Tecnottica Consonni has launched a new path toward production digitalization through the introduction of a Manufacturing Execution System (MES), designed to integrate precision and quality with process reliability and control.
This is an investment that concerns the company’s internal organization, but it produces concrete effects for customers and partners as well: greater reliability in deliveries, more timely communications, improved traceability of activities, and decision-making capability based on real-time data.
Complexity increases, tools evolve
In recent years, the surge in orders, growing variety of manufacturing processes, and increasing complexity of projects have revealed a common limitation in many manufacturing realities: the gap between planning and production.
This evolution has been particularly relevant for high-value, low-volume optical components, where production workflows often involve multiple manufacturing stages, specialized equipment and different departments. Products such as custom aspheric lenses, infrared optics or large-diameter precision optics require accurate planning and continuous coordination to meet demanding delivery schedules.
At Tecnottica, operational management was based on data extracted from the ERP system, spreadsheets, and direct field control. A system that worked, but it required numerous checks by all operators and meticulous planning to minimize human error. Any delays were identified too late according to the company’s standards, which place customer satisfaction first.
The new MES, developed in collaboration with INFYAIR, was designed precisely to bridge planning and execution, making production more reliable, structured, and controllable in real time.
A custom-designed MES solution that responds to specific production needs not only makes information more accessible but also improves visibility of activity progress and enables timely and rapid intervention when necessary.
“In industrial contexts, data is not lacking, but without a digital system it struggles to flow correctly between planning and execution,” explains Ashok Kumar Kasani, CEO of INFYAIR. “The solution implemented at Tecnottica was designed to improve operations, coordination, and decision-making capability in a complex and highly specialized production environment.”
Unlike many off-the-shelf solutions on the market, the system was configured around the company’s actual processes. The goal was not to introduce another software layer, but to create an operational tool capable of supporting activity monitoring, priority management, and departmental coordination.
For example, the manufacturing of an aspheric lens may involve several sequential operations—including precision grinding, polishing, metrology, coating and final inspection—often distributed over several weeks. Real-time visibility allows every phase to be monitored continuously, making it easier to anticipate delays before they affect the overall production schedule.
Greater control means greater value for our customers
The introduction of the MES represents an internal organizational improvement, but the benefits are reflected directly in the customer relationship as well.
Thanks to real-time visibility of production activities, it is now possible to:
- continuously monitor order progress
- identify potential bottlenecks with greater advance notice
- make faster operational decisions based on up-to-date data
- share information in a more structured and reliable manner
For customers, this translates into more than operational efficiency. Earlier identification of potential delays allows faster communication, better production planning on the customer’s side, and more predictable project execution, particularly for prototype programs or low-volume precision optics where every manufacturing stage is critical.
It means being able to rely on a partner that does not merely guarantee optical precision and component quality, but also possesses advanced tools to carefully manage the entire production process.
One of the most significant aspects concerns the shift from reactive management to preventive management. The MES makes it possible to promptly identify bottlenecks, analyze workloads and activity progress, assign priorities more effectively, and build a database useful for continuous improvement.
This approach is especially valuable for products with long manufacturing cycles, such large-diameter components, where identifying a bottleneck even a few days earlier can significantly reduce the risk of delivery delays.
“Our goal is to make the production process increasingly transparent and responsive,” comments Geremia Crimella, Production Manager at Tecnottica. “Thanks to the MES, we can work with real-time data, improving planning, communication, and the quality of our operational decisions.”
The implementation of the MES fits into the path of digital evolution that Tecnottica has been pursuing for several years and represents an important milestone toward increasingly integrated and paperless production management.
The value of this transformation does not rest solely on the technology adopted, but on the ability to transform production complexity into greater operational clarity, improved coordination among people, and faster, more informed decision-making processes.
In our sector, precision, tolerances, quality, and timeliness are determining factors; therefore, process control becomes a competitive factor as important as the quality of the final product.
The benefits become even more evident when managing multiple customer projects simultaneously, each with different technical specifications, priorities and delivery schedules. Having immediate access to production data allows resources to be allocated more effectively while maintaining the flexibility required for custom optical manufacturing.
The introduction of the MES enables us to offer customers an increasingly reliable product and service.