You were promised flexibility. You were sold on scalability. You were assured that the MES would adapt to your operations, your products, and your company's future. And, technically, that wasn't a lie. It can do those things. You'll just need to call the vendor and/or hire third-party support. Every. Single. Time.
On paper, most MES's sound great. Configurable workflows, modular design, plug-and-play integrations. But unless your definition of "configurable" includes calling the vendor back every time you want to customize your own rules, adapt to a new production line, or launch a new product, you're in for a nasty surprise.
The initial demo was beautiful. The actual rollout is typically much less so. Especially once you realize that customizing the quality module involves five consultants and a 3 - 6 month SOW. Want to map a new workflow? Sure. That's a two week turnaround. Just loop in your account manager, a project coordinator and a developer. Want to change a data export format? You call the vendor. They send a team. They send an invoice. Then another team ... and another invoice.
Instead of empowering your operation, the system slows it down. Not because it can't adapt, but because it wasn't built for you to adapt it.
As it turns out, with a typical MES, the more you customize, the less you actually own. Each tweak binds you more tightly to the vendor. Each change makes it harder to upgrade. Each fix introduces another "custom dependency" that mysteriously breaks during version updates, and that no one seems to remember building.
That's because monolithic MES platforms often lock you into a proprietary ecosystem where any deviation from out-of-the-box functionality triggers a cascade of expensive dependencies. If you want to integrate with your legacy ERP, get ready for an invoice to come along with that custom interface. Need a specific data model to match your production flow? That's another scope change. And another invoice. Plus, when the next version is released, all your customizations will likely have to be rebuilt. Or worse, scrapped.
It doesn't enhance your operation when flexibility just means that you can make changes, as long as the vendor approves and implements them. For a fee, of course.
Hang with us for just another minute. We're almost through the rough part.
While it's not as easily quantifiable, the accumulated drag on your team will be even worse than the change process itself. Every change requires meetings. Every upgrade risks breaking past tweaks. Every new line or product launch becomes a budget line item. Before long, your "flexible, modern MES" becomes a bureaucratic and operational bottleneck. Its a bad look when your factory floor is more adaptable than the software that's supposed to run it.
Intraratio. Our MES puts control back into your hands. It empowers your team to make adjustments themselves. Quickly, safely, and without a weeks-long change request. It anticipates that your business will evolve, and treats customization not as a billable service, but as a basic capability.
We believe that customization shouldn't require a small army of consultants. Or any at all. That's why our solution is built differently. It comes with the 10 core GMP principles baked in from day one, ensuring that quality, consistency, and compliance aren't afterthoughts. They're the foundation. And when change is needed, our platform empowers your team to customize safely and confidently. We put control back where it belongs. In your hands.
Intraratio's RunCard MES delivers:
If your MES requires a vendor engagement to change a workflow, it might be time to rethink your MES.
Ready to escape (or, better yet, avoid) the trap? Click below to schedule a demo.