MES Strategies for Discrete Manufacturers in 2026

Discrete manufacturing is under more operational strain than at any point in the past decade. Margins for error are shrinking, while pressures across supply chains, workforce and regulation are forcing manufacturers to rethink the systems that run their plants. 

Max Liashenko, Head of Services at OLSOM, sees the shift clearly: "Discrete manufacturing is moving from managing complexity to mastering it, where shrinking margins for error and workforce constraints demand real-time precision." 

What manufacturers face in 2026 

Four pressures are converging on the discrete manufacturing sector this year: a widening workforce gap, accelerating regulatory change, persistent supply chain volatility and legacy systems struggling to keep pace. 

The workforce gap is reshaping the shop floor. As senior operators retire, institutional knowledge leaves with them and 48% of manufacturers already struggle to fill production and operations roles, according to Deloitte. Digital work instructions and structured data capture have become the practical starting point for preserving operational memory and accelerating onboarding. 

Regulatory pressure is accelerating the pace of engineering change. The EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, ESG reporting requirements and traceability mandates each cascade into engineering change orders that MES platforms must absorb without disrupting production. 

Supply chains remain unpredictable and 78% of global manufacturers report visibility gaps across their supplier networks, which leaves them exposed to disruptions they cannot spot or respond to in time. 

Underneath all three sits a structural weakness: the legacy systems themselves. Most manufacturers still run critical production on disconnected tools or spreadsheets, exposing operations to cybersecurity risks and fragmented data across MES, ERP and quality systems. 

Max summarises: "Fragmented systems are no longer an IT inconvenience, they are a structural risk to performance. In 2026, competitive manufacturers treat data as critical infrastructure." 

Why current MES platforms fall short  

"Current manufacturing systems struggle because they were built for relatively stable, predictable operations, not for the volatility introduced by constant supply chain disruption, evolving sustainability regulations and rapidly changing product variants," Max explains. 

Replacing an MES is no longer a software upgrade but a strategic operational transformation. Max points to three criteria manufacturers should use to evaluate vendors:  

• process fit with actual production realities,  

• integration depth across OT and IT systems,  

• scalability across multiple plants.  

OLSOM's smart manufacturing platform, AGW, was built around exactly these requirements, with a no-code architecture that lets process engineers configure workflows without disrupting production. Its composable design adds operational flexibility by letting manufacturers deploy only the modules they need and scale as operations grow.  

Max notes that realistic ROI now sits within six to twelve months. Vendors promising "big bang" transformation without clearly defined scope, integration complexity or operational KPIs should be treated as a red flag. 

What successful manufacturers are doing differently  

The manufacturers pulling ahead in 2026 are doing three things consistently. 

"Successful manufacturers are shifting from monolithic MES deployments to modular, API-driven manufacturing architectures that allow them to decouple execution, quality and data layers so they can evolve systems without major disruption," Max says. 

The second shift is real-time data contextualisation and event-driven integration, which enables faster, coordinated responses to supply chain changes, quality issues and production variability across sites. 

The third is embedding operational intelligence directly into the shop floor. Guided operations and decision support tools reduce dependence on scarce expert knowledge while keeping execution consistent as the workforce changes. 

Long-term competitiveness, Max concludes, depends less on what an MES does today and more on how fast it can evolve tomorrow.