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Showing posts with the label Tool Crib

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

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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...

Optimizing Tool Crib Efficiency Through Effective Cycle Counting in Plex ERP

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  Managing maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) inventory is a crucial component of tool crib management. Unaccounted or inaccurate stock levels can lead to unexpected downtime, missed production deadlines, and costly emergency purchases. To prevent these risks, manufacturers increasingly rely on systematic cycle counting as part of their inventory control strategy — and Plex ERP provides a robust platform to streamline and automate this process. Why Cycle Counting Matters for MRO and Supply Items Cycle counting is an inventory auditing procedure that involves counting subsets of inventory throughout the year rather than performing a single annual physical count. This continuous approach ensures that the inventory reflected in Plex ERP aligns with what is actually available on the shop floor, in storerooms, and at other locations. Key benefits include: Accurate visibility into stock levels, reducing discrepancies between system and physical counts. Minimized disr...