Python MES built around your factory — not a vendor's roadmap.
Event-driven architecture. ERP-agnostic integration. 12-week pilot to first OEE numbers. Source code yours from day one.
We've built MES, traceability, and edge-gateway systems for manufacturers across Thailand. We write Python, we read Modbus and OPC UA, and we publish our prices.
No sales pitch on the call. You'll talk to the engineer who'd design your system.
Custom Python MES isn't always the right call.
Packaged platforms like SAP ME, Wonderware, and Tulip exist for good reasons — they're proven, vendor-supported, and fast to deploy if your process fits their template. Here's how we compare honestly, including the cases where we'd tell you to buy packaged instead.
When you should buy packaged instead
Be honest with yourself about fit. Choose a packaged MES if:
- You run fewer than 10 machines on a single line and don't plan to expand
- Your process is standard discrete manufacturing (assembly, packaging, kitting) with no unusual workflow
- You have no in-house IT and don't plan to hire any
- Your enterprise auditors require a name-brand system on the vendor list
- You need it live in under 12 weeks and budget isn't a constraint
If three or more of these apply, we'll tell you so on the intro call and recommend a packaged vendor. Custom MES is a long-game decision and only pays off when you intend to own and evolve the system.
Three tiers. Fixed scope. Published prices.
MES projects fail when scope is vague. We engage in three defined tiers, each with a fixed scope, fixed timeline, and a price band you can take into a budget meeting. Custom work happens within the tier you select — not as scope creep at month four.
MES Pilot
1 production line · 4–8 machines
The fastest path from "we have no real-time visibility" to "we know our OEE by shift." Suitable for plants that want to prove the model on one line before committing to full deployment.
- Work order execution & production event capture
- Machine state tracking & OEE dashboard
- Operator tablet UI (single shift, single product family)
- One ERP touchpoint (CSV export or one API call)
- Postgres DB, on-prem or cloud deployment
- 3-month warranty, source code & docs handover
Traceability · SPC · multi-site · mobile apps beyond the operator HMI · predictive analytics
You want to validate the architecture and build internal confidence before a plant-wide rollout.
MES Phase 1 (Plant Deployment)
Full plant · up to 30 machines
Replaces paper-based production tracking, spreadsheets, and disconnected SCADA dashboards across an entire plant. Most of our manufacturing clients land here.
- Lot & serial traceability
- Downtime tracking with operator-entered reason codes
- Quality inspection workflows
- Shift & crew management, multi-product routing
- Bidirectional ERP integration (SAP / Odoo / ERPNext / custom)
- Celery background processing, RBAC
- Training for shop-floor and supervisor users
Cross-plant analytics · predictive maintenance · ML-based defect detection
You're replacing manual systems plant-wide and need an auditable, queryable production record.
MES + Edge + Multi-Site Architecture
Full plant + edge + multi-site readiness
For factories with mixed PLC vintages, unreliable network conditions, or a roadmap toward multi-plant rollout. Includes the edge layer that production-grade deployments actually need.
- Offline-tolerant edge gateways (Python on industrial PC or ruggedized hardware)
- MQTT / OPC UA broker layer
- Custom PLC adapters (Modbus TCP/RTU, Siemens S7, Allen-Bradley)
- Time synchronization across machines
- Store-and-forward data buffering
- Multi-site database architecture
- Optional energy monitoring integration
Predictive maintenance ML models · vision-based quality inspection (separate engagement)
Greenfield digitization, multi-plant manufacturers, regulated industries (food, pharma, automotive parts), or factories where downtime cost makes offline tolerance non-negotiable.
Pricing in Thai baht. Local-currency figures are indicative at fixed rates, rounded; final contract in THB.
Traditional enterprise MES implementations start at ~US$500K. Our Tier 1 pilot is ~US$23K — Thai delivery economics, same engineering rigor.
Across all tiers
Every engagement includes: full source code, database schemas, deployment runbooks, training materials, 3-month warranty on delivered functionality, and a documented handover so you (or another vendor) can maintain the system independently. We don't hold codebases hostage.
From kickoff to your first OEE numbers — in writing.
Here's exactly what happens in a Tier 1 pilot, week by week. No "we'll figure it out" phases. Every milestone has a deliverable you sign off on before the next phase starts.
Discovery & architecture
- Site visit, machine & PLC inventory, network map
- Data model agreed (work orders, machines, events, products)
- ERP touchpoint specified (one endpoint, one direction)
- Architecture doc signed off — locks the scope
Core build
- Postgres schema migrated & seeded
- PLC ingestion service (Modbus / OPC UA / file watch as needed)
- Work order engine, machine state machine, OEE calc
- Operator tablet UI v1 — demoable in dev
Integration & shop-floor pilot
- ERP touchpoint live (CSV export or one API call)
- Deploy to one line on your hardware (or cloud)
- Operator + supervisor training (2 × 2-hour sessions)
- Two-week supervised run with daily defect log
Acceptance & handover
- All defects from supervised run closed
- Source code repo transferred to your control
- Runbook, schema docs, recorded training videos
- 3-month warranty starts; production support handoff
The four questions that actually matter.
Skip the generic FAQ. These are the real concerns we hear from manufacturing buyers on scoping calls — answered honestly, including where the trade-offs live.
What happens if Simplico disappears tomorrow?
You already have everything. At handover — not at end of contract, at handover — you receive the full Git repo, Postgres schema with migrations, deployment runbook, and recorded training sessions. Your team or any competent Python shop can clone the repo and keep developing.
We deliberately avoid proprietary frameworks, custom DSLs, and licensed libraries that would die with us. The stack is FastAPI + Postgres + Celery + standard Python — boringly portable on purpose.
What if our scope changes mid-engagement?
The tier price is fixed for the scope listed under "Included" in that tier. If you ask for something on the "Not in this tier" list, we treat it as a change request: scope, price, and timeline impact go into a one-page CR you approve before we start it. Nothing happens without your signature.
This is unusual in Thai SI work — most vendors absorb scope creep into a hand-wavy "professional services" line and then renegotiate at month four. We don't. The published prices stay published.
How do you connect to our old PLC fleet and mixed protocols?
We've written adapters for Modbus TCP/RTU, Siemens S7, Allen-Bradley (EtherNet/IP), OPC UA, and a few proprietary serial protocols whose vendors stopped supporting them a decade ago. The first deliverable in the pilot is a protocol inventory — we walk the floor, check each machine's manual, and confirm what's readable before promising anything.
If a machine is sealed and unreadable (it happens — typically older injection molders and some imported food-processing equipment), we say so on the intro call. The operator HMI captures it manually instead, and we mark it for a future PLC retrofit if you want one.
Why Python? Our last vendor used Java / .NET / a packaged platform.
Three honest reasons. (1) Hiring pool — Python developers are easier to find in Thailand and across Southeast Asia than experienced Siemens / Wonderware / Tulip engineers, which matters when you're hiring your in-house maintainer.
(2) Ecosystem — pymodbus, asyncua, paho-mqtt, pandas, FastAPI, Celery: every part of the stack has a mature open-source library and a Stack Overflow trail.
(3) Honesty about the trade-off — Python isn't the fastest runtime. For MES workloads (~10K events/sec per plant ceiling) it's fast enough. For sub-millisecond control loops it's not, and we wouldn't propose it. Real-time control stays on the PLC where it belongs.
Have a fifth question? Bring it to the 30-minute call — we'd rather answer it than guess at it here.
Talk to the engineer who'd design your system.
30 minutes. No sales pitch. We'll ask about your machines, your ERP, and what "real-time visibility" needs to mean for your plant — and tell you honestly whether custom MES or a packaged platform is the better call.
You'll talk to the engineer who'd design your system. No sales pitch.