Assessing the maturity of informationsystem integration through people, process, and technology : A study of ERP, PLM and MES

Abstract: Due to advancements in manufacturing digitalization and connectivity; industry 4.0,manufacturing organizations are seeing an increase of data volume, velocity, and variety.Information Systems (IS) such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Product LifecycleManagement (PLM), and Manufacturing Execution System (MES) are used to handle thesedata compositions within organizations. The IS have different purposes, creating anorganizational, procedural as well as a technical difficulty to capture added value from data.Integrating people, processes, and technology yields a synergetic effect where data value iseffectively harnessed to create business insights and thus enable better decision-making indelivering value to the end-customer. This study sought to examine how a complex manufacturing organization can draw benefitsfrom the synergy effect of integrated IS, and consequently find factors that positively affectthe level of integration. The study evaluates a Swedish manufacturing company's presentintegration maturity and compares it to best practices found in the literature. The analysiscaptures gaps between the current situation and best practices, allowing for the formulationof areas of improvement. The as-is situation of the studied company was assessed with the help of an IS integrationmaturity model. A literature review was conducted to complete the maturity model. Aqualitative data collection was conducted to help both assess current situation and provideappropriate recommendations.  Findings of the study imply that there are different approaches for integrating separate orisolated components. These approaches depend on the interdependence and complexity oftasks. When interdependence is simple, different forms of standardization is most effective.On the other hand, when interdependence is complex, coordination becomes more crucial.Complex tasks require standardization of norms, while simple tasks require standardizationof output. Solutions and future aspects have been provided for collecting data value in a manufacturingenvironment. Mapped out various academic research regarding integrations and comparedit to a real-world case in order to find commonalities and differences. Identified a missingCritical Success Factor in an existing but aged assessment model for IS integrations.