von Blitz Design LLC exists for the purpose of solving problems.
It draws on my decades of professional experience in a variety of roles and industries, and is guided by my personal motto:
"It has to be done right."
It draws on my decades of professional experience in a variety of roles and industries, and is guided by my personal motto:
"It has to be done right."
My most relevant history begins in 1991 when I was hired as a tooling and process design engineer at MSP Industries, a Tier 1 automotive supplier of forged drivetrain components. MSP is where Plex, then known as Plexus, was originally developed as an in-house ERP system. By ‘91 Plexus was running nearly every aspect of MSP Industries, and became my primary engineering tool. As a superuser many of my suggestions led to substantial system improvements.
In 1994 MSP acquired a CNC machining company that was bankrupt due to abysmal quality, with a scrap rate of 25% and a consequent inability to maintain delivery schedules.
I was installed as Chief Engineer and immediately implemented Plexus – the first time it had ever been transplanted from MSP, where it hadn’t been implemented so much as organically grown.
In a matter of weeks I reduced the scrap rate to less than 1%, where it remained for the balance of my tenure. This was accomplished by implementing Plex process routings and control plans, and by making a critical process design improvement informed by my experience as a precision machinist and toolmaker which background had served me well as an engineer.
Testimony to the value of that experience -- and my personal motto -- was given by an MSP forging press operator who said:
In 1994 MSP acquired a CNC machining company that was bankrupt due to abysmal quality, with a scrap rate of 25% and a consequent inability to maintain delivery schedules.
I was installed as Chief Engineer and immediately implemented Plexus – the first time it had ever been transplanted from MSP, where it hadn’t been implemented so much as organically grown.
In a matter of weeks I reduced the scrap rate to less than 1%, where it remained for the balance of my tenure. This was accomplished by implementing Plex process routings and control plans, and by making a critical process design improvement informed by my experience as a precision machinist and toolmaker which background had served me well as an engineer.
Testimony to the value of that experience -- and my personal motto -- was given by an MSP forging press operator who said:
"John, I like working with your tools. They don't explode."
In a plant where the failure of someone else's tool set sent a 9 inch serrated dagger of hardened steel flying from a 2500 ton forging press (fortunately without decapitating anyone), the compliment was utterly serious and profoundly meaningful.
To this day it remains my favorite professional accolade.
By 1997 Plexus Systems had been spun off as a software company. I joined as an application developer and ultimately system architect for what were then custom client server ERP systems. I crafted one of the best -- perhaps the best -- of that generation of Plexus systems, and delivered fundamental innovations to purchasing, EDI, and other "standard" modules.
But the custom systems were soon phased out in favor of our cloud solution, and by 2007 I was working exclusively as an implementation project manager. One of my earliest implementations set a record for time-to-launch that stood unbroken for years.
In 2011 Plex initiated a product management team, of which I became a charter member. As the team grew during the following decade, my responsibilities came to focus on the Quality Management System (QMS) and Product Data Management / Product Lifecycle Management (PDM/PLM) modules.
I also played a critical role throughout the product lifecycle of the Lot Management System -- I'm directly responsible of many of its key innovations and am almost certainly the world's foremost expert on it.
But last December (yet another victim of the COVID economy) I was among many Plexians let go during a substantial “Reduction In Force”.
My response was to do something I’d always figured was in my back pocket: leverage my professional experience as an independent technology consultant. There was no question my reputation among Plex subscribers would be a significant asset.
The results so far are promising indeed.
I landed my first customer 2 days after establishing the LLC, and in my first month delivered a custom dashboard built entirely from native Plex technology -- the SQL Development Environment where a new set of queries tailored specifically to the needs and desires of my customer are made available for users via the VisionPlex user interface rendering engine.
I think it's accurate to say that what I've built was very much "per their concept" yet also "beyond their expectations".
It's also a sign of greater things yet to come: expanding the value of the Plex Cloud Manufacturing Cloud for subscribers by building sophisticated, custom reporting and analytics which simply can't be provided as standard capabilities of the Plex system.
To this day it remains my favorite professional accolade.
By 1997 Plexus Systems had been spun off as a software company. I joined as an application developer and ultimately system architect for what were then custom client server ERP systems. I crafted one of the best -- perhaps the best -- of that generation of Plexus systems, and delivered fundamental innovations to purchasing, EDI, and other "standard" modules.
But the custom systems were soon phased out in favor of our cloud solution, and by 2007 I was working exclusively as an implementation project manager. One of my earliest implementations set a record for time-to-launch that stood unbroken for years.
In 2011 Plex initiated a product management team, of which I became a charter member. As the team grew during the following decade, my responsibilities came to focus on the Quality Management System (QMS) and Product Data Management / Product Lifecycle Management (PDM/PLM) modules.
I also played a critical role throughout the product lifecycle of the Lot Management System -- I'm directly responsible of many of its key innovations and am almost certainly the world's foremost expert on it.
But last December (yet another victim of the COVID economy) I was among many Plexians let go during a substantial “Reduction In Force”.
My response was to do something I’d always figured was in my back pocket: leverage my professional experience as an independent technology consultant. There was no question my reputation among Plex subscribers would be a significant asset.
The results so far are promising indeed.
I landed my first customer 2 days after establishing the LLC, and in my first month delivered a custom dashboard built entirely from native Plex technology -- the SQL Development Environment where a new set of queries tailored specifically to the needs and desires of my customer are made available for users via the VisionPlex user interface rendering engine.
I think it's accurate to say that what I've built was very much "per their concept" yet also "beyond their expectations".
It's also a sign of greater things yet to come: expanding the value of the Plex Cloud Manufacturing Cloud for subscribers by building sophisticated, custom reporting and analytics which simply can't be provided as standard capabilities of the Plex system.
"von Blitz" means "of Lightning"
The fundamental characteristics of “lightning” epitomize how I aspire my services to be perceived.
Success will mean my services are known by their:
- Energy
- Speed
- and Brilliance
Q: And precisely what do I design?
A: What do you need designed?
Let's talk! If I don't have good ideas about how to approach your needs, I'll try to connect you with someone who does!