AUBURN HILLS ? Plex Systems continues to eye an initial public offering in 2012 as it reports a 30-percent revenue gain for fiscal 2011 in a year when many other Michigan companies struggled to break even.

Plex CEO Mark Symonds, in an interview with MITechNews.Com Editor Mike Brennan, said, ?We?re watching the market and looking to determine what the best timing would be. Let?s say it?s still under consideration.?

Symonds told Brennan in an interview last year the company hoped to go public on Wall Street this year.

?There are a lot of factors involved,? he said. ?But we have a new CFO who has experience with IPOs.?

While the privately held company does not report revenues and profits, Symonds acknowledged that 2011 revenues were in the ?$40-million range,? up from the low $30-million range in 2010. Plex Systems provides Plex Online, a cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning software for manufacturers.

?We?re growing consistently,? Symonds said, ?year-end, and year-out, even during 2009 we posted sales gains. We?re continuing to make customers successful and make manufacturing competitive in the United States.

?In 2011, a growing number of manufacturers from diverse industries embraced the Cloud ERP model to dramatically improve their operations and lower their costs,? he said. “Our community of Plex Online users improved their profitability, streamlined business processes and reduced waste as they helped drive the continuing evolution of the Plex Online software to meet their manufacturing needs. With their input, we continue to innovate, adding features and modules to Plex Online that are valuable to the entire manufacturing community.?

While Plex has focused a lot of its attention on the auto industry, this year the company will also put more effort into gaining a foothold among food processors, thanks to the Food Safety Modernization Act, which requires food processors to better track recalls. Symonds said the only way for food processors to meet these new standards is through automation. ?And our solution is the best.?

Plex also is putting some effort into penetrating the electronics market, Symonds said. In 2011, Plex landed Invensys Controls, its first electronic manufacturer. Plex also has added a presence in Germany, a big auto manufacturing center, and signed a native partner in China. Plex added 45 new customers in 2011 as a result.

All this new business prompted Plex to add 41 new employees in 2011. The corporate headcount now is up to 215 employees. Symonds said the company plans to hire about 65 new employees this year to keep up with rapid growth. There are openings for software developers, project managers, consultants, sales and marketing specialists. If you?re looking to join Plex, email your resume to [email protected].

The only problem Plex faces is having its employees spread out over two buildings in Auburn Hills. So the company has been shopping for 200,000 square feet of space in Troy, where Symonds said there are a lot of empty office towers.

?Troy is a nice central location for our employees,” he said. “We want to keep them happy.?

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