Five Proven Principles from Successful IT LeadersConnect with Your Success in the Manufacturing Cloud

2 | 5 Reasons Successful CIOs Are Connected in the Manufacturing Cloud

What’s the secret sauce of a successful IT leader? Technical know-how is one of the ingredients but that’s just the beginning. Truly successful leaders see that IT is more than infrastructure and that cloud is more than a software delivery model. Let’s look at five proven principles from IT leaders who have found success in the manufacturing cloud, leading their organizations, advancing their careers, and redefining the role of information officer.

Principle #1Focus on Business Initiatives

Successful IT leaders have upended the status quo. Rather than trying to fix disconnected ERP systems, they have moved to the cloud where they can focus on business initiatives, delivering value instead of dealing with:

Different versions of software

Disruptive or disabling system upgrades

Hardware infrastructure

High energy costs

A break/fix model of IT personnel deployment

3 | 5 Reasons Successful CIOs Are Connected in the Manufacturing Cloud

Manufacturers view the cloud as central to their ability to compete. Forty percent of survey participants draw a direct correlation between cloud technologies and their ability to innovate during the next five years. Additionally, 77 percent expect to increase plant or enterprise integration and 73 percent plan to enhance quality programs as a result of cloud technologies.

Source: State of Manufacturing Technology Survey, 2014

According to participants in the Computerworld Forecast Survey, the top five priorities for business in the next 12 months are:

53% Contain Costs

47% Optimize and automate business processes

44% Optimize existing investments

38% Accelerate business agility

35% Grow revenue

“The Plex solution itself supports our profitability through lower TCO than an on-premise solution. We don’t spend money on hardware, patching, security or other associated infrastructure, maintenance and personnel.”

Molly Hunting, Director of IT, Shape Corp.

4 | 5 Reasons Successful CIOs Are Connected in the Manufacturing Cloud

Principle #2 Drive Operational Rigor

Successful IT leaders have changed their behavior. Instead of acting as keepers of on-site infrastructure, they are drivers of operational rigor, using cloud technology as a platform to eliminate sloppy processes and support efficiency.

Cost is no longer the chief driver of manufacturing: quality, speed and innovation are the new keys to competitiveness. As organizational owners of the cloud, IT leaders make it possible to glean operational insights, foster innovation and dramatically improve efficiencies throughout the supply chain, from sourcing to manufacturing to customer delivery.

Manufacturers view the cloud as central to their ability to compete. Forty percent of survey participants draw a direct correlation between cloud technologies and their ability to innovate during the next five

years.

Source: State of Manufacturing Technology Survey, 2014

77% Increase plant or enterprise integration

74% Enhance quality programs

53% Increase third-party connectivity

41% Increase production innovation

26%

15%

4%

Expand into new business segments

Expand into new geographical markets

None of the above

IT Budget Check Top 6 Areas of Reduced IT Spending

The manufacturing sector is migrating to the cloud. If your budget is built around these six areas, it’s quite possible your budget may be cut.

“Essentially it (Plex) gave us one system with all the manufacturing processes we needed, fully integrated, so that we could undertake wholesale change across our organization, without having to buy add-ons or make huge customizations.”

Matt Shamblin, Technical Services Manager, Caltherm

Source: Computerworld Forecast Survey, May/June 2014

Hardware

Legacy systems modernization/replacement

Data center consolidation/optimization

Software, on-premises

Unified communications

Storage

5 | 5 Reasons Successful CIOs Are Connected in the Manufacturing Cloud

6 | 5 Reasons Successful CIOs Are Connected in the Manufacturing Cloud

Principle #3Leverage Big Data

Successful IT leaders are taking the initiative, moving to a cloud platform where data is not merely collected but communicated, shared and acted upon. The intersection of the cloud and the Internet of Making Things opens the door to a new source of intelligence for manufacturers.

Most manufacturers use operational analytics to manage their business and monitor cost and efficiency. But data ubiquity only matters if it is easily accessible and updated. By connecting devices, smart phones, tablets, even Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) to the cloud, machines can talk to the company’s information system and provide access to real-time information about its operations through any browser, across a shop floor or a facility, and even across a global organization.

Careers Are Being Built on Big Data

CIOs ownership of business analytics doubled in one year.

2012 2013

Source: Prashast Gupta CEB Information Technology Blog October 2014

30%15%

7 | 5 Reasons Successful CIOs Are Connected in the Manufacturing Cloud

7 Steps to Transform Big Data into Useful Data

“The possibilities of data on the shop floor are endless. … Data that rapidly reveals a problematic process empowers manufacturers to respond faster. As a result, new insights will enable companies to be more predictable in everything that we do.”

Paul Wright, Director of IT, Accuride

Optimize the whole with visibility into every part of the business

Optimize

Connect every part of the business to a single system

Monitor real-time data

Run analytics from a single source

Predict based on singular model of past events

Inform and make informed decisions

8 | 5 Reasons Successful CIOs Are Connected in the Manufacturing Cloud

Principle #4 Enable Plant Floor Workers as Knowledge Workers

Successful IT leaders understand that cloud technology is a platform for insight into operational capabilities and financial status. But even the best platform and the right ERP software cannot assure success if plant floor workers resist using the system.

Successful manufacturing IT deployment begins with a testing and training plan to mitigate risk, make the cutover seamless and to protect production integrity. An added benefit of the testing phase is that workers engage with the process, get rid of old habits and become knowledge workers who interact with computer screens instead of paper processes.

IT leaders are no longer “geeks” or “gear heads” who deploy IT infrastructure. They are knowledge enablers, making it possible for factory workers to access data to support their hunches on how to improve certain processes. Knowledge is power and with power comes the autonomy to actually improve a process, motivating staff and bringing tremendous value to the organization.

“If any future customers of Plex are concerned about how their workforce will take to the Plex Manufacturing Cloud I would tell them not to worry. Because most of our manufacturing processes were paper based, very few of our people were proficient IT users. We put in place intensive training, even on how to use a mouse, and within a matter of weeks all of our shop floor personnel were using Plex very well indeed.”

Wally Cain, IT Director, FloraCraft

9 | 5 Reasons Successful CIOs Are Connected in the Manufacturing Cloud

Principle #5Look at What’s Next

The manufacturing sector is migrating to the cloud. This transition is accelerating as companies replace legacy systems that have become too complex or expensive to maintain. Successful IT leaders are turning to cloud ERP as a secure, reliable and high-performing platform that offers global access in a highly distributed economy.

The future is already here. You can be the person behind the platform who connects all aspects of production, enables manufacturers to see and act on live data and shop floor transactions, incorporates people, machines and materials to control, manage and continuously improve manufacturing activity.

Is your ERP system helping you focus on what’s next or are you in the business of supporting your ERP?

66% of survey respondents say that cloud technologies have already improved insights into its business

31% say they are currently evaluating big data needs and opportunities or plans to explore this area in the coming year

35% say that data analysis is the most important skill set for the next generation of employees

Source: State of Manufacturing Technology Survey, 2014

“Plex gives me a platform to work with all departments. It eliminates the time spent in maintaining equipment and worrying about backups, which frees me up and allows me to help our teams add more value.”

Kevin Jablonski, Director of Information & Communication Systems, Sanders Fine Chocolates

10 | 5 Reasons Successful CIOs Are Connected in the Manufacturing Cloud

ABOUT PLEX

Plex is the Manufacturing Cloud, delivering industry-leading ERP and manufacturing

automation to more than 400 companies across process and discrete industries. Plex

pioneered Cloud solutions for the shop floor, connecting suppliers, machines, people,

systems and customers with capabilities that are easy to configure, deliver continu-

ous innovation and reduce IT costs. With insight that starts on the production line,

Plex helps companies see and understand every aspect of their business ecosys-

tems, enabling them to lead in an ever-changing market.

2 More Reasons Successful IT Leaders are Connected in the Manufacturing Cloud

Plex delivers 99.985% uptime. That translates to about one-and-one-half minutes per week, on average, that the system is unavailable

Cloud users spend an average of 16.3% less as a percentage of revenue on IT operations and 18.5% less per user, compared to traditional on-site IT operations

Stop fixing broken, disconnected ERP. Start leading in the connected manufacturing cloud. Learn more about IT leaders in the Plex Manufacturing Cloud.

Molly Hunting, Director of IT, Shape Corp.http://www.plex.com/customers/shape-corp.html

Matt Shamblin, Technical Services Manager, Caltherm http://www.plex.com/customers/caltherm-cloud-erp-software-system.html

Kevin Jablonski, Director of Information & Communications Systems, Sandershttp://www.plex.com/customers/sanders.html

Wally Cain, IT Director, FloraCrafthttp://www.plex.com/content/dam/plex/en_us/resources/case-study/floracraft.pdf

Paul Wright, Director of IT, Accuride Corporation

WWW.PLEX.COM | 855.534.8012