds with every disruption.
The roadmap is practical: assess what you have, standardize what matters, pilot the unified layer, then propagate globally. Each phase delivers measurable value. The companies executing this transition today are building the operational foundation that will separate market leaders from market followers for the next decade. Those still debating whether to start are already falling behind competitors who made the decision last year.
DELMIA, from Dassault Systèmes, enables manufacturers to keep factory operations running smoothly. Powered by the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, our Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) solutions establish a unified digital environment that provides real-time visibility and AI-enhanced control. By connecting the virtual and real worlds, we enable you to streamline complex processes, minimize waste and guarantee quality. Harnessing data-driven insights and intelligent automation allows for optimized production, enhanced adaptability to disruptions and the delivery of sustainable, customer-focused manufacturing performance at scale.
Louis Columbus is currently serving as a member of the DELMIA Marketing team, where he assists with DELMIAWorks and robotics solutions. Previous positions include product management at Ingram Cloud, product marketing at iBASEt, Plex Systems, senior analyst at AMR Research (now Gartner), marketing and business development at Cincom Systems, Ingram Micro, a SaaS start-up and at hardware companies. Professional experience includes marketing, product management, sales and industry analyst roles in the enterprise software and IT industries. Columbus' academic background includes an MBA from Pepperdine University and completion of the Strategic Marketing Management and Digital Marketing Programs at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He teaches MBA courses in international business, global competitive strategies, international market research, and capstone courses in strategic planning and market research. Columbus has taught at California State University, Fullerton: University of California, Irvine; Marymount University, and Webster University.