CDC Software has announced a product called CDC Factory Express, billed as an “out-of-the-box” manufacturing operations management application meant to help single-plant food & beverage and consumer packaged goods manufacturers identify plant performance issues and improve efficiencies at a lower cost of deployment than the full-featured CDC Factory product.

The multi-plant functionality of the company’s CDC Factory flagship software was incorporated into CDC Factory Express, but tailored to the single-plant manufacturer, CDC said. CDC Factory Express features the “Factory Profit Audit,” a service that identifies specific financial opportunities and improvement targets for a plant before implementation begins.

“CDC Factory Express directly addresses the recessionary conditions and challenges facing many manufacturers today by offering a ‘back to basics,’ affordable solution that can deliver rapid performance improvements throughout a plant,” said Mark Sutcliffe, president of the CDC Factory product line.

CDC Factory Express includes two core modules, called Performance and Improve. The Performance module helps manufacturers pinpoint the causes of plant inefficiencies and provides feedback on operating metrics, including rate, yield, utilization, and per-unit cost, CDC said, while the Improve module enables a manufacturer to manage continuous improvement campaigns and helps measure the projected cost savings of potential improvements.