ERP MES integration is the connection between an enterprise resource planning system and a manufacturing execution system so that planning, materials, production, quality, and inventory data can move between business and shop floor workflows.
In manufacturing, the ERP system commonly manages business-level functions such as orders, purchasing, inventory valuation, finance, and material planning. The MES commonly manages execution-level functions such as work orders, routing steps, operator activity, machine status, production counts, quality checks, and traceability records. Integration aligns these layers so that production can be scheduled, executed, recorded, and reported with consistent data.
Typical ERP MES integration flows include sending work orders, bills of material, routings, item masters, and demand signals from ERP to MES, and returning production completions, material consumption, labor activity, inspection results, scrap, nonconformance data, and inventory movements from MES to ERP.
ERP MES integration should not be confused with replacing one system with the other. ERP and MES serve different purposes. The integration defines how data is mapped, synchronized, validated, and governed across those systems, often using APIs, middleware, message queues, or industrial integration platforms.