Smart Manufacturing Blog

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Plex Manufacturing Blog

The Path Manufacturers Should Take Toward Industry 4.0

Plex Team June 5, 2018

The benefits of Industry 4.0 are crystal-clear. So, why aren’t manufacturers making it their top priority to embrace everything this new approach entails? In other words, why has adoption been so slow? According to TechVentive, it’s because many companies still lack the basic technology infrastructure that must be in place before they can exploit Industry 4.0....

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How A and K Finishing Delivers On-Time, Defect-Free Products Every Time with the Plex Manufacturing Cloud

Kaitlin Rebella May 31, 2018

When A&K Finishing, a provider of plastic paint solutions for the automotive, office furniture, electronics, and commercial industries, opened its doors in 1990, they set out to be the “first to finish, with quality.” Nearly 30 years later, this philosophy remains true and they’re leveraging technology and lean manufacturing philosophies to deliver quality, just-in-time products to a list of…

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How Innovation in Manufacturing Can Help You Leverage the Benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Mike Hart May 24, 2018

As a manufacturer, you need to do more. Not only to grow, but because your customers are demanding more of you—year after year. Even if you’re focusing on continuous improvement, you may need to add in manufacturing innovation to differentiate because it is a certainty that your competitors are doing more....

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PowerPlex 2018 – Back to Detroit

Jane Clabby May 18, 2018

Introduction After hosting PowerPlex 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia, PowerPlex 2018 returns to its roots in Detroit, Michigan, one of the nation’s biggest manufacturing hubs. CEO Don Clarke welcomed the audience in his Opening Keynote, “Makers Making an Impact,” recognizing the Plex community of manufacturing professionals who are positioned at the intersection of manufacturing and technology....

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PowerPlex 2018 – Innovation in Manufacturing Keynote

Jane Clabby May 16, 2018

As Jerry Foster, Plex CTO, sees it, “all in on innovation today will own the competition tomorrow.” However, innovation isn’t necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about manufacturing. We tend to think more about technology companies as being innovative – or companies that have introduced new business models such as Amazon, Uber or Airbnb....

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General Data Protection Regulation and Plex Customers

Plex Team May 9, 2018

The European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is set to take effect May 25, 2018. Now is a good time to discuss the capabilities Plex offers to help customers meet their GDPR obligations. What is GDPR?...

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5 Areas Every Supply Chain Leader Should Focus on to Sustain Competitiveness

Hemant Makhija April 17, 2018

As a supply chain leader, you must have a broad understanding of how your entire business flows from sales to procurement to engineering to service. You also need access to a reliable and holistic set of data or you’ll feel more like you’re fighting fires instead of delivering on customer demand. ...

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How to Become a Preferred Manufacturing Supplier

Stu Johnson April 10, 2018

Becoming a preferred supplier is a status most manufacturers want to attain and keep. To achieve this, you need to keep a close eye on quality performance while managing all the work involved with proving compliance. After all, your customers use compliance as a way to weed out lower performing suppliers so the two go hand in hand—even though compliance presents a whole set of headaches for you…

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Does Your Manufacturing ERP Software Do These 4 Things?

Dave Morfas March 19, 2018

Connected manufacturing is a business strategy that leverages cloud computing to harness operational and business data and promises greater visibility, efficiency, control, and customer satisfaction. Our customers have adopted this strategy —and they’ve been able to drive down costs while gaining greater visibility and control....

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5 Things Manufacturers Will Take Away from a First-Time Experience at PowerPlex 2018

Kaitlin Rebella March 12, 2018

If you are a manufacturer and want to improve your operations with the help of technology, you may want to consider attending PowerPlex 2018. Why? This event is the world’s largest gathering of cloud manufacturing professionals who are driving the industry into the future. There are so many things you will take away from your experience attending for the first time, including:...

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