Critical Manufacturing Named in 2026 Gartner® Market Guide for MES

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Critical Manufacturing, the Industrial Operations Platform company that unites execution, connectivity, analytics and trusted AI, and a subsidiary of ASMPT, has been named a Representative Vendor in the Gartner Market Guide for Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). The report points to the continued shift in manufacturing systems toward more connected and data-driven models as operational requirements grow, with increasing focus on the role of AI and more open, interoperable approaches to managing production systems.

According to Gartner, MES remains central to digital manufacturing, with vendors evolving their offerings to meet changing business and production needs, including greater emphasis on integration, flexibility, and platform-based capabilities.

Francisco Almada Lobo, CEO and Co-founder of Critical Manufacturing, said, “We are pleased to be recognized in the Gartner Market Guide for MES. In our opinion this reflects our continued focus on helping manufacturers succeed in highly demanding and regulated industries now and in the future. We continue to evolve our solution embedding the latest technologies such as AI on a strong foundation that manufacturers can trust to make digital transformation effective and profitable.”

As manufacturing becomes more intricate, organizations are placing greater emphasis on how their systems improve visibility, coordination, and decision-making. Critical Manufacturing addresses these needs through its Industrial Operations Platform approach, where MES serves as the execution core within a broader framework that brings together production, data, and intelligence.

“Manufacturing is no longer just about controlling processes on the shopfloor. It is about turning production data into meaningful, timely decisions that improve performance across the entire operation,” added Almada Lobo. “We are seeing a clear shift away from isolated systems toward environments where execution, data, and intelligence continuously inform each other. That is what enables manufacturers to respond faster, operate with greater clarity, and remain competitive in increasingly complex markets.”

Within this approach, MES plays a central role in capturing and contextualizing manufacturing data, which is then linked with analytics and enterprise systems to create a continuous flow of information between the shopfloor and business decision-makers.

Critical Manufacturing continues to advance its solution for high-tech industries such as semiconductors, electronics, medical devices and life sciences, and industrial equipment. Recent enhancements include improved batch management with lot matching, resource cluster services for multi-chamber equipment, and more detailed labor tracking at the activity level. Additional capabilities such as flexible BOM management, advanced substrate mapping, and smart barcode scanning further strengthen control and traceability across manufacturing processes.

The platform has also been extended with improvements to line clearance and maintenance management for reusable spare parts, alongside new reporting capabilities through tools such as Grafana and Stimulsoft. The introduction of Unified Namespace streaming via MQTT, combined with a centralized enterprise data platform, provides broader visibility across multiple sites.

At the same time, Critical Manufacturing is advancing its AI roadmap through initiatives spanning machine learning and generative AI to more advanced autonomous systems. These capabilities are embedded within the MES and data platform to enable contextual understanding, predictive insights, and more efficient workflows for both operators and decision-makers.

The report also encourages manufacturers to assess how MES solutions will meet future needs, including integration with other systems, responsiveness to changing processes, and the ability to scale across sites. For organizations operating in complex sectors, selecting solutions aligned with specific operational requirements can help reduce implementation effort while preserving long-term flexibility.

With customers across APAC, EMEA, and North America, Critical Manufacturing works with manufacturers in sectors where traceability, quality, and responsiveness are essential. By bringing together MES, data, analytics, and AI within a unified platform, the company helps manufacturers build more resilient, transparent, agile and future-ready operations.