Solarsoft Enables Continuous Improvement at Starplex Scientific

Injection molder takes advantage of accurate, real-time information from Solarsoft MES for smart decision making.

For the last 15 years, Solarsoft's Mattec manufacturing execution and production monitoring system has continuously helped to improve efficiencies for Starplex Scientific, a manufacturer of plastic containers for the medical, health care and food and beverage industries.

Toronto, ON - July 21, 2011 - Solarsoft Business Systems, a leading provider of enterprise software and IT services to manufacturers worldwide, announced today that for the last 15 years its manufacturing execution and production monitoring system has continuously helped to improve efficiencies for Starplex Scientific, a manufacturer of plastic containers for the medical, health care and food and beverage industries.

"Years ago we decided we wanted to enhance our machine, scrap and production monitoring," says Gary Deans, Director of Operations at Starplex. "We wanted to move away from manual data entry and record keeping and take that next step towards better operating efficiency." After a thorough evaluation process, Starplex chose to take that next step with Solarsoft.

"One mouse click in Solarsoft's Mattec system shows us, on a machine-by-machine basis, the current status of our shop floor, what has to be done, where we can improve, and our future requirements," says Deans. "Mattec doesn't sleep. It captures everything we need 24/7."

Because of the medical nature of its products, Starplex doesn't use reclaimed scrap. It is imperative that Starplex maximizes the amount of virgin resin it turns into a saleable product. Starplex uses Mattec to identify areas of unnecessary waste or excessive scrap.

"As long as our personnel on the shop floor record the proper scrap codes using the Mattec touchscreen machine interface unit, we can focus on mitigating the top issues," says Deans. "Before Mattec I felt our scrap rate was excessive. With Solarsoft' Mattec system we've seen a dramatic decrease in our scrap, year over year."

Starplex uses Mattec data to maintain machine reliability. Mattec records the running status of all of its machines, which allows Starplex to analyze downtime, understand the reasons why a machine is down, and eliminate or mitigate it.

"Mattec logs every hour that a machine runs," says Deans. "Through machine history or industry standards we can determine the length of time between services. If we find that we have parts wearing out after 2,000 hours, we update our preventative maintenance program so that those parts are changed every 1,500 hours so that we don't experience unscheduled downtime.

Asked to sum up his experience with Solarsoft, Deans says "The Mattec system provides us with visibility to the entire organization, from the shop floor all the way up to the president. We have been able to optimize cycle efficiencies through the uptime, downtime and cycle time information it collects. Mattec gives us peace of mind because we know how our floor is performing, what we're currently doing, and how we're doing it. We now have accurate, real-time information for smart decision making."

About Solarsoft Business Systems
Solarsoft provides modern enterprise software and IT services to manufacturers, distributors and wholesale businesses in North America, Europe and Asia. The company has grown organically and through acquisition since 1986 and has worldwide revenues of US$100 million. Solarsoft employs more than 400 professionals providing local support across 16 time zones. More than 2,000 companies rely on Solarsoft to bring clarity and efficiency to their daily operations.