Plex Systems Expands Leadership Team with Brad Hafer as Group Vice President of Corporate Development and Cathy Pitt as Chief Security Officer

Plex Systems expands with two key executive appointments: Brad Hafer as its global vice president of corporate development and Cathy Pitt as its chief security officer.

TROY, Mich., November 14, 2019 – Plex Systems, the leader in cloud ERP and MES for manufacturing, today announced two key executive appointments: Brad Hafer as its group vice president of corporate development and Cathy Pitt as its chief security officer. The hires reflect ongoing growth at Plex as the company expands globally and delivers new solutions spanning the shop floor to top floor.

“We have experienced fast-paced growth at Plex and these strategic appointments will ensure our continued momentum,” said Bill Berutti, CEO of Plex Systems. “Brad’s focus on company strategy and the partner ecosystem are essential to achieving our goals while Cathy is committed to reinforcing the security, availability, reliability, and scalability of Plex solutions for our global customers. Cathy’s and Brad’s respective areas of expertise are critical to our ability to maintain our position as both the system of record and the system of engagement for smart manufacturers. We are thrilled to welcome them to the team.”

As group vice president of corporate development, Hafer will oversee the company’s corporate strategy, partnerships, and M&A activities. Hafer has a diverse mix of strategic consulting and operational experience at technology organizations supporting the manufacturing industry, including IBM, A.T. Kearney, SupplierMarket.com, MatrixOne, and Dassault Systèmes. Most recently, Hafer worked in the strategic consulting practice at Houlihan Lokey.

“As the manufacturing sector continues to take advantage of Industry 4.0 technologies, the ecosystem supporting these innovations is becoming as important as the technologies themselves,” said Hafer. “As Plex maintains its growth trajectory, I look forward to capitalizing on strategic future growth opportunities for Plex and its customers, including building upon the partner ecosystem at Plex, to help manufacturing leaders deploy solutions that meet their company objectives.”

As chief security officer, Pitt will be responsible for a comprehensive enterprise-wide information security and risk management program to ensure the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of information owned, controlled or processed by Plex. Pitt is a tenured security expert with a deep customer focus and extensive experience defining strategic goals, analyzing end-to-end business processes, and translating requirements into secure business solutions. Pitt has held leadership roles at major enterprise technology solutions providers Cisco and HP, and most recently at global learning company Pearson.

“As more manufacturers leverage the cloud for vital business and operations data, security practices must become increasingly sophisticated to manage key information on a global scale,” said Pitt. “I am proud to join the team at Plex, where leaders not only understand the mission-critical nature of manufacturing solutions, but also are planning for future company and customer security needs to support its expanding product offerings and global footprint.”

Plex has maintained annual double-digit growth for 10 consecutive years. In 2019, the company opened an office in Prague to provide services and support for its growing global customer base. Plex solutions, such as its Industrial IoT offering released this year, are now used by manufacturers in the automotive, fabricated metals, food and beverage, industrial machinery, plastics and rubber, and aerospace industries.

Plex supports diverse manufacturers such as Eurotranciatura Mexico, one of North America’s leading providers of electrical steel laminations, a major component of electrical vehicle motors and generators; Hausbeck Pickle Company, which processes an average of 400,000 pickles and peppers per day for fast food restaurants such as Subway, Burger King, and Domino’s Pizza; and Polamer Precision, a global aerospace manufacturing company recently recognized as an IndustryWeek magazine Best Plant finalist which specializes in complex aerospace engine components for demanding applications.