Plex Online Review - why 4.4 stars?

Shlomi Lavi / updated: Mar 03, 2022

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What is Plex Online?

Plex Online is a cloud based ERP solution focused on the manufacturing sector. It provides a suite of products that cover all the main features of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, as well as the Manufacturing Execution System, Business Intelligence, Quality Management, Supply Chain Management and Customer Relationship Management.

Plex Systems the provider of Plex Online is a technology company based in Troy, Michigan and has been providing manufacturing cloud solutions since 2001. The company’s primary focus has been on delivering robust and comprehensive plant floor ERP software to manufacturers, developed to their specific industry requirements

Who is it best for?

Plex Online is best for discrete and batch process manufacturers that range from start-ups to large enterprise companies. The software is a pure cloud based solution focused on the manufacturing and industrial verticals that include the automotive, precision metal forming, food & beverage, aerospace & defense, high technology & electronics and other similar manufacturers in these verticals.

The product is designed to help the operational and manufacturing teams through the support of the entire manufacturing process in the organization as well as the key business processes. This includes support for the full plant floor production system which includes the development, design, production, sale, and ultimately retirement of products from the market when no longer necessary or useful.

Plex Online is also effective for the Sales and Financial teams by allowing for an efficient Order to Cash process which includes order management, planning, shipping and accounting, as well as the Procure to Pay process that covers material purchases, receiving and accounting. Additionally financial consolidation is provided for the entire enterprise, as well as detailed reporting to allow finance and executive managers to gain a real time view of all financial transactions affecting the entire manufacturing business.

There are many customers for Plex Online in each industry sector and these include Weber Metals, Inteva Products, Firstronic, Cast Aluminium Solutions, Ralco Indusries and Phoenix Logistics.

Main features and functionalities

Plex Online is a cloud ERP solution specifically designed for the manufacturing plant floor. With shorter production runs and faster Go-to-market times it is necessary that you have high productivity and a low cost base to maximize your revenue. The product provides this by being a scalable platform that can adapt to changes in the market cycles, as well as be easily customizable to adopt changing business requirements.

The solution has been designed with the production plant floor in mind so that the manufacturer can efficiently manage the plant floor processes, report information efficiently and proactively, communicate with suppliers & customers, and apply manufacturing best practices.

There is support for all the key areas in a manufacturing organization which includes the standard ones such as Accounting & Finance, Customer & Sales Management and Human Resources Management.

Also specific to the manufacturing process there are comprehensive modules to deal with Inventory & Production Management, Product & Program Management, Quality Management and Supply Chain Management. Finally Business Intelligence tools provide detailed reporting, charts and dashboards to aid in production and business decisions.

Plex Online also offers a comprehensive document management system to share information across the organization, as well as workflow management for mapping all the major business processes and improve productivity. Finally there is mobile device access to allow anywhere access to ensure production is not impacted which is important in a 24x7 environment

What is the actual cost?

The cost of license starts at $3,000 per month. ITQlick pricing score is 6.6 out of 10 (10 is most expensive). Access ITQlick pricing guide for Plex Online.

Pros

• Plex Online is a focused ERP solution for the Manufacturing and Industrial Verticals designed to manage the plant floor
• The solution allows mobile device access
• It provides document management and workflow management
• As a cloud based solution the investment in Plex Online is much less than an on-premise solution
• There are integrated BI Tools and analytics for detailed reporting and analysis requirements

Cons

• Plex Online does not address all verticals like Oracle & SAP
• Manufacturers can still be resistant to a cloud solution due to security of hosted information and concerns about business continuity
• The software does not provide an option for social collaboration
• Product Implementation still takes anywhere from 3-5 months to complete
• It does not offer a clear migration strategy from competitor products

How it stacks up?

Access a head to head analysis of Plex Online vs alternative software solutions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)