7 Things you may not know about Plexus:Software as a Service (SaaS)

Here are Seven more things you may not know about Plexus. This is an continuation blog related to the 11 things you may not know and 9 things you may not know.

1. Matt Harrell, the Chief Security Officer at Plexus, holds a black belt in Shorin-Ryu karate.

2. Ctrl-P will bring up the printer dialog to print the screen.

3. There is free food and soda in the break rooms at Plexus.

4. The Maintenance System allows you to define specific machine parameters. These measured values can be graphed over time and used for Predictive Maintenance.

5. The Plexus Sales and CRM system can take many forms, depending on the specific requirements.

6. Plexus Systems owns the registered trademark for Scanban® —the concept of a bar coded Kanban Card that is tracked electronically through the shop.

7. Dealer direct shipments are processed by populating the order number and dealer number on page 3 of the customer release.

Jerry Foster’s You Tube Video Provides Hope & Breath of Fresh Air

It’s very compelling and complementary when you find a blog that is just wishing Plexus Online was focusing on their industry. In Delyan Raychev’s blog today he has explained SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) and hopes for our entry into the Higher Education market to relieve this market from the high cost that SAP and Sunguard have driven into it.

Jerry Foster’s YouTube video is referenced in Delyan’s blog as a great example of SaaS and he lists the following as the key bullets from Jerry’s video.

• SaaS (specifically Plexus Online) promises 99.9 uptime 24/7
• always "latest and greatest" software for each customer - monthly, daily, hourly updates
• SaaS is mature - not future but past - Plexus Systems have been providing it for 9 years

Delyan, Plexus Online is dedicated to focusing 100% of our resources on the manufacturing market and has no current plans to change that direction. You’ve provided a compelling call for Plexus Online to help in your industry. Maybe Someday…

You can view Delyan’s entire blog entry HERE.

Oracle Chimes In

The conversation continues.

This recent blog entry, entitled SAAS Doesn’t Pay, Oracle’s Ellison Says, noted that Oracle CEO Larry Ellison made comments that essentially knock SAP's recently unveiled midmarket on-demand strategy Business ByDesign. Ellison stated that Oracle is instead moving “beyond ERP [enterprise resource planning] to industry-specific software." You can’t get anymore industry specific than Plexus Online.

We here at Plexus Online were first to take the field with a proven, award winning on-demand software specifically designed for manufacturing enterprises.

That’s what we do, focusing 100% of our resources on the manufacturing market. This focus shows in the feature-set and architectural model of our system, Plexus Online. We were the first company in the world to provide manufacturing ERP and related functions via the software-as-a-service model, in 2001. We continue to lead the charge by providing functionality and services unmatched by even the largest companies in the world.

Top Linked SEO's in Greater Detroit Area

I found something interesting today on Google. I currently hold the title of second toped linked SEO in the Greater Detroit Area.

Top Linked SEOs in Greater Detroit Area
2, Kim Hayward, 107, 0, SEO Marketing Manager at Plexus Systems, Inc. Greater Detroit Area. 3, Jeff Raab, 102, 5, Founder & CEO, DealerDex.com

So of course when you find something like this you have to go on a little search to find out who is holding that number one position. I found that he is Andrew Miller of the Greater Detroit Area a Search Engine Marketing Consultant.

So what is a SEO? I spend hours scouring the web looking for a way to improve http://www.plex.com/ listings on the search engines. (Google, Yahoo, MSN) Some of my time is spent managing multi- million dollar budget in Paid Placement Advertisement on those same search engines.

Yet, the majority of my time is spent optimizing pages and content to rank high in the organic or sometimes called the natural search results. Organic/Natural search results allow traffic to reach you at no cost to the company, so that multi-million dollar budget is never spent.

To do that you have to know what is being published about the subject that is being promoted to the search engines. Often the fact that something is being published is not passed on to a person that does the SEO of a company. Tools like netvibes are setup and become a wonderful SEO tool.

Everything I do is created with one end result in mind, increasing the traffic to Plexus Online. My goal is to reach all of the companies in the Manufacturing Industry searching for new software.

I guess the need to provide an explanation of SEO comes from two different emails I received this week. Jerry Foster asking me the question; “How did you find that?” When I published an article from BrentOzar.com. So the short answer Jerry is “Netvibes.com”.

The other email was from Todd Gillissie, Developer, at Plexus Systems and independent game publisher, his latest release is "Shady O'Grady's Rising Star”. Todd, felt more credit should be given to authors of a post on this blog, more so than just the "read more: link. If you jump back up a couple of paragraphs you’ll find the answer to that issue. The paragraph starts with “Everything”. If the "read more" link is not there at the end of an article then it's me.

Much Ado About SAP's Business By Design

Mark Symond, CEO of Plexus Systems post his views about SAP joining the Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery model.

"I am thrilled to have SAP enter the on-demand ERP market. If executives at mid-size companies had any lingering doubt about the viability of ERP on-demand, SAP's scurry into the market should put that to rest. The behemoth is slowly awaking to see that the train has not only already left the station, but it is around the bend and has already picked up a lot of passengers."

In Search Of Simplicity, Ease of Use

The blogosphere continues to reverberate with news of the recent SAP event introducing SAP Business ByDesign on demand solution for the mid sized enterprise.

For instance, this blog out of the UK summarizes a Forester analyst who makes this observation about the global software giant SAP. The analyst concluded “simplicity and ease of use still remain elusive to the vendor.”

We at Plexus Online couldn’t agree more!

The stakes are just too high for small and medium sized manufacturers, in particular, to move to a web-hosted ERP solution from a legacy technology provider known for its overly complex and unwieldy solutions.

Plexus Online users are very demanding about usability, functionality, vertical industry focus, and integration. Plexus Online is designed to support an organization’s key business processes and manage its most critical manufacturing business and operations information, from the “top floor to the shop floor” as we at Plexus Online like to say. Let’s face it; if a user interface is too complex for a shop floor operator to use, the entire effectiveness of a manufacturing technology solution is in question.

Another blogger, David Terrar of Business Two Zero, puts it this way about the SAP Business ByDesign user interface. He observes, "it looked to me like they have missed a big opportunity to simplify the user interface,"

Kors Engineering Pilots Plexus Machine Integration System at Shape Corp.

Kors Engineering, a Waterford Michigan based control system integrator, has successfully deployed a pilot system to integrate machines at Shape Corp. with Plexus Online. Shape Corp. chose Plexus Online as their business information system provider in 2006. Early in 2007, Shape contacted Kors Engineering seeking a means of integrating their plant floor equipment with Plexus in real-time. Based on previous experience integrating factory floor PLCs, Kors was able to create a modular system that provided all the tools needed to perform the interaction between the two systems.

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Jerry Foster: Plexus Systems: Plan Cache Analysis in SQL Server 2005

Here is a bloggers review of the presentation Jerry did today at the PASS Summit 2007.

In contrast to the Dell presenter, Jerry lit up the room as soon as he got started. This guy was born to teach. This was the first SQL seminar I’ve seen where people burst into spontaneous applause during one of his demos, even before he got to a conclusion.

Jerry and the crew at Plexus Online built a slick system to interpret the dynamic management views for the query plan cache. In a nutshell, his queries make it easy to see where load is coming from down to the batch and statement level, all without running a resource-expensive trace on the production servers.

About five minutes into the session, I knew I wouldn’t bother taking notes because I’d print out the slides and pore over them anyway. I downloaded his code the minute he put the URL up on the projector, and I’m going to spend a week going through it. He didn’t give out the source code for his front end, and I’m torn between building my own in classic ASP (miserable language, but I know it well enough to be dangerous) versus SSRS 2008 (which I don’t know at all, but might do well to learn.)

I’m not even going to try to touch base on everything Jerry discussed. Hard-core database engine DBAs owe it to themselves to go get his samples and pore over them.

I got chuckles out of some of the audience members’ questions, though. One of them started picking out differences between memory allocations on 32-bit versus 64-bit servers, trying to find out how much memory over 4gb his 32-bit servers could use for the plan cache. Hey, buddy, if you have to ask that question, then you need to upgrade to 64-bit. And if your database server isn’t capable of upgrading to 64-bit SQL, but you’re sitting in a seminar about caching, then you’ve got your priorities all wrong.

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Plexus Online vs. SAP Business ByDesign

Plexus Systems has been providing on-demand ERP and MES solutions for manufacturers since 2001. SAP announced limited availability of a solution, originally code-named A1S and formally known as Business ByDesign

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SAP Unwraps A1S, Revealing New Mid-Market On-Demand Product Called Business ByDesign

At a press conference today in New York City, SAP officials spoke broadly about the new product's impact on the company and the market, which already is home to on-demand enterprise application offerings from such vendors as salesforce.com, Plexus Systems, and Glovia, to name a few.

"This is a new era for SAP," said Henning Kagermann, chairman and chief executive of the Walldorf, Germany-based company. "This is the most important announcement I've made in my career to date."

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SAP Business By Design: Setting the Record Straight

Near the very beginning of today’s press conference introducing SAP Business By Design on demand solution for the mid sized enterprise, Peter Zencke, Member of the Executive Board, German-based SAP AG, made an interesting comment. “In terms of the Service Consumption aspect of our new on demand product; nobody has done this so far.”

Plexus Online is uniquely positioned to set the record straight.

The fact that SAP is finally entering the middle market with an on-demand software solution based on a SaaS model truly validates what Plexus Systems has been successfully doing for over a decade -- offering manufacturers an on-demand technology system that integrates Quality Management, ERP/MRP functionality and Inventory Tracking, with a high level of system integration.

We here at Plexus Online serve as a reality check to this mornings proceedings.

Plexus Systems has been recognized as the next generation of software pioneers, who are filling out the menu of Software as a Service applications across critical manufacturing business operations. With over 30,000 daily transactions and a 100% solutions satisfaction rate, Plexus Systems has been applying the software development and delivery model for enterprise-class technology for hundreds of global manufacturers -- specifically designed for automotive, medical device, and aerospace/defense.

Lean Marketing: No Muda!: Legacy Software Vendors (SAP, Oracle, etc.) and Their On-demand Problem

Lean Marketing: No Muda!: Legacy Software Vendors (SAP, Oracle, etc.) and Their On-demand Problem

Plexus Systems Ranks in Top Third of the 2007 Inc. 5,000

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., September 6, 2007 -- Plexus Systems, Inc., providers of Plexus Online on-demand software for the manufacturing enterprise, today announced it has been named to the 2007 Inc. 5,000 list of the fastest-growing companies in America. Plexus Systems, Inc. is ranked at number 1581 with three-year sales growth of 226%.
This is the first-ever Inc. 5,000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the country. The list measures revenue growth from 2003 through 2006. To qualify, companies had to be U.S.-based and privately held. Taken as a whole, these companies represent the backbone of the U.S. economy. Complete information on this year’s Inc. 5,000 can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.

"This ranking by Inc. magazine is a testament to Plexus Systems’ innovative technology offerings" said Mark Symonds, Plexus CEO. "We’ve seen wide acceptance by the manufacturing sector of Plexus Online. Our customer base uses the technology to manage their entire operations, and enjoy the benefits of both our full-featured software system, and the on-demand delivery model. As they improve their business and manufacturing operations, other companies in their industries – automotive, aerospace and defense, and medical device manufacturing, to name a few – are looking closely at how they achieved their success, and as a result the interest in Plexus Online has skyrocketed."

"The Inc. 5,000 provides the most comprehensive look ever at the most important part of the economy – the entrepreneurial part," said Inc. 5,000 Project Manager Jim Melloan. "The expansion of the list has allowed us to tell the stories of larger companies, older companies, and a wealth of privately-held companies that are underreported in the business media."
The Midwest region leads the list of the fastest-growing companies in the nation. Michigan-based Plexus Systems recorded revenue of approximately $22 million for the calendar year 2006. The growth was driven by continued acceptance of the on-demand service model offered by Plexus, and a 100 percent retention rate among its existing customers. Plexus won new business in 2006 with companies headquartered in North America, Asia, and Europe.

Plexus Online is an on-demand solution, building on the "software as a service" model. Plexus Online offers over 350 functional modules, providing companies instant access to vital information and management functions using a simple web browser. The on-demand solution features enterprise resource planning (ERP) functions such as accounting and finance modules, customer relationship management (CRM) features such as order entry and tracking, manufacturing execution systems (MES) functions such as production scheduling and machine integration, and supply chain management (SCM) functions such as supplier quality and traceability.

About Inc.com:
Inc.com, the Daily Resource for Entrepreneurs, delivers advice, tools, breaking news, and rich multi-media to help business owners and CEOs start, run, and grow their businesses more successfully. Information and advice covering virtually every business and management task, including marketing, sales, finding capital, managing people can be found at http://http://www.inc.com/.
About Plexus Systems
Since 1995, Plexus Systems, Inc. (Auburn Hills, Mich.) has maintained a singular vision -- to drive significant cost, quality and productivity improvements for manufacturers, from the shop floor to the top floor. Plexus Online™ is a true on-demand manufacturing performance system, delivering a powerful, real-time interface to integrate and manage the total manufacturing enterprise. Plexus Systems originated internally at a manufacturing company, and was designed to resolve quality challenges, including production, distribution and global supply chains management issues. Today, Plexus Online also enables businesses to manage accounting, financials, compliance and human resources and other top priorities. Plexus Systems serves a cross section of manufacturing industries (OEM and suppliers), particularly automotive, defense, medical device and aerospace companies headquartered in the Americas, Asia, and Europe.

Plexus Systems has partnered with Apax Partners (www.apax.com), one of the world's leading global private equity groups, to drive global expansion and further strengthen the company's products, services and market position. Apax Partners operates across the US, Europe and Asia and has more than $20 billion in funds under management and advice. In 2006, funds advised by Apax made a strategic investment in Plexus Systems, joining the founding investment group as stakeholders in Plexus. Visit www.plex.com for more information.

Plexus Systems Named 2007 Technology Company of the Year

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., September 17, 2007 -- Plexus Systems, Inc., providers of Plexus Online on-demand software for the manufacturing enterprise, today announced the company has been named the 2007 Technology Company of the Year by Automation Alley.

The award was presented to Plexus CEO Mark Symonds during the 7th Annual Awards Gala held Friday evening at the Rock Financial Center in Novi.

“Southeast Michigan is rich in technical talent and manufacturing expertise, which are the key ingredients to Plexus Systems’ success. We thank Automation Alley for linking Michigan’s business communities and advocating this region,” said Symonds.

This is the second consecutive award given to Plexus Systems by Automation Alley. In 2006, the non-profit economic development organization honored Plexus Systems by naming the company the Emerging Technology Company of the 2006. No company has progressed from "Emerging Company of the Year" to "Technology Company of the Year" in Automation Alley's history.

Plexus Online is an on-demand solution, building on the “software as a service” model pioneered by Salesforce.com and NetSuite. Plexus Online offers over 350 functional modules, providing companies instant access to vital information and management functions using a simple web browser The on-demand solution features enterprise resource planning (ERP) functions -- such as accounting and finance modules, customer relationship management (CRM) features -- such as order entry and tracking, manufacturing execution systems (MES) function -- such as production scheduling and machine integration, and supply chain management (SCM) functions -- such as supplier quality and traceability.

About Automation Alley
Automation Alley is a technology business association driving the growth and image of Southeast Michigan’s economy through a collaborative culture that focuses on workforce and business development initiatives. Since its founding in 1999, Automation Alley has expanded to include more than 800 businesses, educational institutions and government entities, covering an eight county area and the City of Detroit. Automation Alley promotes regional prosperity through business attraction services, exporting assistance, workforce development and technology acceleration.

About Plexus Systems
Since 1995, Plexus Systems, Inc. (Auburn Hills, Mich.) has maintained a singular vision -- to drive significant cost, quality and productivity improvements for manufacturers, from the shop floor to the top floor. Plexus Online™ is an on-demand software for the manufacturing enterprise, delivering a powerful, real-time interface. Plexus Systems originated internally at a manufacturing company, and was designed to resolve quality challenges, including production, distribution and global supply chains management issues. Today, Plexus Online also enables businesses to manage accounting, financials, compliance and human resources and other top priorities. Plexus Systems serves a cross section of manufacturing industries (OEM and suppliers), particularly automotive, defense, medical device and aerospace companies headquartered in the Americas, Asia, and Europe.

Plexus Systems has partnered with Apax Partners (www.apax.com), one of the world's leading global private equity groups, to drive global expansion and further strengthen the company's products, services and market position. Apax Partners operates across the US, Europe and Asia and has more than $20 billion in funds under management and advice. In 2006, funds advised by Apax made a strategic investment in Plexus Systems, joining the founding investment group as stakeholders in Plexus. Visit www.plex.com for more information.

Plexus Online - ERP without Software: Is SaaS Really a Threat to IT Departments?

Check out the above link to read Mark Symonds, CEO of Plexus Systems latest blog entry!

Awards and certifications from September 6

Plexus gets Inc. 5,000: Auburn Hills-based Plexus Systems, Inc., providers of the Plexus Online on-demand manufacturing management software, Thursday announced it has been named to the 2007 Inc. 5,000 list of the fastest-growing companies in America. Plexus is ranked at No. 1,581 with three-year sales growth of 226 percent from 2003-06.

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Building Quality through Part Traceability

To address this challenge, ByTec adopted Plexus Online, an on-demand information system for manufacturing companies that includes a manufacturing execution system to manage the part serialization, direct part marking, component tracking and control, quality management, statistical process control (SPC)/measurement data tracking, part traceability

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Plexus Systems to Showcase Demonstrating Shop Floor Top Floor Integration

The seminar will feature a case study of an integration project tying together plant floor and facility operations using the on-demand manufacturing software Plexus Online. Presenters include Plexus Systems CEO Mark Symonds, Ralco Industries President Jim Piper and Kors Engineering President Tony Kaczmarek. Attendees will have the opportunity...

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Plexus Online - ERP - MES - SCM

Plexus Online Executive Mark Symonds Joins the Blogging World

No better opportunity exists to engage in an open dialogue and exchange of ideas with customers and potential customers. Mark Symonds CEO, Plexus Systems, Inc. recognizes and embraces the blog idea.

If you’re interested in reading more about Mark’s thoughts and ideas his blog can be found at: http://plexusonline.blogspot.com/

Check out a Recent Post:
Big Switch is Well Under Way
Is it On-Demand or Just Outsourced?

From Mark’s About Me: I am very pleased to be CEO of Plexus Systems. I have always been focused on how technology can add value to businesses. At Plexus we live that mantra every day. We never develop software for technology's sake. I started my career with Arthur Andersen (the part that is now Accenture) in Boston. I have led and been part of business technology companies my entire career with a focus on manufacturers and distributors in various vertical industries. I've always loved the fast pace of innovation in the technology business and i am thrilled to be part of a discontinuous disruption.

Enjoy his blog!

SaaS for the Manufacturing Industry

The SaaS "software delivery service" has so many potential business advantages that on-demand applications are appearing across the manufacturing business model, coming from companies like Plexus Systems, Inc., providers of Plexus Online on-demand software for the manufacturing enterprise.

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Technology and Solutions Breakfast Series: Shop Floor to Top Floor

Contact: Automation Alley Resource Center
Ph: (800) 427-5100
Date(s): 09/06/2007
Time: 7:00 a.m. Location: Automation Alley Headquarters

Shop Floor to Top Floor: Learn how you can better understand and measure your business operations by integration of plant floor and facility operations. Manage your process, your usage, and your waste by implementing an open architecture, non-proprietary solution that provides you with independence from proprietary systems and suppliers, and elect

Presenters will be: Mark Symonds, CEO, Plexus Systems
Tony Kaczmarek, President, Kors Engineering
Jim Piper, President, Ralco
Date: Thursday, September 6, 2007

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Jerry Foster 2007 Software Idol Finalist!

A great big THANKS goes out to all of you who took the time to cast your vote for Jerry Foster of Plexus Systems, Inc.!

Jerry has made it to the next round of Software Idol 2007 this honor will provide him with 11 minutes to speak about Development on the Wild Side at the conference in San Jose October 29th-30th, 2007

They have had such a strong set of video submissions that they will be having five slots of eleven minutes each. The audience, will vote for the winner of Software Idol 2007 at the conference. Jerry will be competing for the 2007 Software Idol title against:

Geoff Perlman, founder and CEO of Real Software, on how to avoid long shipping cycles.

Bob Walsh, managing partner of 47hats.com, MicroISV owner and author of two books, speaking about blogging.

Jeff Gordon, author of the Software Licensing Handbook, speaking about the 5 fundamental skills of negotiation

Steve Johnson, of Pragmatic Marketing on why software companies are run as the hobbies of developers