Croom Medical has developed its own manufacturing execution system, or MES, around a practical ambition: to connect the information needed to manufacture, inspect and review orthopaedic components at the point where the work happens. The programme brings together production workflows, part results and equipment information, with controlled validation and adoption continuing as the system develops.
Work on the system began in January 2026 and expanded through the year, alongside Croom’s investment in equipment and manufacturing capacity. The programme focuses on how information moves through the factory as well as how components move between operations.
Starting with the production record
The direction was established well before development began. An Irish Manufacturing Research SIRI assessment in 2022 identified paperless operations as a priority. For a manufacturer managing multiple processes, inspection steps and product variants, the challenge is to keep the production record connected as work moves through the factory.
The MES programme addresses that challenge by linking instructions, gauges, inspection results and sign-off to the production route. Its paperless workflows are designed to capture results by individual part or batch, while maintaining the revision and history associated with the record. The intended outcome is straightforward: information entered where the work takes place should remain available to the people who need to review it.
Why Croom chose to build
Croom considered buying an MES before deciding to develop a system around its own factory. The priorities were a close fit with existing workflows, connections to enterprise resource planning and machines, and the ability to control the sequence of improvements.
That choice also brings responsibility. Support, security, continuity and validation are part of owning the system. Operations must establish workable routines and support adoption; Quality must oversee validation and release; and the technology team must maintain a dependable service. Those responsibilities are central to the programme as it moves forward.
Connecting work, equipment and exceptions
Development began in January 2026, followed by the core platform in February and expanded inspection and machine workflows during May to July. September focused on validation and controlled adoption. These phases describe the development journey; release decisions remain part of the controlled process.
Machine connectivity is being developed through OPC UA controller data, with attention to whether information is current and useful for maintenance and production decisions. Alongside this, a shared batch view is intended to help Production, Planning and Quality locate work, understand what is holding it up and assign the next action.
For teams on the floor, the value lies in answering routine questions more easily. Which instruction applies? Where is the inspection result? What has changed? Who owns the outstanding action? Bringing those answers together can make the record easier to follow across departmental handovers.
Measuring the next stage
The programme’s next measures of success are practical: less administration per batch, faster record review and more records completed correctly the first time. These are the outcomes Croom intends to demonstrate as validation and adoption progress.
For OEM partners, the relevance is stronger manufacturing visibility and a more connected production history. As Croom invests in new equipment and the Advanced Centre of Orthopaedic Technologies, developing the information systems around that capacity remains an essential part of the same manufacturing strategy.
