Why Excel is Failing Modern Manufacturing And How MES Fixes It

Digital transformation is no longer a buzzword. It’s happening in real factories today. Siemens has built its Electronics Works Amberg into a flagship digital twin showcase, Bosch is using its Nexeed Smart Factory platform to cut energy use by up to 40% in plants like Homburg, and Tesla’s Gigafactories are redefining automated, software-driven production at scale.  

These examples prove that smart factories are not just visions. They are operating realities delivering measurable results, making it all the more striking that around 80% of manufacturers continue to rely on Excel for production planning.   

For years, studies have deemed spreadsheet-based planning inadequate for modern manufacturing, highlighting it as one of the biggest barriers to digital maturity. So, while they may feel familiar, inexpensive, and somewhat flexible, we have to ask ourselves whether they are truly scalable.  

Can spreadsheets connect to ERP, PLM, IIoT sensors, and meet the interoperability requirements of today’s complex shop floors? 

Why Excel Fails on the Modern Shop Floor 

1. Outdated and disconnected data 

Real-time visibility is now a baseline requirement for competitive manufacturing, especially in industries with fast-moving supply chains such as automotive and electronics. Yet spreadsheets can only deliver static snapshots, leaving production teams to make critical decisions based on yesterday’s data rather than the actual conditions on the shop floor. Gartner has linked this gap directly to slower response times, inventory mismatches, and misaligned planning cycles.  

In practice, when a critical part is delayed, production managers cannot easily reroute orders to alternative lines, and planners risk pushing components through that may already be outdated by the time they reach final assembly. 

2. High error rates and version chaos 

94% of spreadsheets contain errors, a statistic that resonates strongly on the shop floor. From a manufacturer’s perspective, even a minor miscalculation in a formula or an outdated file version can quickly cascade into serious operational consequences: thousands of parts produced to the wrong specification, production lines halted for rework, or warehouses filling up with unsellable excess stock.  

In industries such as automotive and aerospace, where tolerances are tight and supply chains are global, these spreadsheet-driven errors not only waste resources but also erode customer trust and strain already thin margins. 

3. Scaling pains across sites 

Excel might suffice for a single factory, but it quickly collapses when operations span multiple plants or geographies where coordination and synchronization are vital. IDC research highlights that manufacturers depending on spreadsheets at scale face significantly higher operational costs, slower time-to-market, and reduced supply chain agility.  

Gartner has made similar observations in its MES research, emphasizing that spreadsheet-driven planning becomes unmanageable once production expands globally, underscoring that spreadsheet-driven planning not only inflates costs but also undermines the responsiveness needed to meet dynamic customer demand across international markets. 

4. Compliance and traceability gaps 

In heavily regulated sectors such as pharmaceuticals or aerospace, failing to track every batch, lot, or serialized component can result in costly audits, production halts, fines, or even forced recalls. Excel provides no reliable audit trail, making it nearly impossible to meet the strict requirements of authorities like the FDA or EASA.  

Organizations that embrace digital transformation can cut audit preparation times dramatically—sometimes from weeks to days—by digitizing records, automating traceability, and embedding quality checks directly into their production workflows. Digital automation makes it possible to ensure full process visibility, maintain reliable audit trails, and accelerate approvals. 

5. Inability to keep up with Industry 4.0 demands 

Modern manufacturing increasingly relies on lot sizes of one, mass customization, and rapid product changeovers. Static spreadsheets cannot adapt to this level of variability and speed, leaving planners unable to adjust schedules or resource allocations in time to match shifting demand. 

By contrast, digitally automated processes enable real-time adjustments to production lines—whether that means reconfiguring a line for a customized vehicle order, balancing throughput in electronics assembly, or accelerating consumer goods launch. This level of agility has become a fundamental competitive requirement for manufacturers across all sectors. 

From Spreadsheets to Smart Automation: Why MES Is the Next Step 

Manufacturers need more than incremental fixes. They need a step change, and this is where Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) come in.  

MES platforms bridge the gap between the planning layer (ERP) and the shop floor, providing real-time visibility, orchestrating workflows, and embedding quality and compliance into daily operations. With MES, companies can synchronize production schedules across sites, capture and analyze live machine data, ensure full traceability for audits, and rapidly adjust to shifting customer demand—all things Excel can never achieve. 

Amongst the solutions available, Siemens Opcenter is consistently positioned by Gartner and IDC as a leader in MES, recognized by industry analysts and practitioners as one of the strongest offerings in the market. Let’s dive deeper into how companies can leverage its capabilities to strengthen operations and stay competitive. 

Siemens Opcenter: Bringing MES to Life 

Siemens Opcenter is a unified portfolio of manufacturing operations management (MOM) solutions designed to support manufacturers in their digital transformation journey. Part of the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio, it enables companies to digitally plan, orchestrate, and continuously improve production and quality operations, to help them make higher-quality products faster and at lower cost than competitors.  

Opcenter’s core strengths lie in its ability to unify disparate systems and close the loop between design and execution, supporting manufacturers who need continuous improvement through analytics and digital twin capabilities. More specifically, Opcenter offers: 

Real-time data integration 

Opcenter unifies shop floor and enterprise systems, allowing manufacturers to monitor actual performance, detect issues immediately, and respond instantly to disruptions. This integration improves reliability, boosts efficiency, and ensures decisions are based on live production data rather than static reports. A great example is The Absolut Company, which implemented Opcenter Execution and APS to automate production lines and gained full visibility and control across its operations. 

Predictive planning and scheduling 

With advanced analytics, Opcenter enables companies to digitally plan and orchestrate operations, optimize capacity, reduce downtime, and increase on-time delivery. By comparing as-planned and as-is data, planners can continuously fine-tune schedules to keep production aligned with demand. As such, Opcenter can give manufacturers a clear edge in responsiveness and resource utilization, ensuring they can adapt production to real-world changes with speed and accuracy. 

Compliance and traceability 

Opcenter automates record keeping, tracks every component, and embeds quality checks into workflows. This ensures reliable audit trails and makes regulatory compliance a seamless part of daily operations, making it a critical tool for companies operating in highly regulated environments. By lowering costs associated with manual inspections and documentation, companies that adopt Opcenter can automate records, ensure full traceability, and meet regulatory standards more efficiently. 

Digital twin and integration with PLM, ERP, and automation 

Acting as the real-time layer that connects PLM to automation, Opcenter helps manufacturers to link design, planning, and execution in one continuous loop. This digital twin approach allows smarter decision-making, faster innovation cycles, and continuous closed-loop improvement across the entire lifecycle, activating what Siemens describes as the comprehensive Digital Twin. 

CLEVR: Your Trusted Partner in MES Digital Transformation 

As a trusted Siemens partner, CLEVR brings more than just technical implementation skills. We combine deep expertise in MES and MOM with years of experience guiding organizations across industries through digital transformation projects. 

Our role is not to simply deploy software, but to ensure the MES and MOM solutions fit the way your teams actually work, aligning technology with business goals and operational realities. And in a fast‑changing world, companies will need a trusted advisor who understands their industry and can guide them through bold decisions with confidence.  

Whether you are operating in aerospace and defense, energy and utilities, or any other industry, adopting Opcenter and smart automation is no longer optional. It is a strategic necessity and CLEVR brings industry‑specific MES and MOM expertise to help you fully leverage Opcenter’s capabilities to improve efficiency, quality, and agility.  

Contact us to learn more.