BIC

BIC, the global consumer goods manufacturer known for stationery, lighters, and shavers, operated across multiple manufacturing facilities with no standardized production data infrastructure. Each site ran independently, relying on paper-based systems that kept workers and managers isolated from real-time operational data. Without a unified data source, production planning, inventory tracking, and quality metrics existed in silos — making cross-site benchmarking impossible. In consumer goods manufacturing, where high-volume, high-velocity production demands tight coordination, this fragmentation translated directly into reduced visibility, inconsistent shop-floor performance, and limited ability to respond to production variances before they affected output.

In December 2020, BIC signed a multi-site MES subscription agreement with Plex and Rockwell Automation, deploying Plex MES as a cloud-based, standardized platform across its manufacturing facilities. The implementation replaced paper-based workflows with a connected digital backbone, enabling real-time data capture at the shop-floor level through IoT sensors and connected worker interfaces. Plex MES integrated production scheduling, inventory tracking, and quality management into a single system of record accessible across all sites. Rockwell Automation provided the technology partnership and deployment infrastructure, bringing their industrial automation expertise to ensure Plex MES integrated cleanly with existing production equipment. The cloud delivery model allowed BIC to standardize processes enterprise-wide without deploying separate on-premise systems at each facility.

The most direct outcome was a significant increase in transactional throughput: BIC now records more than 100,000 finished good part transactions per single shift — a figure that reflects both the scale of operations now visible to the system and the speed of data capture enabled by connected shop-floor infrastructure. Beyond raw transaction volume, the deployment delivered simultaneous improvements across multiple operational dimensions:

• OEE improvement across manufacturing sites
• Full traceability from raw materials through to finished goods, achieved without custom development
• Real-time shop-floor visibility replacing manual, delayed paper reporting
• Workforce connectivity across previously siloed sites, enabling consistent performance management

• Cloud MES eliminates site-specific paper silos without requiring a custom integration at every facility — standardization at the platform level is the leverage point.
• Full raw material-to-finished-product traceability is achievable out of the box with modern MES platforms; it does not require bespoke development.
• OEE and data infrastructure improvements are not sequential — deploying a unified data layer drives both simultaneously.
• Enterprise-wide MES subscriptions (vs. site-by-site licenses) reduce deployment friction and align cross-site teams around shared metrics from day one.
• IoT-enabled transaction capture at shift scale (100,000+ events) requires a cloud-native architecture; on-premise systems at this volume introduce significant maintenance overhead.