Software isn’t new to manufacturing, but as technical capabilities have evolved and matured, it’s becoming increasingly entrenched in processes that directly affect product quality. This means that quality professionals need to be concerned with software outside the realm of enterprise quality management systems (EQMS). Whether the manufacturing department uses a manufacturing execution system (MES), enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, or some combination thereof, how those systems affect quality and interact with each other is important to ensuring product quality. Providers of that software recognize it doesn’t operate in a vacuum and vendors need to consider how they can benefit their customers’ companies as a whole rather than focusing on a single department.
Keeping this in mind, software vendors are focusing on three trends to distinguish their offerings and better serve their customers.