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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Digital Transformation

Plex Manufacturing Blog

Clearing Your Manufacturing Hurdles with the Right Software

Plex Team April 20, 2023

On your mark.Get set.Go!As the starting gun cracks, athletes streak down the track to clear hurdles in a race to the finish line. Some will clear them all, others will knock over one or two, and one athlete might seem incapable of getting the rhythm, height, and pace correct and crashes into them all....

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Key Takeaways from the Smart Manufacturing Software Buyer's Guide

Plex Team April 12, 2023

With advanced technology driving industrial digitization across the globe, companies are reaching new heights in efficiency, process optimization, and other revolutionary achievements unheard of even a few years ago.To stay competitive, it's essential to identify superior solutions that align your company with all these technologies. But choosing the best software solution to accomplish this isn’…

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Cure Your Downtime Blues with Smart Platform Views

Plex Team January 24, 2023

Efficiency and downtime are two of the most recognized words in manufacturing. These two words are taught and enforced formally and informally from the executive boardroom to floor supervisors to an operator in their first week on the job.While efficiency has a lot of variables and is calculated as creating as many finished units with the least amount of resources, downtime appears to be simple…

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The Future of Automotive: Your 2022 OESA Supplier Conference Recap

Plex Team December 7, 2022

Many conference attendees recently filled the Suburban Showplace in Novi, MI to gain new insights and collaborate with fellow subject matter experts on the evolving landscape that has become the new automotive marketplace. The Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA) held its Supplier Conference “The Future of Automotive Is Calling. How Will You Answer?” and it lived up to its expectations…

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North American Food Safety and Quality: Your NAFS22 Recap

Gerry Abbey October 6, 2022

NAFS22 came packed with insights, ideas, and a shared call to action to achieve food safety and quality like we’ve never seen before. After days of conversations and presentations, the key question that remains is: how do we achieve this, particularly on a national and international scale? Of the many topics discussed over the last several days, these are the ones that stood out most:...

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The Shift to Electric Vehicles and Its Impact on Automotive Suppliers

Bernard Cohen September 21, 2022

The inevitable shift to electric vehicles is here and its impact on automotive suppliers will be drastic. OEMs are making major commitments to reduce their carbon footprint and eliminate their internal combustion engine (ICE) fleets. General Motors, for example, has made a commitment to be completely carbon neutral in their global products and operations by 2040 and eliminate tailpipe emissions…

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How Consistent is Your Planning Process?

Plex DemandCaster September 20, 2022

How consistent is your planning process? Use best-in-class planning software from Plex DemandCaster to ensure your planning process is consistent. ...

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A Guide to Process Automation

Plex Team August 30, 2022

“Automation” means different things to different manufacturers, depending on the equipment, systems, and processes in place. But many companies only automate some of their processes, leaving others disconnected or with manual processes still in place....

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How Is Automation Changing the Manufacturing Sector?

Mike Hart August 9, 2022

Automation in manufacturing is constantly evolving. Manufacturers all over the world are using automation to improve the efficiency of processes, reduce the complexity of managing modern supply chains, and combat the skilled worker shortage. In conjunction with adding levels of automation to streamline the business, manufacturers are turning to once-hyped technologies to accelerate process…

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How Smart Manufacturing Platforms Empower Sustainability

Plex Team August 2, 2022

There’s no denying that more and more manufacturers are embracing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives with aims to improve both performance and accountability. Naturally, these efforts often center around sustainability. While we’re a long way from closed-loop manufacturing, sustainability efforts gain return value to companies in areas like waste, material usage, supply…

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