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www.plex.com | 855-534-8012

Cloud ERP for Manufacturers

Plex Online

White Paper ThispaperdescribesthePlexOnlineimplementation

andtrainingprocess,aprocessperfectedoverhundreds

ofsuccesses.

PlexOnlinesfour-phasetrainingtakesplaceinstages:piloting,

testing,systemsenhancements,andgo-live.

Targeted,ecientjust-in-timetrainingdrives98percent

customersatisfactioninPlexOnlineimplementations

32percentbetterthanindustryaverage.

At a Glance

Implementing Plex Online:

Pilot Part Methodology and Just-in-Time Training

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Plex OnlineWhite Paper | page 2

www.plex.com | 855-534-8012

Freed from the Chains of Typical ImplementationsAquicksearchonlineofsystemsimplementationsbringsupamultitudeofarticles

andwhitepaperscontainingdescriptionsofpastimplementations,usingwordssuch

ashorror,cringe,nightmare.Thelistgoeson.

Whatifyournextsystemimplementationdidnthavetobelikethat?Whatifitcould

bedoneinlessthanhalfthetimeoftypicalimplementationsandwiththevast

majorityofemployeesremainingonthejobduringtrainingandimplementation?

Whatifyourbusinessandyouremployeesneverhadtogothroughanothersoftware

versionupgradeanditsrelatedtrainingagain?Whatifyourbusinesscouldcarryon

asusual,withoutinterruptions,duringimplementation?

Thats what an implementation of Plex Online is like

Morethan98percentofPlexOnlinecustomersreportsatisfactionwiththeir

implementationofPlexOnline.Whenyoucomparethoseresultswiththeindustry

averageofonly66percentofsatisedcustomers,asnotedinTheChaosReport,

theeectivenessofPlexOnlinesimplementation

processisclear.

BeforeunderstandinghowtoimplementPlexOnline

inyourcompanysenvironment,itsimportantto

comprehendhowdierentthissystemisfromanyother

youmayhaveimplementedbefore.

Thebestwaytounderstandhowitisdierentfrom

traditionalclient-serversoftwareistohighlightwhat

PlexOnlineisnot.

What Plex Online Is NotPlexOnline:

Isnotstatic.

DoesnotcomepackagedinaCDthatyoudownloadontoyoursystem.

Doesnotrunoofarackofserversatyoursite.

Doesnotrequireabusloadofconsultantstocustomizethesoftwareforyourbusinessorreworkyourbusinesstomatchthesoftware.

Willnotrequireyourstatobelockedinconferenceroomsforlengthytrainingsessions.

Willneverneedupdatingornewversionupdates.

More than 98 percent of

Plex Online customers

report satisfaction with their

implementations vs. a 66

percent industry average.

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Plex OnlineWhite Paper | page 3

www.plex.com | 855-534-8012

On-Demand, SaaS ModelPlexOnlineisanon-demandSoftwareasaService(SaaS)system.Thismeansyou

accessthesoftwareusingaWebbrowserovertheInternetfromanywhereatany

time.Thatstheon-demandpart.PlexSystemsisconstantlyimprovingandupdatingitssoftware;upgradesandnewfeaturesareaddedcontinuously.

BecausePlexOnlineissetupthiswaywithonlyoneinstanceofthesoftware

runningandsupportingmanyusersitcanbeconstantlyupdatedandchangescan

bemadeavailableautomaticallytoeveryone.MuchlikeusersofGoogleorEBay,all

customersusethesame,singleversionofthesoftware,whichhastechnologyto

guaranteeprivacyandsecurity.Thesharingofhardware,infrastructureandsoftware

reducescomplexity,simpliesmaintenance,lowerscosts,andenablesupgradesto

bedevelopedandimplementedrapidly.

Onthehardwareside,PlexSystemsprovidesservers,operatingsystems,database,

backupequipment,andcomplexprogrammingresourcesandenvironment.This

allowsyoutofocusonrunningyourbusinessratherthanonrunningcomputers.

Data Entry EaseDataentryisoneofcustomersmainconcernsastheycontemplateimplementation.

Theirrstquestioniswhetherdatamustbemanuallyentered.Theanswerisyes,

forseveralreasons.First,thecodeforPlexOnlinewaswrittendirectlytotheWeb

andisconsequentlyverydierentfromtraditionalapplications.Also,because

thesystemisexible,customerscanrenameandnumberpartsinawaythatis

moreintuitiveforhumansandnotablurofalphanumericcharactersthatlook

likecomputercode.Nowitispossibletouseanindustry-standardlexiconto

enterrawmaterialsandparts.

Notalldatamustbeenteredmanually,however.Manyuploadprogramsare

alreadybuiltintoPlexOnline.PlexSystemswillhelpyouidentifyandexecutea

data-entrystrategythatbestmeetsyourneeds.

Phased TrainingTypicallywhencompaniesimplementnewcomputersystems,theprocesscanbe

lengthyandwork-intensive.Itrequiresextra,non-productivestahoursoftraining.

NotsowithPlexOnline.

Implementationstartswithakick-omeeting,attendedbyPlexSystemsexperts

andyourteam.Atthekick-omeeting,trainingprioritiesaredeterminedandkey

objectivesaredened.WhilePlexSystemsprovidesthestructureforthesemeetings,

yourteamdrivestheagendaanddeterminesthetrainingandimplementation

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www.plex.com | 855-534-8012

priorities.Alsoduringthekick-o,theteamdenesthetasksanddatarequired

foreachfunctionandidentiesthecriteriafordeterminingtheattendeesforeach

function.Oncethesedecisionsaremade,thefour-phaseimplementationbegins.

Implementation Phase One: Conference Room PilotEstimatedtimerequired:threeweeksoftwo1.5-hourmeetingsperweek

Atthisstage,yourimplementationteamofprocessleadersandatleastone

representativefromeachfunctionworkswithPlexSystemsimplementationteam

toenteronecomponentorpartintothesystem.Thegroupmembersmovethis

partthroughthesystem,deningwhattheybelievearetheoptimumprocessesfor

handling.Thegoalatthisstageistodeterminetheoptimumprocesses.

Itisnoteworthythatonlyonepartisenteredatthisstage,andtheimplementation

teamwillcontinuetoworkonlywiththisonepartuntilwellintoimplementation.This

allowsfortestingandchangestobemadetothesoftwareandtheprocess.Ifmore

thanonepartisenteredatthisstage,changeswouldhavetobemadeonallofthe

partsentered.Focusingonjustonepartavoidsthatrework.

ConferenceRoomPilotmeetingsareshort,nomorethantwohours

each.Thenteammemberstaketheirlearningbacktotheirjobs,

discussthesoftwarefeaturesandprocesseswiththeircolleagues

andgetinputfromsta,customersandsuppliersonhowtobest

usethesystem.

Teammembersareaskedateachsubsequentmeetingtosharewhattheyhavelearnedfromdiscussionswithcoworkersandsuppliers,

andwhatnewideastheyhave,basedontheirexperienceswiththesystem.Software

andprocessesareadjustedaccordingly.

Oncetheimplementationteammembersaresatisedthattheyhavetheoptimum

system,itistimetostartreal-worldimplementation.

Implementation Phase Two: One-Part ParallelEstimatedtimerequired:twoweeks

Continuingtouseonlyonepart,theimplementationteambeginstotestthesoftwareandprocessesintheproductionenvironment.Thegoalnowistotestandvalidatethe

processesandgetinputonthesoftwarefeaturesfromsta,customersandsuppliers.

Adaptationstotheprocessesandsoftwarearethenmadeandcontinuetobetested.

Therestoftheoperationcontinuesrunningonthecompanyslegacysystem,keeping

reworktoaminimum.Inaddition,atthistime,recommendationsaremaderegarding

hardwarethatwilladdeciencyandfacilitatesmoothoperations,suchasbarcode

scanners,touch-screencomputers,printers,etc.

Plex Online allows

you to focus on

running your business

rather than on running

computers.

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www.plex.com | 855-534-8012

Implementation Phase Three: Multi-Part ParallelEstimatedtimerequired:twoweeks

Onceprocesseshavebeenvalidatedandsoftwarechangesarebeingne-tuned,

morepartsareaddedtothesystemandhardwareinstallationbegins.Testingandvalidationofsoftwareandbusinessprocessescontinues.

Departmentscontinuetrainingandemployeesbegininputtingdata

ontheirfunctionsandrelevantscreens.Theyareencouragedto

providefeedbackonallaspectsofthesystem;changescanstillbe

made.Anotherfocusatthisstageissystemoptimization,making

sureevenoddballcasesworkinthesystem.

Implementation Phase Four: Go-LiveEstimatedtimerequired:twoweeks

Atthisstage,allusersaretrainedandabletoaccessthesystem,the

majorityofthedatahasbeenentered,andhardwareisinplaceand

tested.Adjustmentscanbemadetothesystemandeveryoneinthe

companycanadjusttonewtasksandprocesses.

A Partnership in Planning

PlexSystemsstrongpartnershipswithitsmanufacturingclientsarebasedonits

abilitytoadapttomeeteachcompanysneeds.Thisstartsduringimplementation.

BothyourteamandthePlexSystemsteamtakefullownershipoftheimplementation

process.Yourteambringsadeepunderstandingofitsindustryandinternalbusiness

processes,whilethePlexSystemsteammembersbringbroadknowledgeofbest

practicesandadetailedknowledgeofPlexOnline.

Themostsuccessfulandseamlessimplementationsoccurwhenthemanufactureris

fullyengagedintheprocess.Perhapsthemostimportantthingyourteammembers

canprovideisaconsensusonhowtheyseetheirend-stateorganizationfunctioning.

Itiscriticalthatyourteamclearlydenesthetobeprocessesthatwillworkin

concertwithPlexOnlineonceitisupandrunning.

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Plex OnlineWhite Paper | page 6

About Plex Online

Plex Online, built on a Software as a Service (SaaS) Cloud model, offers more than 400 functions, providing

manufacturers instant access to vital information and management features using a simple Web browser. The

on-demand solution includes product lifecycle management (PLM) functions such as program and change

management; enterprise resource planning (ERP) functions such as accounting and nance programs; customerrelationship management (CRM) functions 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. For more information, see www.plex.com.

www.plex.com | 855-534-8012

Cloud ERP for Manufacturers

Approach to TrainingPlexSystemstakesajust-in-timeapproachtotraining.Trainingtakesplacewhen

employeesarereadytostartengagingdailywiththesystem.Forthecoreteam,that

isdayoneoftheConferenceRoomPilotphase,andforothersintheorganizationthatisduringphasestwoandthree.

HundredsofimplementationshavetaughtPlexSystemsthatthebestapproachto

trainingistoconductshorttrainingsessionsandthenhaveemployeesreturnto

work.Thisallowsthemtimetotryoutwhattheyhavelearnedanddevelopideasfor

processmodicationsandsystemoptimization.

Trainingstartsinameetingformat,thencontinueswithemployeesat

theirworkstationsbyteleconferenceandonline.Asemployeesbeginto

workwithPlexOnline,enteringdata,theybecomeincreasinglyfamiliar

withthesoftwaresfeaturesandbenets.

Onlinetrainingsessionsbyteleconferenceallowforexibilityin

schedulingandtheabilitytoimmediatelyaccessotherPlexOnline

experts.Thistypeoftrainingiseectivebecausethesoftwareitselfis

onlineeveryonecaninstantlyseetheresultsoftransactionsmadefrom

anywhereintheworld.

PlexSystemsapproachtotrainingislessonerousandformalthanwhatistypicalfor

newsystemimplementations.Noonepersoncangaindetailedknowledgeofevery

aspectofthePlexOnlinesystemsinceitincludes350functions.However,manyteam

memberscaneachdevelopextensiveunderstandingsofspecicfunctions.

Manyemployeescanperformtheirjobsusingonlytwoorthreescreensoftheir

functionswithinPlexOnline.Trainingisapproachedwiththisinmind.Employeeslearn

overallsystemprinciples.Thentheygetrighttoworklearninghowtooperatethe

systemastheyworkwiththeimplementationteamtovalidatebusinessprocesses.

Plex Online adapts

to meet each

manufacturers

needs, and this

starts during

implementation.