Smart Manufacturing Blog

Welcome to your source for all things smart manufacturing. Whether you’re looking for expert insights, hard data, or actionable tips for your plant floor, we’ve got you covered every week of the year.

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Plex Manufacturing Blog

Legacy ERP Vendors Make You an Offer You Can Refuse

Jim Shepherd February 22, 2016

One of the worst situations manufacturing IT groups routinely deal with is having to upgrade ERP software. This may not seem like a big deal, but consider how intertwined ERP is in a manufacturing company, from finance to production to logistics. ...

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The Legacy ERP Money Pit

Jim Shepherd February 5, 2016

Manufacturers face churning market conditions – changing commodity prices, fluctuating energy and transportation rates, and labor challenges. Avoiding unanticipated expenditures, focusing on driving down costs, and improving agility are imperative....

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Five New Year's Resolutions for Manufacturers

Plex Team January 8, 2016

It’s that time of the year: time to set resolutions that’ll guide you through 2016. As a manufacturer, your goals might be to leverage plant floor data to improve efficiencies, streamline processes and more. Check out our New Year's Resolution infographic to see the changes manufacturers can implement to make 2016 a success....

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Five Business Benefits Driving Manufacturing Cloud ERP Solutions

Jim Shepherd January 6, 2016

Business needs drive technology adoption, not the other way around, and more and more manufacturers are turning to a modern cloud ERP solution to address those needs. Cloud ERP software solutions, particularly SaaS, have passed into mainstream adoption. It is not a matter of if your company adopts it, but when and to what degree (at the plant level or across the entire enterprise). ...

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Two Low-Cost Technologies are Transforming Plant Floors

Plex Team December 7, 2015

Manufacturing facilities are filled with expensive equipment. Multi-million-dollar investments can make, or break, a company’s ability to compete and grow. But in today’s connected shop floor environment, smaller, low-cost tools are delivering competitive advantage....

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Why Cloud? SaaS Matters.

Jim Shepherd December 1, 2015

When you consider cloud-based services, it’s important to understand not just the features and functionality of the solution, but also the differences in the underlying delivery model. Consider a cell phone as compared to a land-line: they both perform the same function, but one allows you to roam untethered. ...

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Know Thy Cloud: 3 Pillars That Define Cloud

Jim Shepherd November 3, 2015

Prospects and customers constantly ask us to help them cut through the noise and understand why SaaS-based ERP delivered via native cloud is different, and how it can benefit their business. Many flavors of cloud exist even within the specific realm of cloud ERP solutions, but native cloud, or cloud applications specifically and exclusively delivered as a service have unique and impactful…

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Techonomy Detroit: The Transformational Power of Tech

Jerry Foster October 29, 2015

Recently I had the privilege of participating in Techonomy Detroit, a gathering of business, civic, nonprofit and academic leaders, where I was able to take a step back from my daily focus on the Plex Manufacturing Cloud and think about the broader impact of technology and manufacturing on communities and society....

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The Cloud: Transforming Global Manufacturing

Plex Team September 30, 2015

“It used to be that you had to be a pretty big company before you had multiple plants and before you were serving Asian markets and European markets. That's not the case today,” says Jim Shepherd, vice president of Strategy at Plex. “Even our smallest customers often have multiple sites in multiple countries. ...

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Plex Benchmarks: Driving Insights through Community and Cloud

Jerry Foster September 27, 2015

The cloud is moving the manufacturing industry forward, improving the performance of manufacturing operations management in the process. Manufacturers heavily rely on industry benchmarks such as surveys and other publicly reported data to measure the success of their organization. ...

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