ERP SaaS May Finally Be Ready for Prime Time

A growing number of SaaS ERP vendors are scouring the market for companies like Baxter's. Small and mid-size discrete manufacturers with revenue of $15 million to $500 million have become the SaaS market sweet spot for Glovia, Plexus Systems, and NetSuite Inc. Even large, packaged ERP companies, such as Oracle Corp. and SAP AG, have announced plans

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Plexus Named Technology Company of the Year Finalist

Troy-based Automation Alley, the technology business promotion group for southeastern Michigan, Friday announced the finalists for its Seventh Annual Awards Gala.Technology Company of the Year• Microheat, Inc., Farmington Hills• Netlink Software Group, Madison Heights• Plexus Systems, Inc., Auburn Hills

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Plexus Online Customer Tomasco Wins 2007 Progressive Manufacturer Award

Plexus customer TOMASCO mulciber Inc. is a winner of the 2007 Progressive Manufacturing 50 Awards sponsored by industry trade publication Managing Automation. At the annual awards program held this summer, TOMASCO was selected as one of eight high achievers, receiving top honors in the area of Operational Excellence Mastery.

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SaaS: The staying power of this new breed of Web-based software

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is representing a fundamental shift in how software is acquired, implemented, used and paid for. Already considered as an established alternative model in the US, SaaS is starting slowly to be recognized as an interesting model in Europe.

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Worldwide SaaS to Hit $5.1 Billion in 2007, Gartner Says

"SaaS adoption is highest in applications that support simplified, common business processes or large, distributed virtual workforce teams," says Sharon Mertz, research director of Gartner. "Ease of use, rapid deployment, limited upfront investment in capital and staffing, plus a reduction in software management responsibility, all make SaaS a desirable alternative to many on-premises solutions, and they will continue to act as drivers of growth."
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Plexus' Barrie Vince Recognized for Achievement by AIAG

Nominated by his peers, Barrie Vince was selected by a panel of AIAG members and AIAG staff for special efforts related to the advanced product quality planning (APQP) project of defining electronic messages for the transfer of APQP data between customers and suppliers along the supply chain.

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Jerry Foster Enters 'Software Idol' Contest

If you have a moment please visit: http://www.businessofsoftware.org/softwareidol.aspx and vote for Plexus Systems own Jerry Foster.

This year Business of Software 2007 is holding a 'Software Idol' contest to choose 3 speakers each speaker will gain an 18 minute slot to speak at Business of Software 2007. You're vote will put Jerry one step closer to showing those attending the event how Plexus Online can help them grow and manage business better.

The people who are invited to speak at Business of Software 2007 are world-class thinkers, doers, writers and speakers. We think Jerry Foster and Plexus Online are just what they are looking for.

11 Things you may not know about Plexus: Manufacturing Software

It’s time once again to test you’re Plexus Online™ manufacturing software skills with “Things you may not know about Plexus”. Today’s blog contains 11 things you may not know. Give these a try:

1. The keyboard Enter key functions the same as clicking Update.

2. One of my jobs is to give away Plexus “stuff” – mousepads, pens, shirts, vacations, etc. Begging is encouraged.

3. The Control Panel is one of Glen Tillman’s babies - he will code for Cheez-its®.

4. Plexus Online’s shop floor modules are designed around lean principles, as they were originally developed for a company employing the Toyota Production Systems (TPS).

5. A Plexus Online™ module check list can be found at http://www.plex.com/modules/Modules_Print.asp?Descriptions=1

6. Advanced Inventory Traceability Module - this module automatically tracks the complete genealogy (epedigree) of all inventory containers.

7. In any date field filter (the ones with the calendar icon next to them):the “-“ sign decreases the date by one day and the “+” sign increases the date by one day.

8. Plexus Online™ provides a Labor Tracking Module that tracks both direct labor and indirect labor activity.

9. Release Accounting provides a fully-integrated system that includes Blanket Orders, Releases, Cumulative Tracking, EDI, Bar Code Labeling, Finished Goods Inventory, and Shipping.

10. Use the tab key to tab through the focus fields.

11. Ctrl-A will select all.

Plexus Online Shares Software Purchasing Secrets

The paper provides a reality check on software usability, fit and cost of ownership. For example, the paper recommends that manufacturers ask a series of questions about potential problems with user adoption of the system, and make key users (such as shop floor employees) part of the decision process.

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Plexus Systems to Speak on World Class Manufacturing

Plexus was invited to participate on the panel because of its expertise in offering Plexus Online, Software as a Service (SaaS) for lean manufacturing specifically designed for automotive suppliers and other high-liability manufacturers. Plexus Systems, born from a Tier 1 automotive supplier, incorporates processes based on the Toyota Production S

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Driving to Lean Product and Process Development

If you are attending the 2007 Management Briefing Seminars I recommend attending the World Class Manufacturing II: Driving to Lean Product and Process Development Session, Tuesday Morning, August 7, 8:00 a.m.-Noon. Mark Symonds, President and CEO, Plexus Systems, Inc., joins an elite pannel to review methods and case examples of lean product and process development. Several examples will be discussed involving different automotive materials (e.g., steel, aluminum and composites), product applications, and associated processing technologies.

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Plexus Online™ Transitioned to full UTf-8 Unicode Front-End

Glen Tillman, Senior Application Engineer, announced the following system upgrade was completed today at Plexus Systems, Inc.

At 7:20am this morning, we successfully transitioned Plexus Online™ (POL) to a full UTF-8 Unicode front-end. All known data that was previously entered in a foreign language was completely converted by 10:45am.

There are two major implications to this.

First, from now on, selecting a language from the pull down menu will only affect two things: what language the menu is displayed in, and what language the glossary entries are displayed in.

Second, all data, no matter what language it was entered in, the data will render the same regardless of the language selection. This means if you are in an English session and view data that was entered in Japanese, the Japanese will display correctly.

This is a terrific bonus to our customers that have previously been mixing languages - now it will render properly at all times, not just when they remember to pick the right language.

"I would also like to thank, in particular, Matt Young and Joe Blackmer for a job well done. While the entire team helped identify and fix the issues that were uncovered as we went along, these two were key in designing and programming the fundamental changes to the POL backbone that enabled this full conversion to happen. I couldn't be happier with the job they have done. Kudos!" - Glen Tillman

In case you are wondering, approximately 160,000 menu nodes, 150,000 glossary entries, and 125,000 user entered records were converted (give or take).

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

After a long Dry Spell Software Firms Think IPO

The time is right for software companies to look for public funding, Mr. Jacobs said. And Intacct’s Mr. Braun thinks it’s just the beginning. “It’s just inevitable that new companies will replace the old,” he said. “And that means there are going to be more and more IPOs.”

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Games On! The 2007 O&P Extremity Games, eX2, Wows the Crowds

The premiere Moto-X event got eX2 off to a roaring start Thursday morning. Competitors gunned their engines, soared over hills and ripped around corners thrilling onlookers. Thursday evening waves curled and pounded as surfers from as far away as Brazil and Hawaii competed for top honors in the inaugural surfing event. Friday morning started...

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9 Things you may not know about Plexus - On Demand Software

The “Things you may not know about Plexus” will become an occasional feature of this blog. I’m going to start today with 9 things you may not know. Give these a try:

1. You can launch a new session by hovering over the logo and choosing “Launch New Session”.

2. Plexus Systems birthday is April Fools day!

3. In 2003, the Plexus Online EDI and Bar Coding solution was approved by Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc. for use by its suppliers.

4. Click the Main Menu icon to switch between menu buttons or your favorites.

5. Regulatory compliance such as Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA require organizations to maintain their IT systems safe and secure. Plexus Online™ will help reduce the time your auditors are onsite for audits, provide user friendly data based on industry best practices such as ISO and QS among others, and allow you to be at ease knowing your infrastructure is locked down.

6. Float your pointer over the company logo to get to the Personalize Options.

7. Plexus Systems, Inc. holds a trademark on Plexus Online™ .

8. ASN’s are created and transmitted automatically when shipments are made.

9. Plexus Online™ implementer Jodi Hunt rides a Honda Shadow.. Beautiful red one.

Auto Tech Creating Supply Chain Value

AIAG AutoTech has been called the most relevant conference in the automotive industry. It is THE event for suppliers at all tiers to receive ISO/TS 16949:2002 quality updates first-hand, straight from those who developed the guidelines and standards. It's also the only venue where the collaboration between OEMs and suppliers is showcased through executive conferences, educational sessions, product and service exhibits, demonstrations, and networking opportunities.

Stop by the Plexus Online exhibit floor booth #205, we will be glad to answer questions and give you a demonstration of Plexus Online tailored to your specific needs. It's also a great place to catch up with the following Plexus employees: Mike Solomon, Tim Burke, Brian Gillespie, Patrick Fetterman, Alison Hess and myself (Kim Hayward) If you're planning ahead, and would like to schedule a meeting with any of us at AutoTech, just post a comment here.

Barrie Vince of Plexus Systems, Inc. will be a recipeint of the INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, at the 21st annual AIAG Outstanding Achievement Award Ceremony on August 20, 2007 at The Henry Ford Museum.

The theme of this year’s AutoTech is Co-opetition: Creating Supply Chain Value. The conference features more than 50 sessions in 11 subject areas, OEM and keynote sessions and product demonstrations and case studies.

The exhibit floor includes leading automotive manufacturers and suppliers, as well as service and technology providers displaying tools to help improve industry processes in automatic identification, collaborative engineering, e-commerce, business-to-business, supply chain management and quality. Register at www.aiag.org.