Loading
Utility Header Logo
Plex Community
Change Country Site SelectionChange RockwellAutomation.com site selection to a different country, region or language
US | EN
Plex, a Rockwell Automation Company logo
Products
Manufacturing Execution System (MES)
Manufacturing Execution Suite (MES) is a comprehensive manufacturing software solution that provides real-time, paperless production management to drive enterprise-wide compliance, quality, and efficiency.
Quality Management System (QMS)
Quality Management System (QMS) is a cloud-based digital quality solution for manufacturers that standardizes and automates quality documentation, processes, and measurements.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a full-featured, scalable, cloudbased ERP that automates front- and back-office processes.
Supply Chain Planning (SCP)
Supply Chain Planning (SCP) combines data from your Plex ERP and multiple departments across your business to sync up demand and supply planning to improve inventory accuracy and production management.
Connected Worker
Connected Worker empowers frontline manufacturing teams with real-time digital tools to improve productivity, reduce errors, and enhance collaboration. It connects your people, to purpose, people, productivity, and processes to drive continuous improvement and workforce agility on the shop floor.
Production Monitoring
Production Monitoring provides seamless connectivity to machines on the plant floor, delivering transparent, real-time operational KPIs and dashboards to drive continuous improvements.
MES Automation & Orchestration
MES Automation & Orchestration connects your Plex MES to the plant edge to control information flow, processes, and workcenter setup adding efficiency, saving costs, and eliminating manual errors.
Asset Performance Management (APM)
Asset Performance Management (APM) combines process, operational, and machine-level data through highly visual dashboards to proactively monitor machine and plant health to ensure optimal uptime, throughput, and maintenance needs.
Finite Scheduler
Finite Scheduler is an advanced production scheduling tool that helps manufacturers optimize resources, reduce bottlenecks, and improve on-time delivery. It enables dynamic, constraint-based scheduling to align operations with real-world capacity and demand
Platform
Smart Manufacturing Platform Overview
Discover how our integrated platform connects, automates, tracks, and analyzes your operations.
Cloud Infrastructure & Security
Enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure with industry-leading security and compliance.
Mobile Application
Access critical manufacturing data and controls from anywhere with our mobile apps.
Availability & Performance
Industry-leading uptime and performance with 99.5% availability guarantee.
Manufacturing Automation
Seamless integration with Rockwell Automation and other manufacturing systems.
Industries
Aerospace Auto and Tire Food & Beverage Industrial Manufacturing Plastics & Rubber Precision Metalforming
Plex Generic Dark Background
INTERACTIVE DEMO
Plex MES for Automotive

Gain Real-Time Visibility and Control of Your Operations

Try Now
Resources
All Resources Success Stories Analyst Reports Knowledge Articles Demos Blog
Plex Generic Dark Background
Analyst Report
2025 Gartner® Market Guide for Manufacturing Execution Systems
Read More
TALK TO US
SEE A DEMO
Log In Plex Manufacturing Cloud Plex Classic
TALK TO US
SEE A DEMO
Blog
Recent ActivityRecent Activity

What Your Clipboard Won’t Tell You, Your Data Will

Share This:

LinkedInLinkedIn
XX
FacebookFacebook
PrintPrint
EmailEmail

At the time, it seemed like a good idea. Write down if there are any breakdowns, stoppages, changeovers, or anything that makes a machine stop. Write the time, the date, the reason, and how long it took to restart. Oh, and if you have any scrap from a startup, write that down by pounds and material type on another form.

In its day, this method was helpful because it was the beginning of modern-day data collection. It helped usher in process improvement methodologies like Lean and Six Sigma, and it definitely kept the makers of clipboards in business.

Clamped Forms, Clamped Data

The universal clipboard symbolizes systemizing production data to facilitate better understanding and decision-making. They were on the front of the machine, and they held a lot of data - sort of. They were collected by an army of administrative staff who then went and made the data make sense long after these events were recorded.

While manually collected data enabled many changes, the tight spring-loaded clamp became a symbol for the clamping down of the very data that it was supposed to empower. Even then, most of us knew there had to be a better way.

Secrets Your Clipboard Keeps

As technology forged ahead, companies tried to add other tools to the mix to rev up the data collected on the clipboard. Standalone software was added ad hoc to departments that wanted to organize the clipboard data.

This software wasn't always compatible with the software from other departments, so reports and outputs had to be rationalized between departments before they could be of use. These reports often needed to be manually entered into yet another computer, so they found themselves on another clipboard.

It became clear that the clipboard was hiding secrets - secrets that needed to be unlocked to progress and improve. Here are a few of the secrets your clipboard likely holds:

  1. They Have a Lot of Errors – People make mistakes. Sometimes the data is just wrong because someone responsible for writing it down was busy trying to get their machine back up and running.
  2. They’re Biased – People interpret things in different ways. On a clipboard, a downtime reason from shift B may differ from shift A's, even though they had the same cause.
  3. They Have a lot of Numbers – In haste, 99669 is quickly listed as 66996. Of course, that's only one of an infinite number of transpositions.
  4. They’re Very Busy – Clipboards hang out on the front of machines unless they’re left in the breakroom where they may miss a number, or two, or six, before someone comes back for them or starts a whole new form on another clipboard.
  5. They Love Chaos – Downtime reason 1: broken clip. Downtime reason 2: jammed spindle. Downtime reason 3: question mark - it just stopped. Clipboards host chaos like it's a New Year's Eve party.

Your Connected Data Will Never Keep Secrets

With a smart manufacturing platform, you can rely on one immutable truth: what your clipboard won't tell you, your data will. Smart manufacturing software removes the secrets and lies of the clipboard and replaces them with clear, unambiguous, data-driven, actionable insights.

The Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform™ links to IIoT systems to ensure that data flows without bias, omission, error, or chaos. With accurate data driven by cloud-based advanced analytics, you can automate business processes and track data automatically.

Imagine connecting your enterprise systems ranging from MES and ERPs to quality and supply chain management solutions so that all your tools can access a single version of the truth using standardized and contextualized data. It’s the way to unlocking total visibility to monitor production by machine, spindle, shift, or operator and identify reasons for downtime at or near real-time.

If you're tired of searching for the secrets your clipboards hide from you, contact Plex to unlock the power of your machine data and put it to work in driving your business to new heights.


Plex Team
Plex Team
Plex, by Rockwell Automation, is the leader in cloud-delivered smart manufacturing solutions, empowering the world’s manufacturers to make awesome products. Our platform gives manufacturers the ability to connect, automate, track and analyze every aspect of their business to drive transformation. The Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform includes solutions for manufacturing execution (MES), ERP, quality, supply chain planning and management, Industrial IoT and analytics to connect people, systems, machines, and supply chains, enabling them to lead with precision, efficiency and agility.

Related Articles

Loading
Loading
  1. Chevron LeftChevron Left Homepage Chevron RightChevron Right
  2. Chevron LeftChevron Left Blog Chevron RightChevron Right
  3. Chevron LeftChevron Left What Your Clipboard Won’t Tell You, Your Data Will Chevron RightChevron Right
Products
Manufacturing Execution System (MES) Quality Management System (QMS) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Supply Chain Planning (SCP) Connected Worker Production Monitoring MES Automation & Orchestration Asset Performance Management (APM) Finite Scheduler
Platform
Smart Manufacturing Platform Cloud Infrastructure & Security Mobile Application Availability & Performance Manufacturing Automation
Resources
All Resources Case Studies Analyst Reports Knowledge Articles Demos Blog
Industries
All Industries Aerospace Auto and Tire Food & Beverage/CPG Industrial Manufacturing Plastics & Rubber Precision Metalforming & Fabrication
Services & Support
Customer Success & Advocacy Support Services Educational Services Professional Services Plex Community
Get Started
Request a Demo Download Resources Read Success Stories Webinars Contact Support
Company
About Us Why Plex Recognition Newsroom Careers Contact Us
Knowledge Articles
Types of Quality Management Systems The MES Beginner Guide A Guide to Production Part Approval Process What is Industry 4.0? A Guide to Advanced Product Quality Planning Supply Chain Planning: A Guide to Strategic Planning and Operations MES and the Future of Robotics Automation Cloud Based MES Basics Food Manufacturing Software: Why MES Is Critical for Food and Beverage Manufacturers Guide to Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Cloud-Based MES Solutions A Guide to Monitoring Machine Performance What is Connected Manufacturing and Why Should You Care About It?
Privacy & Cookie Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Preferences
Accessibility Settings
Trust Center
© YYYY Plex, by Rockwell Automation. All rights reserved.
© YYYY Rockwell Automation, Inc.