Plex Systems vs DBA Manufacturing

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Our analysts compared Plex Systems vs DBA Manufacturing based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Manufacturing Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Product Basics

Plex Manufacturing Cloud uses real-time data to connect and facilitate operations among various business aspects such as finance, distribution and production. It has built-in compliance and approval monitoring tools to ensure that your products are created accurately and with regulations in mind.

With Plex software, you also have the ability to develop customized reports and dashboards to make visualization easier and more streamlined. These reporting tools can make developing insights faster and easier, especially when considering the program’s use of actual minute-by-minute data.
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DBA Manufacturing is a comprehensive software solution designed to streamline and manage various manufacturing tasks. It is particularly well-suited for small to mid-sized manufacturing companies across diverse industries such as electronics, machinery, and consumer goods. The software excels in providing robust inventory control, production scheduling, and job costing capabilities, making it an invaluable tool for businesses looking to enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs.

One of the standout benefits of DBA Manufacturing is its ability to integrate seamlessly with existing systems, offering a user-friendly interface that simplifies complex manufacturing processes. Popular features include real-time inventory tracking, detailed production planning, and comprehensive reporting tools. These features empower manufacturers to make informed decisions, optimize resource allocation, and improve overall productivity.

Compared to similar products, DBA Manufacturing is often praised for its affordability and ease of use. While specific pricing details are not readily available, it is recommended that users contact SelectHub for a tailored pricing quote based on their unique requirements. This ensures that businesses receive a solution that fits their budget and operational needs.

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$500/User, Monthly
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$2,995 Annually
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Tailored to your specific needs
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Product Insights

  • Increased Efficiency: Plex Manufacturing Cloud uses real-time data and set parameters to maximize production capabilities. Its Advanced Planning and Scheduling tool uses information such as inventory levels, amount of production floor space and maximum productivity levels to generate a best-fit manufacturing schedule. 
  • Accessibility: As a cloud-based manufacturing software, Plex is available anytime and anywhere as long as a user has internet access. This is especially beneficial in the manufacturing center considering manufacturing managers and production line employees can access real-time data from internet-enabled devices while they’re actually on the floor working. 
  • Improved Customer Experience: Customers are the backbone of your business, and Plex software capitalizes on this fact through its customer portal, which provides visualization as a product moves throughout the supply chain. Shipping notifications are also included so that clients have an accurate expectation as to when an item should be delivered. 
  • Heightened Visibility: With increased visibility, you can develop insights more quickly. Plex Manufacturing Cloud contains the ability to use customizable dashboards to reflect minute-by-minute information such as inventory levels and labor allocation, which enables you to make informed decisions based on current processes. 
  • Collaboration: Plex allows for collaboration with clients through the customer portal. It also contains internal collaboration tools that are emphasized through its multi-site functionality for supply chain and financial processes. 
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  • Improved Production Efficiency: Streamlines workflows and reduces bottlenecks, leading to faster production times and higher throughput.
  • Enhanced Inventory Management: Provides real-time tracking of inventory levels, minimizing stockouts and overstock situations.
  • Cost Reduction: Optimizes resource allocation and reduces waste, leading to significant cost savings in materials and labor.
  • Accurate Demand Forecasting: Utilizes historical data and trends to predict future demand, ensuring better planning and resource allocation.
  • Quality Control: Implements rigorous quality checks at various stages of production, ensuring consistent product quality and reducing defects.
  • Scalability: Easily adapts to the growing needs of your business, supporting expansion without requiring significant changes to the system.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Helps maintain compliance with industry standards and regulations through automated documentation and reporting.
  • Enhanced Collaboration: Facilitates better communication and coordination among different departments, leading to more cohesive operations.
  • Data-Driven Decision Making: Provides comprehensive analytics and reporting tools, enabling informed decisions based on real-time data.
  • Customer Satisfaction: Improves order accuracy and delivery times, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.
  • Reduced Lead Times: Streamlines the production process, significantly cutting down on lead times from order to delivery.
  • Resource Optimization: Ensures optimal use of machinery and labor, maximizing productivity and minimizing downtime.
  • Flexibility in Production: Allows for easy adjustments to production schedules and processes to meet changing market demands.
  • Comprehensive Traceability: Tracks every component and process step, providing full traceability for quality assurance and recall management.
  • Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly integrates with other business systems, such as ERP and CRM, for a unified operational approach.
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  • Inventory Management: Plex Manufacturing Cloud allows you to track the quantity and location of your inventory, whether you want to look at raw materials, WIP or finished goods. It also supports barcode scanning and label printing in an effort to improve the accuracy of reported inventory levels. Controls are also in place to ensure that products are always developed using the right materials, therefore improving inventory viability. 
  • PLM Functionality: Built-in revision control workflows allow for approved changes to be reflected across the entirety of the product lifecycle. Product specifications can also be developed to expedite processes. 
  • Quality Management: Plex software helps to ensure that you are retaining compliance with standards such as ISO, TS and QS. You can also use supplier scorecards to look at your entire supply chain. For example, your suppliers can use checksheets to validate the quality of their materials before the goods reach your facility, therefore hastening the quality analysis process on your end. 
  • Management of Shipments: The shipping management system ensures that only products that meet acceptable quality specifications are sent to customers and that they are sent to the intended recipient. Plex software's manufacturing system also contains a labeling feature that automatically prints labels using customer information in order to avoid shipping errors. ASNs are automatically sent and formatted as products leave the production facility. 
  • Real-Time Financial Management: Plex software contains continuously updated information on components such as labor hour utilization and point-in-time inventory. The financial management system is designed for order-to-cash and procure-to-pay processes and includes multi-site functionality. Financial reports are also easily accessible with this tool. 
  • Customer Relationship Management: This program includes a customer portal that provides visibility of a product as it moves throughout the supply chain and allows for enhanced collaboration ability. Important components such as quotes, estimates, issue resolution and order management are built into the tool along with an integrated EDI. 
  • Advanced Planning and Scheduling: The Plex Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) solution allows you to account for constraints in your workplace such as amount of resources and maximum production capacity to develop optimized production runs. Finite Scheduling includes the ability to plan your development schedule based on factors such as resources, tools and space. The program also allows you to level-load production across different manufacturing centers. 
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  • Inventory Management: Comprehensive tools for tracking raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods.
  • Bill of Materials (BOM): Detailed BOM management, allowing for multi-level BOMs and sub-assemblies.
  • Shop Control: Real-time shop floor control with job tracking and work center scheduling.
  • MRP (Material Requirements Planning): Automated MRP system to ensure materials are available for production and products are available for delivery.
  • Job Costing: Accurate job costing capabilities to track labor, materials, and overhead costs for each job.
  • Sales Order Management: Efficient handling of sales orders from entry to fulfillment, including backorder management.
  • Purchase Order Management: Streamlined purchase order processing with vendor management and order tracking.
  • Production Scheduling: Advanced scheduling tools to optimize production workflows and minimize downtime.
  • Quality Control: Integrated quality control processes to ensure product standards are met consistently.
  • Reporting and Analytics: Robust reporting and analytics tools for data-driven decision-making and performance monitoring.
  • Barcode Scanning: Support for barcode scanning to improve accuracy and efficiency in inventory and production processes.
  • Multi-Currency Support: Capability to handle transactions in multiple currencies, ideal for global operations.
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Built-in CRM features to manage customer interactions and improve service.
  • Document Management: Centralized document management system for easy access to important files and records.
  • Integration Capabilities: Seamless integration with other business systems and software for enhanced functionality.
  • User Permissions: Granular user permissions to control access to sensitive information and functions.
  • Mobile Access: Mobile-friendly interface for accessing the system on-the-go.
  • Customizable Dashboards: Personalized dashboards to display key metrics and information relevant to individual users.
  • Scalability: Scalable architecture to grow with your business needs.
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Product Ranking

#14

among all
Manufacturing Software

#151

among all
Manufacturing Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Plex Systems
DBA Manufacturing
+ Add Product + Add Product
Bill Of Materials (BOM) And Routing Computer-aided Design And Computer-aided Manufacturing (CAD And CAM) Management Engineering Change Control Inventory Management Manufacturing Execution System (MES) Mobile Capabilities Platform Capabilities Product Configuration Production Planning Production Scheduling Quality Management Recipe And Formula Management Reports And Dashboards Shop Floor Control Warehouse Management Work In Process (WIP) Work Order Management 43 0 56 71 80 67 79 36 67 70 80 47 100 70 44 0 44 0 25 50 75 100
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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User Sentiment Summary

Good User Sentiment 32 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 10 reviews
74%
of users recommend this product

Plex Systems has a 'good' User Satisfaction Rating of 74% when considering 32 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

90%
of users recommend this product

DBA Manufacturing has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 90% when considering 10 user reviews from 2 recognized software review sites.

3.3 (17)
n/a
4.2 (11)
4.5 (5)
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4.5 (5)
4.3 (3)
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3.0 (1)
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Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Plex Systems and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Reports and Dashboards.

Reports and Dashboards Award

DBA Manufacturing stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Improved Shop Floor Visibility: Users praise Plex for providing real-time insights into production processes, enabling better decision-making and quicker responses to issues.
Streamlined Inventory Management: Plex helps manufacturers optimize inventory levels, reducing waste and ensuring materials are available when needed.
Enhanced Quality Control: The system's quality management features help track defects, identify root causes, and improve overall product quality.
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Demand-Driven MRP: DBA Manufacturing utilizes a demand-driven MRP system, enabling manufacturers to optimize inventory levels and reduce waste by precisely aligning production with actual customer demand.
Comprehensive Functionality: The software offers a full suite of modules, including inventory control, bill of materials, purchasing, production planning and scheduling, and shop floor control, streamlining various aspects of the manufacturing process within a single system.
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Reporting Limitations: Users express frustration with the inflexibility and limitations of Plex's built-in reporting features, making it difficult to extract and analyze data in ways that suit their specific needs.
User Interface Complexity: The system is often described as being difficult to navigate and non-intuitive, especially for new users who require extensive training to become proficient.
System Rigidity: Plex is often criticized for its lack of flexibility in adapting to unique or evolving business processes, requiring workarounds or customizations that can be time-consuming and costly.
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Manual MRP Runs: The system requires manual initiation of Material Requirements Planning (MRP) runs to update material demand and scheduling, which can be time-consuming and potentially lead to delays in reacting to changes in demand.
Delayed Production Data: Production data is not real-time, requiring manual data entry after production activities. This lag can lead to inaccuracies in inventory levels and production scheduling.
Limited Features: While the software offers core manufacturing functionalities, some users have expressed a desire for a wider range of features and modules to address more specific industry or business needs.
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Want to know if Plex Systems is truly complex or simply complexly awesome? Recent user reviews suggest the former might be closer to the truth. While Plex Systems is praised for its comprehensive suite of features covering everything from planning and scheduling to supply chain management, users often highlight a steep learning curve and a sometimes clunky interface as drawbacks. This complexity can make it challenging for smaller businesses or those with less tech-savvy teams to implement and utilize effectively. However, Plex Systems shines in its ability to connect different aspects of a manufacturing operation, providing real-time visibility into production processes, inventory levels, and quality control data. This end-to-end integration is a key differentiator, allowing businesses to streamline operations and make data-driven decisions. For example, users cite the ability to track production in real-time and identify bottlenecks as a major advantage, leading to improved efficiency and reduced downtime. Ultimately, Plex Systems is best suited for larger, established manufacturing businesses with the technical resources and expertise to navigate its complexities and leverage its powerful features for maximum impact.

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Is DBA Manufacturing all its cracked up to be? User reviews from the past year paint a mixed picture, highlighting both its strengths and weaknesses. On the plus side, DBA Manufacturing is lauded for its comprehensive suite of features, encompassing inventory control, bill of materials management, production planning, and shop floor control. This makes it a valuable tool for small and mid-sized manufacturers seeking to streamline their operations. However, a significant drawback is the system's reliance on manual MRP updates. This means production data isn't live and must be entered after the fact, which can be a pain point for some users. This aspect sets it apart from more automated solutions available in the market. Despite this limitation, DBA Manufacturing's strength lies in its user-friendliness and focus on the needs of smaller businesses. The software's training, conducted using a sample company, ensures minimal disruption to live operations. This is particularly beneficial for businesses transitioning from less sophisticated systems. In conclusion, DBA Manufacturing is best suited for small to mid-sized manufacturers who prioritize a comprehensive feature set and ease of use over real-time data updates. Its focus on core manufacturing functions and accessible learning curve makes it a viable option for businesses looking to dip their toes into the world of MRP without feeling overwhelmed.

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