Rockwell Automation will be showcasing its Plex cloud-based manufacturing platform at this year’s Australian Manufacturing Week (AMW) in Melbourne from May 6-9. Demonstrations will be held at stand MS210 (Manufacturing Solutions Zone).

Plex Manufacturing Execution System (MES), integrated with Rockwell’s suite, offers comprehensive manufacturing software, providing real-time production management, enhancing compliance, quality, and efficiency.

“Plex is a cloud-based platform, that enables future-focussed manufacturers to achieve real-time integration, high levels of availability and flexibility, cybersecurity, and scalability,” says Anthony Wong, vice president, enterprise software sales, Asia Pacific, Rockwell Automation

Plex has been used by Australian and New Zealand companies to enhance operational efficiency, with examples including:

• STM Brands, a manufacturer of high-quality, award-winning accessories for tablets, laptops, and phones with a worldwide retail presence and offices in Sydney, San Diego, London, and Kuala Lumpur. As air freight costs began to rise, STM Brands realised its  supply chain and spreadsheet-based planning was not accurately keeping up with demand volatility, and this was eating into the company’s margins.

After implementing Plex, STM Brands increased gross profit margin by 5%, improved operating margin by 20%, reduced costly air freight by 50%, and decreased overall freight to sales ratio by 25% year-over-year. Importantly, Plex’s Supply Chain Planning (SCP) integrated into STM’s existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, allowing for seamless data transfer.

• Tasti Products Limited, New Zealand, a snack bar and wholefood ball manufacturer. Recognising their legacy ERP system could no longer support an expanding business, Tasti Products searched for a smart manufacturing solution that would allow the company to scale in size and improve the speed in which business analytics could be performed. Tasti sought a manufacturing solution that was cloud-based and could help drive its end-to-end digital transformation.

With the ability to offer world-class food safety and its established presence in the food and beverage industry, Plex provides Tasti Products with a connected plant floor, digital product tracking capabilities, and real-time data to support the company as it continues to grow.

• Miraka, New Zealand, a Māori owned dairy company and the world’s first dairy processor to be powered by renewable geothermal energy. Miraka is using Plex to enhance the company’s business and operations with a business-wide ERP system.

In real time, Plex seamlessly integrates and manages all of Miraka’s transactions and systems from the farm, to factory, to customer. It will help make the dairy processor more efficient, resilient, agile and, sustainable. Plex is also a modular system, so it can grow and adapt as needs change in the future, allowing companies like Miraka to remain agile and stay ahead of the competition.

Visit the Plex stand to learn more and see a demonstration.

“Being cloud-based makes it easier to keep software like Plex updated. New functionality is regularly being added, and because it’s a modular system, it doesn’t take everything else offline to perform an update,” said Wong.