
Get your copy of the 7th Annual State of Smart Manufacturing and hear from 300+ manufacturers in this new survey report!
We’re excited about 2016 and all the innovations we’ll see implemented on the manufacturing plant floor. But before we get too far into the new year, here are the five most popular Plex Manufacturing blogs from 2015, which feature our customers, the Plex Manufacturing Cloud and innovative technology.
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).
As dozens of Sanders cherry cordials pass under the enrober, a molten waterfall coats them in pure, dark chocolate. Two candymakers use gloved fingers to create the classic “Sanders Twirl” atop the candy before it enters the cooling tunnel.
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.
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 benefits.
“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.
Attitudes towards cloud and software as a service (SaaS) have changed dramatically in recent times, particularly with respect to software that runs your business. While just a few short years ago Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) might have been considered the last bastion of resistance to SaaS, today the majority of businesses have some sort of cloud strategy that involves ERP and the shift to the cloud has definitely begun.
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.
Who would have anticipated that the webcam – an inexpensive device designed for video chats – would play a vital role in keeping manufacturing operations running? For maintenance technicians who venture to different machines and locations in the plant every day, mobile access to information is vital.
Last week’s Fortune article asks the question: Is Detroit the next Silicon Valley? While on the surface these two areas seem quite different – one known for auto manufacturing and the other a hub for technology – the two areas are more similar than you might think. Today, the industries are colliding and shop floors are going hi-tech.