(Rockwell Automation: Milwaukee) -- Rockwell Automation, one of the world’s largest companies dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, announces a series of strategic innovations to its manufacturing execution system (MES) portfolio, focused on flexibility, scalability, and resiliency.

Rockwell’s elastic MES portfolio is a cloud-native, interoperable MES platform designed to unify operations across operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT). This elastic, modular approach accelerates time to value, simplifies operations, and allows manufacturers to scale capabilities as needed—empowering progress toward autonomous operations.

Traditional MES solutions often operate in silos, limiting visibility across OT and IT. According to Rockwell’s 2025 State of Smart Manufacturing Report, 21% of manufacturing leaders cite integration challenges as a top internal obstacle. Rockwell’s elastic MES eliminates these barriers with a single, unified platform that connects the manufacturing life cycle, from materials and inventory to production and tooling. Embedded analytics, AI-driven insights, and connected worker technology keep production agile, visible, and optimized.

“Legacy MES systems, while foundational, have become barriers to agility in an era defined by rapid change,” says Lorenzo Veronesi, associate research director at IDC, a manufacturing research service. “This future lies in modern, flexible, and scalable MES platforms that enable manufacturers to reconfigure processes on demand, integrate seamlessly across the digital thread, and accelerate innovation. This evolution marks a critical step in moving the industry toward truly adaptive, future-ready operations.”

“Our elastic MES strategy and investments drive a fundamental shift in how manufacturers connect and optimize their operations,” says Anthony Murphy, vice president of product management at Rockwell. “DIY and disparate systems increase cost, risk, and complexity. Rockwell’s elastic MES unifies critical applications across OT and IT on a cloud-native, resilient architecture that grows with our customers.”

Rockwell’s elastic MES solutions

Rockwell’s MES solutions serve as the digital backbone of modern manufacturing, connecting software, hardware, and services in a unified OT/IT environment. Designed for interoperability and scalability, the platform combines the power of the cloud with the resilience of the edge.

Rockwell’s MES portfolio includes the following elastic qualities:
• Purpose-built for manufacturing: Tailored for discrete, hybrid, and regulated industries, ensuring compliance, traceability, and security
• Comprehensive capabilities: A multitenant software as a service (SaaS) environment with embedded AI technology to guide manufacturers along their autonomous operations journey
• Unified OT/IT integration: Seamless connectivity delivers holistic visibility and stronger business resiliency
• Extensible by design: A secure, resilient platform designed to integrate with existing systems and leverage emerging technologies like AI
• Resilient edge-to-cloud deployment: Flexible options from cloud-only to hybrid configurations to fit each site’s operational needs

“Plex gives us flexibility to grow our digital infrastructure at our own pace,” says David Rudofsky, chief financial officer at Wonton Food Inc. “We selected what worked for us initially, and there are various capabilities we can consider for future expansion, like material tracking and production efficiency. For industries like food and beverage, Rockwell’s purpose-built MES offerings simplify compliance for SQF and customer audits and reduce implementation time by eliminating the need for heavy customization. Our operations benefit from a secure and connected foundation that encourages continuous improvement.”

Operational impact and business outcomes

Manufacturers worldwide are already realizing the benefits of Rockwell’s MES solutions:
• A stationery, lighter, and shaver manufacturer leveraged Plex MES to unlock scalable capabilities and gain real-time production visibility.
• A baking mix manufacturer automated WIP management and improved performance across finance and operations with Plex MES.
• A pharmaceutical developer implemented FactoryTalk PharmaSuite to create a digital manufacturing core and enhance efficiency.

Rockwell’s MES portfolio delivers intelligent guidance, predictive insights, and operational agility, helping manufacturers streamline production and evolve toward autonomous operations.

To learn more about Rockwell’s elastic MES solutions, visit the Plex website.