Resource Center


White Papers

ERP as a Living System: The Power of Community-Driven Product Enhancement

  • This paper demonstrates how today’s manufacturer is unlocked from static ERP in which a vendor annually issues complex version upgrades.
  • Powerful change-on-demand capabilities allow companies to instantly align— and realign— their ERP and business processes without a time-consuming IT effort.
  • With a community-driven development approach, the community of users drives enhancements, which means the system constantly improves in the exact way a user requires.


Plex Online Multi-Plant Features

  • Today’s manufacturer demands a sophisticated network to track inventory, production, and scheduling across multiple locations in different time zones and on different continents.
  • Plex Online extends beyond what status quo ERP solutions provide by defining which solution structure best meets the unique needs of the manufacturer.
  • This paper showcases features that provide the ability to manage multiple facilities, divisions, and operations with a standard solution to track invoicing, inventory, accounts receivable, production, and other mission-critical functions.


Get Greener with SaaS-based ERP

  • Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions help manufacturers get greener by reducing energy consumption, paper and supply usage, and carbon emissions.
  • A side story provides a look at the escalating costs to the environment of on-site data centers.
  • Two case studies highlight dramatic contributions to environmental sustainability made by manufacturers who implement a SaaS ERP solution.
  • Industry-leading SaaS-based ERP solution provider Plex Online drives these beenfits while also improving quality, productivity and profitability.


What's Happening on the Food Processing Plant Floor?

  • This paper demonstrates the value of real-time, accurate data reflecting production activity, quality, traceability, machine breakdowns, inventory and more.
  • Food and beverage processors gain a clear view of what is happening on the plant floor, since operators themselves monitor and track production data.
  • Truly integrated information lets food processors meet mandates; decrease waste; implement full track and trace; and gain dramatic increases in production throughput.


Barcode Labeling for Food and Beverage Processors: What You Need to Know to Get Started

  • This paper highlights what food and beverage processors need to know to take advantage of barcoding to improve business performance and meet regulatory requirements.
  • The benefits of barcoding are improved traceability, safety, accuracy, and efficiency, along with an ease in complying with documentations requirements.
  • Implementing barcoding as part of an integrated SaaS ERP solution enables food processors to optimize its benefits.
  • Case study from a real-life manufacturer highlights how barcoding helps improve operations for companies of all sizes and in many different industries.


Five "Must Have" ERP Features for Medical Device Manufacturers

  • This paper summarizes the five features a medical device manufacturer must have in its ERP software.
  • Benefits of an integrated ERP solution include comprehensive supply chain management, precise production tracking and visibility, electronic document management, and more.
  • By obtaining all of the features it must have in one Software as a Service (SaaS) solution like Plex Online, a medical device manufacturer will optimize the performance of its entire enterprise.


Eight "Must Have" ERP Features for the Automotive Industry

  • This paper summarizes the benefits an ERP solution provides to the entire manufacturing process from shop floor to top floor.
  • Included are key features in a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution to help an manufacturer optimize performance throughout the enterprise.


Seven "Must Have" ERP Features for Food Processors

  • This paper summarizes the seven features a food or beverage processor must have in its ERP software.
  • An integrated ERP solution provides one-up/one-back traceability, document management, and recipe management.
  • By obtaining all of the features they must have in a SaaS solution, food processors optimize their performance.


From Farm to Fork: The Need for Traceability in the Food Chain

  • This paper summarizes food and beverage manufacturers' quality and traceability challenges, along with technology solutions.
  • Manufacturers must tightly manage quality across their supply chains in order to meet FDA requirements.
  • Plex Online enables manufacturers to track product ingredients at least one-up and one-back in their supply chains.


Six Game Changers About ERP

  • This paper summarizes six game changing aspects delivered by Plex Online SaaS ERP.
  • Areas range from the benefits of true ERP integration, to ease of use and the importance of up-to-date functionality.
  • In each case, the benefit is an improved and optimized manufacturing process to help the enterprise thrive in a challenging market.


ERP Implementation Best Practices: Manufacturers and the SaaS Delivery Model

  • This paper outlines how SaaS ERP helps cut implementation costs.
  • Real-life instances of how SaaS helps achieve faster ROI.
  • 5 advantages achieved through the SaaS model.


Plex Systems Infrastructure White Paper: The SaaS Advantage

  • This paper addresses concerns of those companies that hesitate to let mission-critical data leave their building.
  • Read about SaaS infrastructure that incorporates the most sophisticated and secure systems available in a manufacturing environment.
  • Detailed information about connectivity, security, crash protection, disaster recovery, storage, and data back-up.


Barcoding 101 for Manufacturers: What You Need To Know To Get Started

  • Barcode applications used by highly regulated industries such as automotive, aerospace, food processing and medical device manufacturing.
  • A detailed look at the accuracy, efficiency and traceability benefits provided by barcoding.
  • Best practices achieved by manufacturers in a range of industries today.


Focus on Financials: Integrating ERP and Financial Management for a Manufacturing Competitive Advantage

  • Manufacturers are faced with scarce credit, pricing pressures, and increasing costs.
  • This paper outlines areas necessary for creating value and profitability through real-time monitoring of financial conditions.


Implementing Plex Online - Pilot Part Methodology and Just-in-Time Training

  • This paper describes the Plex Online implementation and training process, a process perfected over hundreds of successes.
  • Plex Online's four-phase training takes place in stages: piloting, testing, systems enhancements, and go-live.
  • Targeted, efficient just-in-time training drives 98 percent customer satisfaction in Plex Online implementations -- 32 percent better than industry average.


VisionPlex Empowers Plex Online Users

  • It configures the software, rather than programming it and puts the programming power into the hands of the software users.
  • With VisionPlex, Plex Online users can dynamically confgure screens, customize screens, design new screens, and link screens together.


Tying the Shop Floor to the ERP System

  • This paper describes the evolution of IT strategies and the advantages of using an ERP system focused on linking shop floor and top floor operations.
  • ERP systems shed light on manufacturing processes enabling improved decision-making.
  • A case study highlights how Plex Online dramatically decreases training expenses, freight costs, and scrap, while enabling business growth without additional resources.


ERP for Medical Device Manufacturers

  • Medical manufacturers are challenged to comply with ISO, FDA and other key mandates.
  • Technology tools offer robust traceability and supplier management to help comply with strict quality mandates and governmental regulations.


Ten Critical Questions to Ask a Manufacturing ERP Vendor

  • Many manufacturers are focusing on the wrong issues when considering ERP solutions.
  • Now is the time to break free of this mind-set and ask the more important questions.


Ten Warning Signs that your ERP System is Killing Your Business

  • Manufacturing software is critical to your success. Here are ten warning signs that an ERP system is hurting productivity, production and quality.
  • Common pitfalls stemming from lengthy implementations and costly upgrades.
  • How companies can thrive with a new approach to manufacturing business systems.


What's Happening on Your Shop Floor?

  • An overview of the strategies to obtain a true picture of what happens on the shop floor.
  • The importance of accurately tracking production activity, planned production schedules, quality checks, machine breakdowns, inventory levels and more.
  • Technology tools that integrate the shop floor with the top floor and all areas of operations.


A SaaS Primer

  • Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions can be a strategic advantage to businesses, letting companies avoid costly hardware, software licenses and complex version upgrades.
  • Most major software vendors are touting some version of SasS, leading confusion about the solution model and its advantages.
  • This paper defines the term, and describes the short-term and long-term benefits of the Software as a Solution model and its variants.


The Effective Supply Chain

  • Today's manufacturing supply chain is challenged with meeting quality mandates, reducing costs, and delivering production improvements.
  • This paper describes how technology helps manufacturers manage and optimize performance across the supply chain.
  • The next wave of supply-chain solutions includes Kanban Loops, a lean pull system tool.
  • A case study highlights how one manufacturer uses Plex Online to effectively manage quality, program management, scheduling, and shipping across its supply chain.


Overall Equipment Effectiveness

  • Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is a metric that helps reduce loss of production time and increases production.
  • See how to shed light on the percentage of production time that is truly productive.
  • Learn techniques to obtain real-time insight into machine, worker, shift, material and supplier performance.


A Balanced Product Lifecycle Management System Is Essential to Profitable Growth

  • A discussion of the skills that empower efficient and effective team performance.
  • Learn how to maximize communications and effective project outcomes.


ERP Traceability Functions : Beyond The Hype

  • A look at the state of legacy, on-premise ERP technology.
  • How key functionality, such as tracking the flow of lots and components, increases quality and reduces costs.
  • How ERP SaaS helps manufacturers comply with quality mandates and OEM regulations.