Rockwell buys ‘cloud-native’ smart manufacturing platform

Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Rockwell Automation, Inc. has completed the acquisition of Plex Systems, a cloud-native smart manufacturing platform.

In a 1 Sept statement, Rockwell said Plex offers “the only single-instance, multi-tenant Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) manufacturing platform operating at scale.”

Plex’s technology, according to Rockwell, includes advanced manufacturing execution systems, quality, and supply chain management capabilities. 

The company will be integrated into Rockwell’s software and control operating segment which provides hardware and software offerings for the design, operation, and maintenance of production automation and management systems.

As part of this, Plex’s smart manufacturing platform will be integrated into Rockwell’s FactoryTalk suite to deliver ‘industrial and digital transformation’.

“Plex Systems joins Rockwell at the perfect time, as more customers are starting to move their industrial applications to the cloud,” said Blake Moret, chairman and CEO of Rockwell Automation. 

Rockwell said it would leverage its ‘global market access and complementary industry expertise’ to further differentiate Plex’s software capabilities.

“This will allow us to better serve our customers with cloud-native solutions that are easy to implement, use, and maintain,” added Moret.

Plex currently serves 700 customers across sectors such as automotive parts, metal fabrication, electronics, food & beverage, and aerospace.