A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) is an information system which helps convert production plans for the whole plant into coordinated and tracked operations for each individual production process.
MES encompasses functions as planning and scheduling, production tracking and monitoring, equipment control, maintaining product histories (verifying and recording activities at each stage of production), and quality management.
The growing scope of MES is recognized in development of its name:
(1) to Manufacturing Enterprise System (quite rare),
(2) to MES/MOM, where the MOM refers to the whole scope of Manufacturing Operations Management (quite common).