About 225 users representing 120 manufacturing companies gathered recently in Cleveland to hear the current state and future plans of Plex Systems, Inc., an on-demand provider of enterprise software for manufacturing. What they heard was a wide-ranging plan to grow the Plex software product in the months ahead, as well as a commentary on the success of the software-as-a-service model for software delivery itself.

Mark Symonds, Plex president and CEO, told attendees that, while he did plan for some customers to liquidate and close plants as a result of the recession, Plex had a strong 2008 and first half of 2009. He said that revenue at Plex, a privately held company, grew 33% in 2008, adding 50 new customers, and 18% in the first half of 2009. He is projecting 53 new customers for all of 2009. The company’s customer base, measured in what it calls subscribing business units, now stands at 350. The automotive sector represents 66% of the base.

In his opening remarks, Symonds said he is often asked about Plex’s exposure to the automotive industry. “For the most part, the crisis has spawned opportunity,” he said. Case in point: Plex recently signed its largest licensing deal ever, a contract with Royal Oak Industries, a manufacturer of engine blocks for heavy equipment. The Plex system will be used in a new factory being built by Caterpillar, which has brought in Royal Oak to run the new facility, Symonds said.

Nevertheless, Symonds, in an interview, said that a year from now, the automotive sector will probably account for 45% to 50% of Plex’s base, with medical device, pharmaceutical, and food and beverage companies occupying more of the mix.

Plex’s results stand in marked contrast to the difficulties a host of on-premise ERP suppliers are having during the recession, a difference not lost on Plex customers attending the Cleveland conference. “The company really has a lot of legs,” said Ronald Zilkowski, chief financial officer of Cuisine Solutions. “They have the model figured out.”

That’s not to say that the model will stand still. Symonds outlined six key areas in which Plex will make improvements: infrastructure, including more real-time reporting capabilities in the system; compliance, such as with the International Financial Reporting Standards; application productivity, potentially including support for mobile devices; integration, with such services as FedX, as well as with on-premise ERP systems such as SAP; sustainability; and tools, including report writers.