Accutech Mold & Machine (AMM) was founded in 1996 specializing in plastic injection mold manufacturing. In 2004 the company expanded with an injection molding press to sample molds that were built. Today, AMM continues to build high quality plastic injection molds and also produces plastic injection molded components 24 hours a day. AMM is a Certified National Woman Owned Business. It is locally owned and operated by Kelly and Darrin Geiger.
Speaker Information
West-Bake, based in Glenamaddy, County Galway, Ireland, is a leading bakery producing muffins, cookies, and cakes for major retailers across the UK and Ireland. With rapid growth – from 20 employees in 2007 to 150 today, and a turnover reaching €35 million – the company faced mounting operational complexity. Data silos, manual paper-based processes, and fragmented communication channels limited visibility, slowed decision-making, and made it difficult to maintain quality and traceability at scale.
West-Bake’s Managing Director Peadar Shanks described the challenge: “We had so many different data silos. Information was there, but it wasn’t collaborative. Real-time information is important to allow us to make strategic decisions to grow our business fast.”
IT Manager PJ Shanks added: “We operated well, but reached our limitations. There was too much paper – sales orders, delivery dockets, everything was manual. We needed a way to store and share data meaningfully across the business.”
As West-Bake prepared for ambitious expansion into Europe and the Middle East, the need for a scalable, integrated digital solution became urgent.
West-Bake partnered with Rockwell Automation and Cumulus Consulting to implement the Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform – a tightly integrated solution combining Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Quality Management System (QMS), and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) components.
The implementation was guided by a consultative approach: Rockwell’s team worked closely with West-Bake to understand their unique processes and challenges, ensuring buy-in from directors, management, and shop-floor operators. “It’s about making your job easier, more efficient, and growing the business,” said Peadar Shanks.
Key features of the solution included:
- Real-time visibility – providing insights into production, inventory, and quality data
- Digitization of manual processes – replacing paper and Excel sheets with a unified platform
- Enhanced traceability – serialized barcodes and batch management for instant product tracking
- Scalability – supporting West-Bake’s vision to triple in size over the next decade
- Empowerment of employees – training and intuitive dashboards enabled staff to make data-driven decisions
PJ Shanks noted, “With Plex, we get insight straight away into what we’re producing. Are we running ahead of schedule? Are we running behind? Everybody can see it. It flags up issues instantly, allowing us to respond quickly.”
The transformation delivered measurable improvements across West-Bake’s operations:
- Efficiency & Agility: Real-time data enabled faster, more informed decision-making. Production planning improved, and inventory management became leaner, reducing excess stock and smoothing supply chain fluctuations.
- Quality & Traceability: Digitized quality records and serialized barcodes provided instant traceability, supporting compliance and building customer trust. “If we ever got a product recall, within an instant you can press a button and get all your traceability records,” said Peadar Shanks.
- Employee Empowerment: The workforce embraced the new system, with improved communication and collaboration. “Everyone is on the same journey together, so the results are more accurate and efficient,” said Peadar Shanks.
- Scalability for Growth: The Plex platform established a strong, scalable foundation for West-Bake’s expansion into new markets. “We have capacity within the building to double our throughput. With Plex, we’ll know straight away how to address new customers and opportunities,” said Peadar Shanks.
As PJ Shanks summarized, “By digitalizing our inventory and quality records, we anticipate significant time, effort, and cost savings. The ‘train the trainer’ approach means we can be self-sufficient as we grow.”
Challenge
The Search for a Streamlined Solution
AMM is a certified woman-owned business, serving industries such as automotive, agriculture, and defense. The company has 31 injection molding machines that run 24 hours a day—in addition to this manufacturing, AMM also builds and repairs injection molds. With various parts of the business always moving, and operations that have continued to expand, AMM recognized the legacy system no longer provided the infrastructure necessary for success.
“We had one system for accounting, we had another one that would track expenses of jobs, we had one system that would look at productivity of the machines. It was a lot of dual or triple entry on everything that we did,” explains AMM President Kelly Geiger. The lack of a single source of truth resulted in wasted time and resources, with supervisors leaving the plant floor to input production data. The AMM team knew they needed a solution that would allow for business-essential operations to continue without pulling people away from their responsibilities.
Solution
A Need for Easily Accessed Production Data
When searching for a new ERP system, the AMM team toured the facility of a current Plex customer to see the technology active on the plant floor. Committed to making business decisions in the best interest of its employees, AMM also worked with team leaders to create a list of needs the new solution would ideally address. The Plex Smart Manufacturing Platform was ultimately selected, as it would digitize paper-based processes and cut out unnecessary steps throughout the production process.
“We saw the benefit, from quarter to cash, how much more efficient we could be if we went with Plex. And that’s exactly what we’ve seen since we’ve implemented,” said Davon Geiger, Administrative Support Manager, Accutech Mold & Machine.
A unique aspect of AMM’s Plex implementation was the immediate inclusion of Plex MES A&O. The injection mold manufacturer was particularly interested in the real-time data the Plex product would offer, mainly due to the automation of various processes on the plant floor. With no delay in accessing production data, the team would be able to identify any issues when and where they arise. This piece of the Plex implementation was largely supported by Plex System Integrator Cumulus Consulting, who worked closely with AMM from the very beginning of the implementation process through the company’s successful Plex deployment.
“We worked hand-in-hand with Cumulus to get everything set up to be exactly how we wanted to see the data, doing all the math exactly how we figure it, how it makes sense for us, how it makes sense for our operators, and providing that data back to our people in a way that makes sense to everybody the most,” shares Dylan Geiger, Project Manager, Accutech Mold & Machine.
Results
Enterprise-Wide Improvements
The impact of Plex on AMM’s operations was immediately apparent. The team now had access to data instantly, no longer requiring people to leave the plant floor and report updates or issues in-person. This has saved AMM time, reduced manual labor, and opened the door for innovation. It has also modernized the facility, leaving AMM feeling confident they have future-readied the company by investing in advanced technology.
“We no longer had to wait upwards of 8 hours to hear, ‘Oh, this wasn’t running good.’ Or, ‘We ran 7% scrap on this press.’ ...It was done on the spot and presented to us so that we could see it as it was happening and we could correct the problem immediately,” explains Dylan Geiger.
The Inventory Impact
AMM has also seen an improvement in inventory scheduling and ordering. Since streamlining operations with Plex ERP, managing inventory has become easier and less time-consuming. Previously, production managers would have to walk across the facility and physically check inventory. This process is now digitized and available instantly on the computer. With a fuller picture, AMM has been able to reduce inventory across on-hand inventory and raw materials.
“The implementation of Plex allows me to focus on the goals that need to be met for the company, as far as reducing scrap in the ways of scheduling better or even making sure we get shipments out on time,” states Eric Boyd, Product Support Manager, Accutech Mold & Machine.
Making the Most of Automation
Prior to implementing Plex MES A&O, many of AMM’s processes were on-paper and production data was manually recorded. “We’ve automated almost everything that we can,” shares Dylan Geiger. When operators arrive at a machine, they digitally clock into the press. This creates an easily accessed record of which individual was present during a specific timeframe. While the product runs, AMM no longer waits for machine operators to manually report production. Product labels are automatically created that reflect quantity, direction, and the receiving customer. The real-time production visibility and automation enabled by Plex MES A&O has transformed AMM’s operations, allowing the AMM team to remove pesky manual processes and minimize the impact of manufacturing malfunctions.
Published April 7, 2026
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