AUBURN HILLS ? Plex Systems, which provides Plex Online, cloud ERP for manufacturers, reported a 24 percent increase in revenue for the second quarter ? proceeded by a 30.6 percent revenue increase in the first quarter. CEO Mark Symonds said his company?s financial performance keeps it on track for a possible Initial Public Offering in 2013.
?IPO risk is lower the bigger you are as a company,? Symonds told MITechNews.Com Editor Mike Brennan. ?We want to be worthy of going public. The key thing is to run ourselves with proper governance. But we don?t envision an IPO in 2012. Perhaps 2013.?
Certainly going public on Wall Street would make Francisco Partners, which announced in June it would buy Plex, very happy, giving it a tremendous return on its investment.
?Francisco Partners likes what we?re doing,? he said. ?They are definitely looking for ways to help us step up growth.?
Terms of the Francisco Partners deal were not announced. Nor have dollar amounts for Plex?s revenue and profits. But some industry experts estimates revenues at about $50 million on an annualized basis. Profitability is harder to estimate since Plex pours a lot of money back into expansion and new product development.
In the second quarter, the company grew by adding 13 new customers and 25 employees. It now has 245 people on staff, an increase of 40 since the beginning of the year, and continues to recruit professionals in technology, sales and marketing.
To accommodate all of these new folks, Plex signed a lease on the 900 Tower on Crooks Road in north Troy, a building that is largely vacant. Symonds said Plex has committed to occupying a few floors initially, but as the lease on the two buildings it now occupies in Auburn Hills expire, he hopes to consolidate everyone in Troy. In any case, the Troy building becomes Plex?s new corporate headquarters in October.
Plex began life focused on providing ERP manufacturing solutions for the auto industry, but since has expanded into other growth markets, including food processing and electronics.
?The auto supply chain has been terrific for us,? Symonds said. ?We?re the best fit on the market for auto suppliers. We?ll have a big customer announcement soon in this area. We?re reporting more customer wins, more successes. Everyone is happy with Plex.?
Including Accuride Corporation, a leading supplier of components to the commercial vehicle industry. Accuride announced on Aug. 6 that it will deploy Plex Systems? software-as-a-service, cloud enterprise resource planning solution across its core operations.
As it implements the Plex Online ERP system, Accuride will consolidate from seven separate systems running more than 200 applications to one ERP system. As a result, Accuride will centralize shared information, standardize systems and processes, enable secure remote access, and utilize robust data collection, reporting and other tools.
In addition, at its 11th annual PowerPlex user conference, Plex Systems welcomed more than 700 customers and announced two enhancements of Plex Online that are important to Plex Systems customers:
IntelliPlex ? a business intelligence tool that enables the creation of sophisticated reports and dashboards to help manufacturers make immediate, data-driven decisions
Plex Online community driven development ? a collaborative ecosystem consisting of Plex Online users, Plex Systems partners and Plex Systems developers
Also at PowerPlex the company raised a total of $22,012 through a silent auction featuring donated items; rides in an authentic Indy-style car; and other activities for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan. The money raised, which exceeded the company?s goal, will allow the dreams of four seriously ill children to come true.
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