CASE STUDY

FCC NORTH AMERICA

FCC North America is a clutch assembly manufacturer with comprehensive product development and manufacturing systems, encompassing everything from development of friction material to assembly. FCC has an extensive friction material catalog that covers automotive, powersports, and power equipment.

Industry:
Manufacturing

Location:
Portland, IN

Results

Technical Account Manager support leads to 10-15 minute case resolution time

Saved staffing dollars by utilizing Plex resources and expertise

Increased technology adoption resulting from mentoring sessions

Gained valuable insight to help drive business process improvements

FCC’s long track record of success as a manufacturer of clutches for cars and motorcycles began when the new company started supplying Honda in 1948. In recent years, FCC has pursued more business from other automakers—and realized that to serve these companies efficiently, it would need to digitize its paper-based shop floor processes in a modern enterprise resource planning system.

FCC Shifts Business Processes
Into Gear with Plex — Then
Maximizes Efficiency with Plex
Platinum Support

When a tsunami hit Japan and FCC was forced to rethink its on-premise approach to computing, the company’s ERP evaluation process took a critical turn. Suddenly, FCC executives who had been adamant about keeping the company’s systems in-house were open to cloud solutions. That’s one of the major reasons why FCC chose to implement the Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform. To maximize its experience, the FCC team then turned to Plex Platinum Support.

We’re glad to be a Plex Platinum Support customer. Our needs are always heard and our issues are solved in a timely fashion. We also get the opportunity to provide our input to Plex, which is important to us. It’s good to know that our needs as a company are influencing Plex’s future development efforts.”

Michael Hunt

ERP Systems Manager, FCC North America

Driving Efficiency and Adoption with Plex Premium Support

With Plex Platinum Support, FCC gets prompt attention for its day-to-day support needs. Even hard-to-diagnose issues see timely resolutions.

“With a sophisticated manufacturing ERP like Plex, many issues are hard to recreate,” explains Diane Parr, Senior Staff Engineer, and lead ERP Systems Implementation Administrator at FCC North America. “It’s easy to schedule a call with our Technical Account Manager (TAM) and work through it together. They’re always able to understand the root cause and find a solution. We’ve found they’re able to clear up most cases within 10 to 15 minutes of those conversations.”

The strategic value of working with Plex Platinum Support became apparent to FCC when the company first began transitioning to the Plex UX interface. FCC worked closely with Plex Platinum Support to determine the best time to make the switch.

“We had a lot of discussions with the Plex Platinum Support team to help us to think through the process.”

–Michael Hunt, ERP Systems Manager, FCC North America

FCC took advantage of mentoring sessions offered by Plex Platinum Support to ensure its team was trained and proficient on the interface. The result was greater and more successful adoption across the company.

“We ended up rolling out UX department-by-department across our company,” explains Parr. “To prepare our employees, we scheduled mentoring sessions with Plex Platinum Support. The Plex team was great at framing up the new functionality. That made a huge difference in getting our team to take the change seriously and embrace it.”

Growing Company Gets Timely Support, Keeps Overhead Down

As FCC continues to attract new customers and expand its business, the company will rely on Plex Platinum Support to help it get the most out of Plex without exceeding its IT budget.

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“If money were no object, we could hire 10 more people and try to develop them to the level of expertise we’d need,” says Hunt. “Plex Platinum Support gives us the expertise we need right when we need it, in a way that respects our budget. We’re saving staffing dollars by utilizing Plex’s expertise and generating efficiencies in the process,” says Hunt.
Beyond the cost savings, Hunt also believes in the relationship FCC and Plex have developed.

“We plan to stay plugged in not only to get outstanding support but also to determine the direction of our business. Plex is changing the way we operate, and staying close to the team and the product will be extremely important as our company continues to grow and change.”

–Michael Hunt, ERP Systems Manager, FCC North America

ABOUT PLEX

Plex Systems, Inc., a Rockwell Automation company, 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. Learn more at www.plex.com