PowerPlex 2018 Recap

May 18th, 2018 by jdelozier

This year’s PowerPlex user conference was an awesome event and a tremendous success for everyone that attended and took part in the valuable exchanges throughout the week in Detroit.  More than 1,000 great minds in manufacturing came together to share our collective experience and expertise in meeting industry challenges and leveraging innovative applications for the continued success of our organizations. Thank you to everyone that took time to stop by the Cumulus booth this week. We really enjoyed meeting everyone and learning about what you are up to with Plex in your organizations.

We demonstrated our PLC integration solutions with a simple but powerful Ignition-designed HMI that replaces the Plex control panel and automates the recording of production and workcenter status.

The Hot customer topics this year were PLC Integration, B2B Integration, Mobile Applications, and our new WYSIWYG Label Designer for Plex.

In addition to speaking with lots of Plex customers in our booth, Cumulus was honored to host the Device Integration Showcase & Panel Discussion with Craig Scott and Mike Medwith on Tuesday afternoon. It was a great turnout and there was a lot of great discussion around the topic of IOT and device integration.

Cumulus was also honored to be featured during the Innovation in Manufacturing Keynote with Jerry Foster, as Craig Scott introduced the Cumulus WYSIWYG Label Designer for Plex using the Cumulus Web Chrome Browser Extension.

Mike Medwith, Cumulus Director of Development, rounded out the week on Thursday morning as a panelist on the Software Integration Panel Discussion. Overall it was a tremendous week for the Cumulus Team!

2018 Plex Impact Award winners include:

Transformer: Motus Integrated Technologies
Motus Integrated Technologies uses the Plex Manufacturing Cloud in all seven of its state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities to deliver headliners and visors to the world’s largest automotive OEMs. Motus is regularly recognized for innovative technology, pioneering industry-first, glass-free headliners and LED-illuminated sun visors. With Plex as its system of record, Motus has integrated production processes with business operations and financial reporting – transforming the entire business. Scrap rates have decreased, quality has improved, and the supply chain is now connected directly through Plex’s EDI and supplier portal for greater efficiency. Last year, Motus received its first supplier award from General Motors, which recognizes global suppliers who create outstanding value and deliver new innovations.

Innovator: Plymouth Foam
Plymouth Foam makes particle foam in everything from coolers for food and beverage manufacturers to custom sound dampening applications for automotive OEMs and insulation for the construction industries. Plymouth employs rapid prototyping in its two facilities, using 3D modeling and in-house CNS equipment to develop new product. Most recently, Plymouth’s innovative approach led to the debut of a product that combines lightweight air foam technology with a rugged exterior. Appropriate for a number of applications, the new foam has reduced the weight of automotive seat assemblies by as much as 15 pounds.

Industry Leaders: Argent and Catallia Mexican Foods
Argent is a 3M Preferred Converter specializing in the fabrication and distribution of unique adhesive and die-cut solutions, making more than 20 million individual parts per month with 350 unique part numbers and unlimited part configurations for various industry markets. Argent leverages Plex in three facilities to fuel its open book management approach. This leadership style opens the company’s financial and business data with all employees, encouraging them to think and act like owners. Using the real time business information Plex provides, the company has been able to embrace a Zero Defect and 5S initiative, expand into Mexico, and meet aggressive growth goals.

Catallia Mexican Foods makes more than 2 million tortillas and tortilla chips every day for foodservice, retail, and industrial customers, including McDonald’s. Tortilla production is a high growth and competitive market, and Catallia needed a technology solution that would unify their siloed legacy business systems and scale with the company. Using Plex, Catallia gained greater visibility into its plant floor operations, from inventory to paper records. This has allowed them to fully embrace plant automation, streamline customer orders through EDI and exceed the highest food safety quality standards.

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners! Cumulus would like to thank all of our customers for their continued interest in our products and services. We are excited to share our solutions with the entire Plex community and will keep on cranking out innovative solutions to our customer’s biggest challenges.