Arch Systems Announces Partnership to Empower Plexus with Cutting-Edge Industry 4.0 Capabilities

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Arch Systems, the leading provider of data, analytics, and insightful actions for manufacturing operations, announced this week its collaboration with Plexus Corp., a global leader in complex product design, supply chain, manufacturing, and sustaining services. The strategic partnership will enhance Plexus’ Industry 4.0 journey by implementing the ArchFX platform across its SMT lines within its production facilities globally. This integration will enable Plexus to capture vital analytics at various levels – from individual machines to the global scale.

Plexus chose Arch Systems for its pre-built operational intelligence platform and extensive library of insights. Arch's solution, characterized by its no downtime deployment and managed connectivity, stood out as a key factor in the decision. The ease of integrating both internet-enabled and legacy equipment with the ArchFX Cloud, achievable in mere hours, played a pivotal role in this choice.

Ronnie Darroch, Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer at Plexus, commented, “The integration of ArchFX expands our Industry 4.0 capabilities via its advanced IoT connectivity, allowing us to stream real-time machine data globally to a cloud-based big data platform. As a single repository for our machine data, ArchFX will provide comprehensive manufacturing insights and analytics across our global footprint. This capability is fundamental to Plexus executing its strategy through improving quality and productivity, and it paves the way for leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence as we help create the products that build a better world.”

Additionally, Plexus will use Arch’s GLO product to unify global and local operations. This will facilitate cohesive decision-making on Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), utilization, and quality across our operations, driving efficiency and consistency.

Zoltan Szoke, a Process Engineering Manager at Plexus, noted, “Arch’s platform is a superior solution given the easy access to meaningful data compared to existing tools, which significantly reduces investigation times for engineers.”

The partnership, spanning three years and covering key geographies in the AMER, APAC and EMEA regions across seven countries, aims to drive operational efficiencies and elevate Plexus’ Industry 4.0 capabilities through advanced analytics and machine learning. Plans are also in place to expand ArchFX’s scope to automation and robotic connectivity in back-end assembly operations, ensuring end-to-end visibility and performance tracking.