Plex A&O + APM

MES Automation & Orchestration – Asset Performance Management (APM)

Plex Automation and Orchestration (A&O) is a powerful extension of the Plex MES platform that helps manufacturers streamline and automate plant floor processes. It’s designed to eliminate manual tasks, reduce errors, and improve operational efficiency by connecting machines, systems, and people in real time.

At Cumulus Consulting, we have a dedicated team of experts that specialize in Plex Automation & Orchestration (A&O).
With hands-on experience across hundreds of manufacturing environments, our subject matter experts are equipped to design and implement tailored A&O solutions that align precisely with your organization’s operational needs.

Plex A&O streamlines manufacturing operations by automating repetitive tasks such as updating machine or workcenter statuses, entering production and scrap counts, and executing work orders. This automation reduces human error and frees operators to focus on higher-value activities. By enabling real-time data flow between machines and systems, Plex A&O provides instant visibility into production metrics, supports faster and more confident decision-making, and eliminates the need for paper-based tracking. It also orchestrates complex workflows, ensuring that the right data reaches the right place at the right time, production flows remain optimized, and downtime is minimized. With these capabilities, manufacturers gain greater control over production variability, improve scheduling accuracy, and increase throughput and equipment utilization.

Plex Production Monitoring (PM) complements these capabilities as a fast-to-deploy solution that delivers immediate value. It offers real-time visibility into key production metrics—such as counts, scrap, and downtime—and can be implemented as a stand-alone system independent of the full Plex MES suite, enabling quicker rollouts and rapid results without a full system overhaul. Real-time production counts are automatically tracked at each workcenter, integrating with machines and operators to capture data without manual input, while providing insight into throughput and performance trends across shifts or lines. Scrap tracking records events as they occur, including reasons and quantities, and supports root cause analysis by linking issues to specific machines, operators, or materials—ultimately reducing waste. Downtime monitoring captures both planned and unplanned downtime in real time, categorizes reasons such as maintenance, material shortages, or changeovers, and helps improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) by reducing unplanned stops.

The system works by connecting machines and sensors directly to Plex, utilizing operator interfaces like touchscreen terminals for quick event logging, and delivering dashboards and alerts to supervisors and managers for immediate action. The benefits are significant: improved accuracy by removing the reliance on manual logs or spreadsheets, faster responses to issues as they arise, and better decision-making driven by real-time data to optimize scheduling, staffing, and maintenance.

In addition to training, configuring and implementing these solutions Cumulus will also help you find the proper hardware equipment and sensors necessary to meet your shop floor goals. This allows us to give our clients a full suite solution form software to implementation and hardware.