The seamless connection of production data (the shop floor) with superior management systems like ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and MES (Manufacturing Execution System) is one of the biggest challenges in modern manufacturing. Data silos, incompatible interfaces, and rigid legacy systems often prevent end-to-end transparency. But there is a solution: Low-Code platforms make it possible to build flexible, custom-made bridges that bring data exactly where it's needed—quickly, efficiently, and without deep programming knowledge.
Traditionally, connecting the shop floor to ERP or MES systems requires complex, time-consuming, and expensive IT projects. Individual interfaces must be programmed and maintained. With every system change—be it in the ERP or at a machine—there's a risk of the fragile construct breaking down. The result: outdated data, manual transfer errors, and an IT department that becomes a bottleneck for the production digitalization initiatives.
Imagine a Low-Code platform as an agile "universal translator." It can communicate with the most diverse systems and protocols:
Shop Floor Side: Direct connection to machines via OPC UA, MQTT, or serial interfaces.
IT Side: Communication with ERP and MES systems through standardized APIs (like REST or SOAP) or direct database connections.
With visual drag-and-drop editors, you can create logic flows that define which data (e.g., produced quantities, quality notifications, downtime reasons) is sent to the ERP system, when, and in what format. Simultaneously, production orders or recipes from the ERP can be distributed directly to the correct machines or worker terminals on the shop floor.
Automatic Feedback of Production Orders: As soon as an order is completed at a machine, the platform automatically reports the produced good and scrap quantity to the ERP system. Manual entries are eliminated.
Real-Time Material Consumption: Captured consumption of raw materials is sent directly to the ERP's inventory management module, enabling precise stock keeping.
Quality Data Synchronization: Quality data captured on the shop floor (e.g., from digital checklists) is automatically transferred to the QM module in the ERP and assigned to the respective production order.
Personnel Time Tracking: Worker log-in and log-out times on orders are captured and forwarded to the HR system for payroll.
Stop thinking in terms of rigid interfaces. With a Low-Code platform, you aren't creating more silos, but a dynamic nervous system for your factory. You democratize digitalization by empowering production subject matter experts to design the data flows themselves. The result is an agile, transparent, and highly efficient manufacturing process where data flows freely between the shop floor and IT.
If you want to dive deeper into how transparency on the shop floor can be achieved through systematic data collection, check out our blog article:
“Shop Floor Data Collection (SFDC): The Complete Guide to Digitizing Your Manufacturing – Ending the ‘Black Hole’ in Production”
In this guide, you’ll learn how Machine Data Collection (MDC) and Production Data Collection (PDC) together create the foundation for true transparency – and how a low-code platform paves the way to the smart factory.