Watch our ICC 2025 ProveIt Session: Building a Full Plant MES in 8 Weeks

At ICC 2025, we had the opportunity to do something rare in the MES world:

Not talk about MES.

Not show a slide deck full of features.

But prove it.

That was the spirit of the ProveIt stage — and it’s why the session resonated so strongly with the room.

As Walker Reynolds (4.0 Solutions) put it in his introduction:

“Stop trying to sell to me. I don’t care about features and benefits. I care about the solutions to problems…”

So that’s exactly what we did.

We showed what Kanoa MES looks like when it’s deployed, configured, extended, and delivering value — not in theory, but in practice.

And we did it live.

The Challenge: Prove MES Value, Not Just MES Software

Manufacturing Execution Systems sit at the intersection of IT and OT — and that creates a fundamental challenge:

Software alone does not deliver value.

Real MES success requires:

• Fast operational wins

• Operator adoption

• Practical integration with existing plant systems

• Extensibility when reality doesn’t match the “standard model”

As Jason Coope explained on stage:

“The actual challenge… is not proving that our software works… it’s proving it has value.”

At Kanoa, our mission is to make MES implementation achievable, agile, and real — not a multi-year science project.

What We Built: A Complete Ignition-Native MES

Kanoa MES is built entirely on the Ignition platform.

When installed, it delivers a full MES foundation immediately:

• A normalized SQL Server Core database

• A full Ignition application deployment

• 400+ MES system functions inside Ignition

• Ready-to-run application projects on day one

As Sam described:

“When you install Kanoa MES… we automatically set up our core database… deploy the application… and give you a fully functioning system on day one.”

Kanoa is delivered as a modular platform with four integrated solutions:

• Kanoa Ops (OEE, downtime, scheduling, work orders)

• Kanoa Trace (genealogy + material flow)

• Kanoa Quality (forms + SPC + dispatching)

The Live Demo: Full Plant MES Connected in Under an Hour

For ProveIt, we connected all four modules to the ICC Virtual Factory via MQTT + Unified Namespace.

The architecture was intentionally simple:

• Reserve a Kanoa container

• Install dependencies

• Install the Kanoa module

• Install Cirrus Link MQTT Engine

• Connect to UNS data

Total setup time:

“Under an hour.”

From there, we configured the full plant:

• Asset hierarchy

• Production runs

• Downtime tracking

• Lot traceability

• SPC quality checks

All running live.

The Real “Prove It” Moment: Extending MES to Solve a Plant Problem

The heart of the session wasn’t just deploying MES out of the box.

It was proving that MES must be extendable.

While analyzing the plant data, we uncovered a common real-world issue:

Unassigned downtime

Machines often report only “running” or “not running” — but not why.

Walker confirmed this exact operational reality:

“The operator is not compelled to select the reason… so all the downtime is one or zero.”

So we built something new:

A Run Reconciliation Screen

A streamlined operator workflow to quantify losses across:

• Downtime reasons

• Scrap reasons

• Performance/speed losses

And then push that categorized loss data back into the Unified Namespace.

This is the MES difference:

Not just tracking data — but making it actionable.

The Result: Full Plant MES in 8 Weeks

The session culminated in the moment that had the room buzzing.

Walker said it best:

“The fact that you were able to build full blown MES in 8 weeks for the entire facility is ridiculous… it’s absurd.”

That’s the ProveIt mission:

MES that is fast, real, and built for manufacturers who need results now.

Watch the Full Session

The full ProveIt recording is now available.

🎥 Watch the session here: [YouTube Link]

If you’re an Ignition user, integrator, or manufacturer evaluating MES, we’d love to talk.

• Book a call

• Download and try Kanoa MES