Azumuta vs Critical Manufacturing:
Which MES Fits Your Factory?
Side-by-side look at an operator-first platform versus a highly configurable, enterprise MES.
Azumuta gives you digital work instructions, inline quality and core MES dashboards in weeks—no code, no armies of integrators. Beyond work instructions, Azumuta delivers core MES functionality – real-time production monitoring, traceability and shop-floor analytics – in a single, operator-friendly platform. Thanks to its out-of-the-box features and templates, it minimizes setup time and enhances communication and efficiency. Azumuta’s pre-configured modules: Work Instructions, Quality Assurance, Audits & Checklists, Skills Matrix & Training, and Dashboards & Reports are designed for seamless integration between them. This approach makes it ideal for manufacturers looking to consolidate solutions across the shop floor.
Critical Manufacturing MES is renowned for deep configurability, digital-twin visualisation and Industry 4.0 modules. But that flexibility often means lengthy, consultancy-heavy roll-outs.
Why Choose Azumuta?
Don’t just take our word for it!
At Navtech, product accuracy is crucial. Azumuta has transformed how we manage complex variants, ensuring every product is built precisely to our standards.
Don’t just take our word for it!
“Azumuta is more than just an information tool; it’s also part of our learning and development path. This way, we can flexibly select people with the right attitude, and offer them the ideal training environment to develop themselves.”
Don’t just take our word for it!
The ability to adapt quickly to changes in work instructions has given us a competitive advantage, while the fully automated distribution of work instructions has decreased complexity and reduced errors on the shop floor. Azumuta has revolutionized our work instruction management process and made our operations more agile.
Don’t just take our word for it!
With Azumuta, we can have quality checks during assembly, ensuring there’s real-time quality control. For traceability, the product order information is stored digitally, so we can quickly address customer complaints and efficiently resolve them. This two-layer system allows us to maintain our high-quality standards and provide exceptional customer service.
Don’t just take our word for it!
The ability to adapt quickly to changes in work instructions has given us a competitive advantage, while the fully automated distribution of work instructions has decreased complexity and reduced errors on the shop floor. Azumuta has revolutionized our work instruction management process and made our operations more agile.
Don’t just take our word for it!
Previously, as an organization, we relied heavily on the discipline of the operators to fill in the necessary production reports. With Azumuta, we can send the necessary reminders to the operators if necessary. Moreover, we can monitor in real time whether they have actually filled in the production reports at the scheduled time.
What Makes Azumuta Unique
Best-in-class Digital Work Instructions
Digitize your work instructions and give your operators always up-to-date, accessible, and interactive work instructions that include videos, images, 3D files, and more. Empower your operators to create tickets to flag issues detected during production, gather shop floor data, document processes, and enable in-line quality controls.
Azumuta is used for quick onboarding, retraining, and on-the-job training and can be easily connected with your ERP system to have your product orders always in sync with the right work instruction.
Do you have countless product variants? Azumuta helps you tackle complex and customized production with seamless variant management. No limit on the number of product variants!
Because these instructions are linked to live production orders, they double as the operator-friendly execution layer of your MES.Unlike Critical Manufacturing, operators can create and revise instructions in Azumuta without code or external editors.
In-line Quality Assurance
Azumuta’s Quality Assurance module can boost quality metrics by tracking the entire production process. A complete traceability report per product provides an overview of quality on the shop floor.
With the Digital Work Instructions, admins can specify quality procedures for operators. During production, operators can identify and flag any quality issues or defects in real time, allowing immediate resolution. All check results flow straight into Azumuta’s MES dashboards, instantly closing the traceability loop.
Quality results flow straight into Azumuta dashboards—no extra SPC configuration or integrator time like Critical Manufacturing requires. Azumuta helps factories achieve compliance for ISO 9001, ISO 14001, IATF, and more quality standard certifications.
Skills Matrix & Training
Azumuta’s Skills Matrix & Training module allows managers to keep track of their employees’ entire training progress and competencies. Use it for onboarding, re-training, and on-the-job training.
The module helps identify workforce growth opportunities and training paths. With a comprehensive matrix, managers can visualize the skills and competencies available on the shop floor and create reports about the strengths and pain points in the team. The matrix then auto-selects the best-qualified operator for every MES job ticket.
Based on the employee’s profile, a plan can be set up tailored to their experience, profile, and level of expertise. Azumuta auto-matches certified workers to jobs, a capability that needs custom development in Critical Manufacturing.
Audits & Digital Checklists
Azumuta’s Audits & Digital Checklists module enables planning audits and creating checklists for 5S inspections, ISO compliance, preventive maintenance, and more. Leveraging real-time shop floor insights, it automates reports and triggers notifications. Audit findings sync with MES batch records to keep ISO and IATF compliance airtight.
The module offers an interactive timeline to visualize all audits and set automatic reminders to their team. They can also assign tasks to team members.
Digital checklists help monitor tasks related to compliance, maintenance, and safety. Customizable lists allow workers to prevent downtimes and equipment failures, all from an easy-to-use dashboard.
Audit findings sync instantly, avoiding the lengthy validation workflows typical of Critical Manufacturing roll-outs.
Dashboards & Reports
Use the Dashboards & Reports functionality to visualize all the data collected by other Azumuta modules! Admin users can track and visualize data streams in real time. With pre-built tables, boards, graphics, and dashboard templates, Azumuta’s Dashboards & Reports module is ready to use and customize. You get classic MES KPIs—OEE, cycle time, downtime in real time, without an extra reporting tool.
Thanks to the seamless integration with BI software and ERP systems, the dashboards can be transformed into compelling reports and shared across the organization. Users will obtain clear and actionable insights into performance, quality, and operational consistency. The dashboards provide a holistic view of the relevant operational data. No code is needed.
OEE and downtime KPIs are ready out of the box, whereas Critical Manufacturing often needs bespoke reports built by consultants.
Azumuta Intelligence: Save Time Leveraging AI to Create Digital Work Instructions
Leverage AI to build work instructions – then push them live to your MES in minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Azumuta supports advanced machine connectivity, including outbound MQTT communication, enabling seamless integration with your equipment. Our platform works without requiring additional gateways or hardware, making the setup simple, efficient, and cost-effective.
Azumuta has integrated compliance tracking features that ensure all processes meet industry standards.
Yes, the platform is available on both iOS and Android devices. You can download it from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store
Protecting our customers’ data is our top priority. Azumuta is built with strict security requirements and protocols to secure your data, such as ISO/IEC 27001 and SOC 2, and undergoes annual security audits and assessments. We use stringent physical, procedural and technical security measures to maintain the integrity and security of your data and we adhere to the strictest data protection laws.
Yes, Azumuta offers extensive integration capabilities with a variety of shop floor equipment and enterprise systems.
Azumuta integrates with popular ERP, MES, and IIoT platforms, making it easy to connect your workflows across systems. Visit our integrations page to learn more about the platforms we support.
Yes, we have developed an integration API that is accessible. The Azumuta API differs for every company as we release new versions and tailor functionality. You can also build almost anything you want on top of the Azumuta platform via our API.
Azumuta covers core MES needs—work instructions, quality, traceability and OEE—so it can run solo. If you already have an MES, use Azumuta as an operator-friendly front end and feed the data back via open APIs.
Machine data flows in through OPC-UA, Modbus or MQTT. Orders and BOMs sync via REST/GraphQL APIs and ready-made connectors for SAP, Microsoft Dynamics and other ERPs—no custom middleware required.
Yes. Begin with digital work instructions, then switch on Quality Matrix, Skills Matrix & Training, or Audits & Digital Checklists, whenever you’re ready. Same interface, no migration hassle.
Yes, for plants that only need digital work instructions, quality, traceability and OEE.
Absolutely. Keep Critical for scheduling; use Azumuta as the operator UI and sync data via open REST & OPC-UA APIs.
Get Started Today!
Take your work instructions to the next level by adding the Continuous Improvement feature. Use a ticketing system to gather your workers’ suggestions and insights, then turn their feedback into actionable tasks to improve processes.
