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Plex Manufacturing Blog
For Plex Customers, the Future of Manufacturing is Now
At this year’s PowerPlex 2017, participants were abuzz with ideas about where new technologies and emerging market trends will take them. I attended keynotes and break-out sessions and had the opportunity to talk one-on-one with individuals who “make things.” In doing so, I identified several common themes that provide insight into where manufacturing is headed and how customers will get there....
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Plex Supports mikeroweWORKS Foundation and America’s Hardest Workers
If you follow Executive Producer and TV Host Mike Rowe on Facebook or listen to his podcast, The Way I Heard It, you’ll be treated to stories about America’s skilled trade workers and how they’re making a difference. These stories inspire all of us at Plex who are privileged to support the manufacturing community....
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2017 Plex Impact Award Winners: Manufacturing Pioneers
Plex loves its customers. All of us at Plex are passionate about their work, and we’re eager to see how each of them are shaping the future of manufacturing in their own innovative way. That’s why choosing the Plex Impact Award winners, which annually recognizes industry leaders, innovators, and transformers, is an exciting process for the Plex team....
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5 Warning Signs That It’s Time to Consider Cloud ERP for Your Manufacturing Business
We’ve compiled this list of warning signs many of our customers identified before moving to manufacturing ERP in the cloud. You know your systems are floundering when:...
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Shop Floor Data Means More Business Insight for Hatch Stamping
For many manufacturers, finding a way to improve reliability, extend reach, and minimize time to value feels like the old adage “cheap, fast, or good: pick two.” In many scenarios, that’s the reality—but not all....
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Why the Cloud Is Key to Smart Manufacturing
If you’re still relying on manual processes or disconnected legacy systems to run your business, you’ll be spending too much time and effort to gain the visibility you need to remain competitive. SaaS-based cloud ERP is now a strategic choice for manufacturers who want to take advantage of the connectivity and scalability to improve their business. ...
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Before and After: Lean Manufacturing with Better Operational Control
Are your lean efforts focused on delivering a few key results or do you have total operational control to enable continuous improvement? A true commitment to lean manufacturing can result in bottom line improvements throughout your company, not just in production....
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Cut Your Manufacturing Costs with Cloud ERP
Manufacturers who have embraced SaaS cloud ERP view this model as central to their ability to compete.1 And for good reason. The cost benefits make cloud ERP a compelling strategy—even to those who still believe they are better off “owning” the software. Below are examples of manufacturers who have lowered costs with cloud ERP:...
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3 Important Ways Cloud ERP Helps You Improve Supply Chain Performance
Market dynamics force you to meet delivery and cost targets while collaborating more closely than ever before. Without visibility of your supply chain, it’s difficult to drive down the cost of operations and reduce your time-to-market. Manufacturing cloud ERP with supply chain planning (SCP) and management gives you greater visibility, agility, and collaboration since your supply chain operations…
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Small to Mid-Sized Manufacturers: It’s Time to Take Advantage of the IIoT Opportunity
Manufacturers across all industries are investing in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)-enabled devices and according to TATA Consultancy, they’re already reaping benefits: an average of 28.5 percent increase in revenues between 2013 and 2014.1 IIoT is not just for the big manufacturing enterprises. Yes, the big companies often have more infrastructure and legacy system dependency than you…
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SaaS-Based Cloud ERP Drives Manufacturing Speed, Agility, and Digital Transformation
Cloud ERP isn’t just for the early adopters anymore. It’s now gone mainstream and enables companies to increase flexibility using the latest technology. In a January 2017 report, Vendor Landscape: SaaS ERP Applications, 2017, Forrester states that “SaaS ERP increases speed and agility for digital transformation.” ...
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Gain a Competitive Advantage by Connecting Your Manufacturing Business
One of the reasons more manufacturing companies are moving their ERP and manufacturing execution system (MES) to the cloud is the ability to connect people, processes, machines, systems, and applications easily. What once was primarily an IT discussion has now become a business expectation—connect everything for a holistic, single version of truth for the enterprise....
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3 Manufacturers Who Fell in Love with Plex—and Why You May Be Next
When manufacturers begin their search for the perfect match, what do they really look for in a cloud ERP system? If you’re like most of your peers, you want an ERP system that’s:...
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How to Integrate Cloud ERP into Your Manufacturing Business
The word “integrate” has one connotation to technical people, and it usually involves making systems work together. I would like to use the word in another way: combining the best of two things so that they become a whole. In this case the two things I am talking about are:...
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How Manufacturers Adapt to Changing Times
As a self-funded, starving college student, I spent the summer of my sophomore year working on the assembly line of an injection molding factory making Nerf footballs. Sounds like it should have been a fun job. It wasn’t....
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How American Axle and Manufacturing Broke Down the Silos to Gain One Version of the Truth
If you have difficulty getting your arms around how your manufacturing business is actually performing, you are not alone. It’s the number one challenge many manufacturers I talk to want to tackle because it can mean the difference between running a successful company or managing a struggling company....
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Wearables on the Shop Floor: CES 2017
Wearables and augmented reality aren’t so futuristic anymore because more manufacturers are seeing the opportunity to use these technologies to impact shop floor productivity, product quality, and top-line growth. That’s why Barrie Vince, Plex software architect and one of the original developers of the Plex Manufacturing Cloud, visited the Consumer Electronics Show (CES)....
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7 Best Practices for More Accurate Inventory Tracking and Reporting
Inventory traceability and tracking is all about creating a paper trail of inventory that reflects physical reality. Many companies manually record inventory basics like shipping receipts for raw materials, warehousing, issues from stock to production, and shipments of finished goods to customers. ...
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5 Tips on Selecting an ERP from Manufacturers Who've Been There, Done That
If you are in the midst of choosing an ERP system, we understand your struggle. You’re trying to please executives and end users alike. You have dozens of possible platforms to consider. And it’s important for you to get this right, because you want your system to last at least 10 years (or more). We’ve helped many companies through the ERP evaluation process. Here are our top five ERP selection…
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3 Keys to Digital Transformation for Your Manufacturing Business
Digital transformation is a topic getting quite a bit of press lately. The term is very broad, but in the real manufacturing world there are lots of you doing some incredibly transformative and innovative things with your business....
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