Manufacturers are moving from MES deployment to enterprise-wide performance, but most are struggling to scale
MILWAUKEE, July 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world's largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, today released "Scaling MES Across the Enterprise," an industry insights report based on input from 1,560 manufacturing and industrial operations decision makers across 17 countries. The research finds that despite widespread manufacturing execution system (MES) adoption, scaling it across the enterprise has become the defining challenge for manufacturers seeking to drive performance, integration and long-term value.
Most manufacturers have MES running in at least one facility. However, far fewer have made it work consistently across all sites, due to contributing factors such as disconnected systems, underutilized data and rising operational risk, all of which are limiting the value manufacturers can extract from the investments they have already made.
Key findings from the report include:
- MES adoption is widespread, but scale is lagging: 93% of manufacturers have MES in place, yet only 28% have deployed it enterprise-wide and just 23% report full integration across Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), quality and operational technology (OT) systems.
- Integration is the top priority - and the top obstacle: 44% of manufacturers rank integration as their top MES buying requirement. It also ranks as the leading modernization challenge, with 33% citing MES as their biggest data integration problem.
- AI ambition is outpacing operational readiness: Manufacturers expect 42% of processes to be AI-supported within the next year and 54% by 2030. Yet 43% acknowledge they are not effectively using their collected data - the foundation AI requires to perform.
- Resilience is now a buying requirement: 46% of manufacturers experienced a cyber incident in the past year. Security and compliance now rank as the second-highest MES buying requirement, cited by 43% of respondents.
Real-world manufacturers are scaling with Rockwell's MES technology, such as Kumi North America, a Tier 1 automotive supplier specializing in injection-molded interior plastics and assemblies. The longtime customer initially implemented Plex in 2008 and has since deployed the smart manufacturing software in facilities across the United States and Canada. They most recently expanded their usage to include Plex MES Automation & Orchestration (MES A&O).
"Before Plex, our operations struggled to synch and some locations didn't have any software," shared Paul Andrews, assistant vice president of systems, Kumi North America. "Our Plex infrastructure has grown alongside Kumi's expanding business, and we've continued to leverage Plex technology in new ways."
"MES adoption is no longer the hurdle, but enterprise scale is," said Anthony Murphy, vice president of product management, Rockwell Automation. "Manufacturers may have checked the box by making initial investments in MES technology, but many struggle to gain full value across the enterprise. The impact of a MES has also changed-it's shifted from production tracking to providing insights across a company's full operations, like quality management, worker productivity and supply chain forecasting. Additionally, when connectivity is actualized, there are more opportunities to leverage AI technology. Manufacturers winning the race are not doing more than the rest, they're just doing more together. With an elastic, edge-to-cloud MES like Plex, manufacturers can connect all aspects of production right away and then scale however they want over time."
"Manufacturers have moved past the question of whether to adopt MES and are now confronting the harder challenge of scaling it," said Lorenzo Veronesi, associate research director, IDC. "With integration ranking as both the top buying requirement and the leading modernization challenge, organizations risk leaving significant value on the table if disconnected systems and underutilized data go unaddressed."
The recommended steps to address the incumbent gap between the deployment and scaling of MES are mapped out in the full report, available here.
Methodology
This survey reflects input from 1,560 hardware, software and services decision-makers across manufacturing and industrial operations globally. Respondents represent 17 leading manufacturing countries, spanning discrete, process and hybrid industries. More than half (58%) work at organizations with over $1B in annual revenue, and 54% are primary decision-makers.
About Rockwell Automation
Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), is a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation. We connect the imaginations of people with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, making the world more productive and more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 26,000 problem solvers dedicated to our customers in more than 100 countries as of fiscal year end 2025. To learn more about how we are bringing the Connected Enterprise to life across industrial enterprises, visit www.rockwellautomation.com.
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