Auburn Hills-based Plexus Systems Inc.'s flagship product, Plexus Online, is a manufacturing performance system that utilizes an on-line platform. It controls an entire plant's operations from the assembly line to administrative by utilizing data gathered from the shop floor. Patrick Fetterman, vice president of marketing, describes the product as one that "ties together everything from the shop floor to the top floor."
In 2006, the company grew 50% in revenue and 35% in staffing, to 100 employees. Fetterman expects the number of employees to grow another 35-45% this year. The growth is due to a continual addition of clients to its already impressive roster of manufacturers -- 350 across the globe, including American Axle & Manufacturing, Metaldyne and Oneda.
A just-added client, North Carolina-based FAS Controls Inc. is a typical example of a Plexus client: a midsize (read: annual revenues of $75 million - $1 billion) manufacturer looking for a flexible, quality-controlled tracking and monitoring system for its facility.
In 2006, Plexus teamed up with Apax Partners, a global private equity company with holdings of over $20 billion. This partnership helps Plexus "sell with confidence," says Fetterman, explaining that larger manufacturers often hesitate to work with small- and mid-sized companies. "Having this backing takes that concern off the table." He says Plexus is now beginning to target the larger Tier One market: "We're moving in that direction."
Fetterman, a Michigan native, returned to the area in 2006 to work with Plexus after having been based in New York and elsewhere. Now living in Rochester Hills, he says he is thrilled to be back home. "The quality of life available in Michigan, especially for someone raising children, is some of the best in the country."
He believes in the quality of the business climate in Michigan, too. "Our CEO would make a very strong argument that this is the very best place in the country for us to be located." Citing the area's manufacturing expertise, he says, "There are software designers all over the country." Finding them with manufacturing expertise, however, "leads to a specific geography."
Source: Patrick Fetterman, Plexus
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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