North American Lighting selects the Plex manufacturing cloud

Plex, the leader in cloud ERP for manufacturing, today announced that North American Lighting (NAL), a tier one automotive lighting supplier, selected the Plex Manufacturing Cloud to run its manufacturing operations and enterprise resource planning across eight facilities.

Plex to Deliver Real-Time Visibility and Support Rapid Growth

• NAL’s mission is to achieve the highest levels of customer satisfaction and value, with best-in-class lighting products delivered through the integration of people, technology and business systems.
• NAL employs more than 5,300 people across its eight U.S. locations, which include six technologically-advanced manufacturing facilities and two research and management offices.
• NAL reviewed many Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) solutions as part of a multi-year technology transformation and modernization effort.
• NAL selected the Plex Manufacturing Cloud to replace multiple, legacy on premise systems. The company plans to use Plex to achieve seamless integration across NAL’s advanced manufacturing systems and facilities, delivering enterprise-level oversight and accounting for all operations.
• The company also chose Plex because the company’s cloud subscription model offers unlimited users, making it easy and cost efficient to connect all employees for better access to data and real-time insight.
• NAL selected Plex partner Plante Moran to deploy the Plex Manufacturing Cloud across all facilities. The company selected Plante Moran based on their proven experience in enterprise-level Plex implementations, including an extensive background in automotive supply chain processes, intensive user training programs, internal control compliance services and Japanese business experience.
• Beginning in early 2016, NAL plans to implement Plex first at its Advanced Forward Lighting Operations facility and corporate headquarters in Paris, Illinois, as well as the company’s Signal Operations in Salem, Illinois, its Technology Research Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan and its Tool plant in Elberfeld, Indiana.
• NAL plans three additional implementations starting in mid-2016, including the company’s Forward Lighting Operations facility in Flora, Illinois, as well as Lighting Operations facilities in Flora, Illinois and Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

Comments on the News

“Moving to the Plex Manufacturing Cloud positions NAL for long-term growth and leadership in both product quality and customer service,” said Judy Nagy, corporate general manager and Plex project manager at North American Lighting. “Access to continuous ERP and MES innovation and real-time insight into business operations, so NAL’s teams can focus on building superior vehicle lighting products, providing exemplary customer services and growing the business.”

“North American Lighting’s organization-wide approach to evaluating and transforming their ERP solutions will enable them to optimize the value of the Plex Manufacturing Cloud,” said Doug Hockenbrocht, partner, Plante Moran. “Plex will enable NAL to retire numerous legacy systems, integrate the enterprise and its supply chain, and position the organization for continued growth”

“North American Lighting is a model for modern manufacturing leadership, investing in its people and technology to fuel continuous innovation, deliver superior products and exceptional levels of customer satisfaction in automotive lighting,” said Jason Blessing, Plex Systems CEO. “We are proud to be a part of NAL’s continued growth, powering their highly-advanced manufacturing facilities and delivering real-time, actionable intelligence across the business.”

About Plante Moran

 Plante Moran is among the nation's largest accounting, tax and consulting firms and provides a full line of services to organizations in the following industries: manufacturing and distribution, financial institutions, service, health care, private equity, public sector and real estate and construction. Plante Moran has a staff of more than 2,000 professionals in 23 offices throughout Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois with international offices in Shanghai, China; Monterrey, Mexico; and Mumbai, India. Plante Moran has been recognized by a number of organizations, including FORTUNE magazine, as one of the country's best places to work. Plante Moran has been a leading alliance partner with Plex for more than 9 years successfully completing dozens of implementations for thousands of users around the world.

About North American Lighting

 With headquarters in Paris, Illinois, North American Lighting (NAL) is the largest non-affiliated lighting supplier in North America. The company’s products include forward lighting systems, such as headlamps, fog lamps and auxiliary combination systems; and signal lighting systems, including rear combination lamps, tail lamps, backup lamps, license plate lamps and rear appliques. NAL has been manufacturing lighting products for the majority of vehicle manufacturers in North America since 1983. It has 5,300 employees across eight U.S. locations. NAL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd., of Japan.

About Plex

 Plex is the Manufacturing Cloud, delivering industry-leading ERP and manufacturing automation to more than 400 companies across process and discrete industries. Plex pioneered Cloud solutions for the shop floor, connecting suppliers, machines, people, systems and customers with capabilities that are easy to configure, deliver continuous innovation and reduce IT costs. With insight that starts on the production line, Plex helps companies see and understand every aspect of their business ecosystems, enabling them to lead in an ever-changing market. Learn more at www.plex.com.