Course Description

An organization's journey towards Smart Manufacturing is marked by milestones, based on an established vision and roadmap towards intelligent, real time orchestration and optimization of business, physical, and digital processes within factories and across the entire value chain. Often these milestones require the development of a justification and ROI, and in many cases, the implementation of a Manufacturing Execution System (MES), or other manufacturing software system, is an important step along the path.

The course will introduce you to the concepts and major components required to complete an ROI and justification incorporating some examples from MES. It will also provide guidance about the kind of questions that need to be answered throughout the process, and the various considerations that need to be included in the calculations.

You will learn about the major elements necessary to produce an effective ROI, including the importance of partnering with the correct stakeholders, acquiring an executive sponsor, and understanding and articulating the present state and desired future state. We will present various tools used to identify and document manufacturing issues, and provide examples of commonly occurring costs, as well as quantitative and qualitative benefits.

Upon completion of this course you will be able to:

• Identify the stakeholders and audience for your proposal (i.e., who needs to approve the software application)
• Identify and quantify the business benefits associated with the solution
• Identify and quantify the costs associated with the investment
• Develop various types of cost/benefit analysis, such as:
  • Return on Investment (ROI)
  • Net Present Value (NPV)
  • Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
• Present the analysis to the stakeholders using the tips presented throughout the course.

If you have any questions or technical difficulties, please contact education@mesa.org.

Note: Complete each module below until you see a check mark next to the module. Once the entire list is checked you can earn the Certificate.