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Plex Manufacturing Blog
Why Manufacturing Traceability Is Key to Reducing Errors
Paper records are prone to errors, difficult to manage, and may be impossible to find in a timely manner, like within two hours as the FDA requires. High profile recalls have increased in recent years and culpable manufacturers have paid high costs to their businesses and their brands....
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Automotive Manufacturers See the Future in Big Data
Recently, I was thrilled to receive an invitation to participate on a panel at the recent inaugural SpeedNews AeroAuto Conference. For the past five years, SpeedNews focused its conference solely on the aerospace industry. This year, organizers brought professionals from the automotive industry together with leaders from the aerospace industry to share best practices....
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Digital Transformation: Manufacturers Need a Practical Approach—Not Hype
Technologists love to learn, write, and prognosticate about new terminology, technology trends, and ideas that will impact the future. But as I once heard someone say, “innovation without practical impact is a science project,” and this holds true for digital transformation, a topic deservedly getting a lot of coverage these days....
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Award-Winning Manufacturer, Accuride, Transforms Business with Plex
Running a profitable manufacturing business is no easy task. When faced with a decision to either invest, sell, or close up shop, it gets even tougher. Recently, I had the privilege of visiting Accuride Corporation’s Rockford, IL plant named “Gunite” in honor of a specific alloy the founder created back in 1854....
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Advanced Manufacturing Technologies Provide Endless IIoT Opportunities
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has a potential economic impact of $1.2-$3.7 trillion a year in 2015. Because of this enormous opportunity, many of metro Detroit’s technologists are talking about ways to integrate IIoT – where they can apply it, how they can benefit from it, and even how it can be used in their products and by customers....
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Error-Proofing Your Manufacturing Business with a Single Source of Truth
Your production operations are likely an automated and complex choreography of people and machines working together to produce products of predictable, repeatable quality. But manufacturing is complex and all the moving parts can be difficult to keep up with, which opens the door to mistakes....
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PowerPlex 2017 - Manufacturers Share Ideas, Discuss Skills Shortage and Give Back
Skills Shortage In conversations with attendees at this year’s Plex conference, the industry-wide skills shortage was a common frustration. Many businesses are using Plex to automate processes that were previously done manually, enabling some shop-floor activities to be done with fewer people, allowing reallocation of resources throughout the company. ...
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PowerPlex 2017 - Innovation in Action
As PowerPlex 2017 wraps up this week, I find myself reflecting on the many great conversations I had with smart, interesting people who are working on making things. I was surrounded by innovation — businesses making innovative products, organizations with a rich history that have continuously evolved by innovating over time, and people who are doing new and unique things with Plex to…
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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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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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