Your OEE Is Lying to You: Fix Your Downtime Reason Codes

Image
Back in June, we walked through Plex's three Production Monitoring views: the Control Panel for the operator at the machine, Production Statuses for the supervisor across the line, and the Visual Plant Floor for the manager who needs the whole building at a glance. Every one of those views has a quiet dependency nobody talks about. They are only as honest as the downtime data underneath them. And the downtime data is only as honest as the reason codes your operators enter. Here is the uncomfortable version: if your operators are stamping "Other," "Misc," or "Downtime" on two-thirds of your stoppages, or entering everything from memory at the end of the shift, then your OEE number is a work of fiction. A nicely formatted, color-coded work of fiction - but fiction all the same. Listen to this post: The gap hiding in your dashboards Production Monitoring is excellent at one thing: telling you when a workcenter stopped and for how long. The...

How Plex ERP workflows streamline your operations.


A business workflow is a series of tasks that need to be completed in a specific sequence to achieve a particular goal . Workflows are useful for ensuring that important processes are done the right way every time. 

Workflows can help you see places in your operation that can be automated, eliminate redundant processes and activities, reduce operational expenses, quickly respond to issues or problems, and automate processes.

For example, you may want to define a process workflow for onboarding new employees to ensure that all new employees get the information, policies, and resources they need to do their jobs.

There are two different workflow types that you can implement in Plex:

Standalone Workflow

A workflow that is initiated by the Request Management System and is used to automate an unique business process.

Integrated Workflow

Integrated workflows are available for the following modules and applications as of 10/2023

  • 2-Tier Orders
  • 3-Tier Customer Orders​
  • Accounting Jobs​
  • AP Invoices​
  • Applicant Tracking​
  • AR Invoices​
  • Checksheets​
  • Control Plans​
  • Cost Recovery​
  • Customer​
  • Customer Returns (RMA)​
  • Deviations​
  • Die Maintenance​
  • Employee Expenses
  • Employee Requisition​
  • Employee Review System​
  • Employee Suggestions​
  • Engineering Change Requests​
  • Equipment List​
  • Expense Projects​
  • GL Journal​
  • Improvement Projects​
  • Incidents​
  • Injury Tracking​
  • Internal and Supplier Audits
  • Maintenance Work Requests​
  • MSDS​
  • Multi-Entity GL Journal​
  • Part List​
  • Problem Control​
  • Program Management Iterations​
  • Purchase Orders
  • Quote Tracking
  • Rejection Tracking
  • Requisitions​
  • Supplier​
  • Supplier PPAP
  • Supplier Returns


Popular posts from this blog

Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2026: Don’t Make It Easy for Them

Image
  Every October, individuals, businesses, and government agencies come together for Cybersecurity Awareness Month —a global campaign initiated by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA). The goal is simple yet critical: empower everyone to take control of their digital safety. Under the rallying theme "Secure Our World: Don’t Make It Easy for Them," this year focuses on closing the small gaps that threat actors routinely exploit. Key Steps to Take This Year Cybercriminals rarely breach systems through complex science fiction methods; most rely on predictable habits, weak passwords, and unpatched software. By covering the basic fundamentals, you eliminate the easiest paths of attack. 1. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) According to CISA, enabling Multi-Factor Authentication makes you significantly less likely to be hacked. Even if a cybercriminal steals your password, MFA creates an additional wall—such...
Read more

Your Tool Crib Is Telling You Something: Cycle Counts as an Early Warning

Image
A year ago, I wrote about setting up cycle counting for supply items in the Plex ERP tool crib . We covered why counting a little throughout the year works better than doing one large annual count, how to set up counts in Plex, and the basics of ABC classification and assigning ownership. That post focused on how to count . This one is about what the count results can teach you. Listen to this post When the Counts Start Drifting You set up the cycle types, define the parameters, and get Plex Mobile scanning. Counts happen on schedule—and then the same variances keep appearing. A few carbide inserts are short. A drill index is over. The differences aren’t huge, but they keep coming back. The first instinct may be to count more often. But if the same items repeatedly drift in the same direction, counting more frequently probably won’t fix the cau...
Read more

How Plex ERP Bulletins Improve Manufacturing Communication

Image
Clear communication is essential in manufacturing. Operators need the right instructions at the right time, supervisors need to share updates quickly, and employees across the organization need access to current information. When communication depends on paper notices, emails, or verbal instructions, important messages can be missed, misunderstood, or left outdated. Plex ERP bulletins provide a practical way to deliver messages within the same system used to manage production activities. Because Plex is designed to connect people, systems, machines, and supply chains, its communication tools can help bring operational information closer to the work being performed. What Are Plex ERP Bulletins? Plex bulletins are messages created within the Plex ERP environment and displayed according to their intended scope. A bulletin can be associated with a specific part operat...
Read more