Managing Automation - September 2007 - (Page 28)

[ COMPANIES TO WATCH] supply chain SYNCHRONO, INC.: Reality-Based Planning Boosts Efficiency ynchrono, Inc., founded in 1999 to help manufacturers improve customer service levels, reduce inventories, and increase throughput, is the developer of Adaptive Manufacturing, a software product that enables continuous, real-time supply chain planning and execution. CEO David Dehne, who joined the company in 2005, says Synchrono’s demand-driven, pull-based system brings real-time visibility into discrete manufacturing environments, helping customers deal with variability and increase throughput. “We create predictability by pacing the operations to align with customer orders in production,” Dehne says. “We allow manufacturers to drive an on-time delivery performance in the 95% and above area.” Synchrono’s software sits on top of legacy ERP systems. “We interface with 25 to 30 ERP systems,” Dehne says. Synchrono works from the factory out, synchronizing demand data, rather than just integrating it, to enable adaptive manufacDavid Dehne turing, says Lora Cesere, research director CEO of consumer products, at AMR Research Inc. “Before this, we’ve had fixed manufacturing because we didn’t have better demand signals,” she says. “With this product, manufacturers can move the work to different factories or work cells, based on realistic customer commitments.” S Regarding upcoming projects, Synchrono is working on an “adaptive profit,” or profit optimization, product. “This will let you shape the demand, based on profitability by customer or product. You’ll know ahead of time what the profitability will be so you can pull in demand based on that,” Dehne explains. This knowledge will help manufacturers set priorities and ensure that they “produce the right thing for the right margin.” More immediately, Synchrono expects this month to announce a series of partnership agreements with implementers and resellers. Three of those companies have global reach, Dehne says. — Emily-Sue Sloane i YEAR FOUNDED: 1999 PRODUCT NAME AND CATEGORY: Adaptive Manufacturing/ supply chain management and planning INDUSTRY SEGMENTS SERVED: Discrete manufacturing (make-to-order, engineer-to-order, configure-to-order) KEY PROBLEM SOLVED: Fulfills a need to integrate planning and scheduling with execution in real time vs. a batch production plan DIFFERENTIATION: Enables companies to manage real-world manufacturing, including variability, without the need for recalculations TOP CUSTOMERS: Titanium Metals Corp., Kappa, ColorTree FUNDING: Private, cash-flow positive demand management TERRA TECHNOLOGY: Removing Supply Chain Guesswork T erra Technology was founded in March 2001 to give manufacturers a structured way to improve their demand forecasting accuracy. The company’s Demand Sensing and Inventory Optimization software products interpret demand data in real time to generate intelligent daily forecasts and smooth supply chain operations. “We’re looking at the latest downstream data and adjusting forecasts every day, by location,” rather than weekly or monthly and drawing only on historical data, says Robert Byrne, Terra’s president and CEO. Analyzing YEAR FOUNDED: 2001 PRODUCT NAME AND CATEGORY: Demand Sensing and Inventory Optimization/supply chain INDUSTRY SEGMENTS SERVED: Consumer products, pharmaceutical KEY PROBLEM SOLVED: Provides more accurate forecasts and inventory targets DIFFERENTIATION: Forecasts are adjusted daily, in every location, based on real-time downstream data TOP CUSTOMERS: Procter & Gamble, Campbell Soup, Ventura Foods FUNDING: Bootstrapped, no VCs i order or point-of-sale data provides an upto-date demand picture that can then be used to generate more accurate forecasts. The results: a more stable supply chain, less inventory, more accurate deployment, less transportation, and less warehousing. “We’re cutting forecast error by roughly 50%,” he adds. Robert Byrne Procter & Gamble began using Terra’s President and CEO Demand Sensing and Inventory Optimization products over a year ago in a pilot project in Western Europe. Thanks to Terra’s software, P&G reduced its safety stock by more than 15%. “We have a very, very big business. That kind of saving is significant,” reports Mark Kremblewski, global business expert, demand planning. “This is the only [project] with absolutely true, verifiable, proven results that I’ve seen,” Kremblewski says. Terra’s products make it “easier to take the savings to the bottom line,” he says, and “actually make the life of the user easier.” P&G is expanding its use of Terra’s products in Europe and North America. Looking ahead, Terra’s Byrne says: “The next interesting area for us is transportation forecasting. A lot of people don’t have enough visibility into their lane volume.” With accurate forecasts of shipping volume and destinations, customers can save money by reserving transport and negotiating pricing in advance. — Emily-Sue Sloane ma September 28 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - September 2007

Contents Take 1 Europe’s Automation Chiefs Upbeat on ’08 Business Prospects Vendor Coalition Pushes Human Element of SOA Wireless: Users Still Approaching with Caution One Year Later, IBM Shows Plan for MRO’s Maximo Study: More Work Needed to Lure Next-Gen Talent Executive Q&A Notes Cover Story: 2008 Companies to Watch Special Report: The 2007 Progressive Manufacturing High Achievers Progressive Manufacturer of the Year Business Model Mastery Innovation Mastery Customer Mastery Supply Network Mastery Data & Integration Mastery Education & Training Mastery Operational Excellence Mastery Leadership Mastery Transformation: Orchestrating the Multi-Tier Supply Network Integration: The Timeless Quest for Accurate Data Industries: Maintenance No Longer on Schedule Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - September 2007

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