MFC Netform

Relying on a Single Version of the Truth in the Cloud

Plex enables MFC Netform to achieve continuous improvement by emphasizing defect prevention and reducing variation and waste. The company is also extending these benefits to its suppliers by implementing the system’s supplier management and subcontractor functions.

Unlike established manufacturers that switch over to the Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform from outdated legacy systems, MFC Netform established Plex as its single system as it began operations. This helped the company avoid the cost of many unnecessary resources.

For example, Plex’s automated quality checklists at each machine brought such immediate efficiency and accuracy to the company’s plant-floor quality processes that there was never a need to hire or train any quality inspectors.

Because Plex is delivered as a cloud solution, all data is securely managed and stored off-premises. MFC Netform has been able to minimize its internal IT staff, avoiding the need for any on-site systems maintenance altogether.

Also, the live data reporting on the plant floor enables MFC Netform to avoid the costs that typically result from unnecessary scrap and machine downtime. According to Januszek, the company ended up having to invest in only half the resources it initially expected.

Because we’ve been using Plex from the start, we’ve been able to avoid hiring three or four people. We’re a lean operation so that makes a big difference in our overhead.

—Dan Januszek, Assistant General Manager

Standardizing Processes Increases Efficiency

When MFC Netform first launched Plex, the system was as much of a help to the company in meeting marketing challenges as it was in managing day-to-day operations.

Plex met MFC Netform’s needs in ways it hadn’t even predicted, and the benefits that the system brought to operations soon caught the attention of the parent company, MFC, based in Maumee, Ohio.

Although MFC is a much larger, well-established organization, it found that it too could benefit greatly from the advantages that the Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform brought to the shop floor. Since MFC came on board as a Plex user, the system has enabled the parent and subsidiary to share common documents including technical quality specifications and certificates. Documents have been standardized or customized as needed. Document control processes have enabled efficient, real-time information sharing between employees and management at the two locations.

We were starting out with just one part number, and our biggest challenge was attracting customers—especially in that economy. When potential customers visited our operations and we could show them we had a full-blown, sophisticated system in place and they could see Plex’s leading-edge functionality at work, it immediately earned us credibility.

—Dan Januszek, Assistant General Manager

Setting the Company Up for Growth

Unlike many manufacturers, MFC Netform was able to successfully weather the economic downturn and continue to grow. According to Januszek, that is largely due to Plex:

“Because we put the system in place from the very beginning, we were able to manage through a tough economy with a lean staff,” he explained. “Survival through the downturn would have been extremely difficult without Plex.”