Swedish Tech Firm Enters North American Market

Supply Chain Management solutions provider Syncron announced its expansion into North America. The company specializes in high-value products manufacturers and service parts operations.

Anders Gruden, CEO of Syncron, commented on the company's reason for entering the North American market saying, “It's the biggest market where global supply chain management decisions are made.”

Syncron, which was included in Deloitte's 500 Fastest Growing European Companies, offers software by license or software as a service (SaaS).

The company's focus is on technology to support global supply chain management and primary markets are in mining equipment, industrial equipment and automotive, according to Gruden. He describes the markets as high-value products with a long life. Aftermarket service parts are an important component of the company's business.

Syncron's solutions help manage global inventory and service parts planning along with order management and other functions, explains Gruden.

The company has six offices in Europe and has expanded into global coverage opening offices or operations in Tokyo, Australia, and North America. Partners include SAP and IBM.

Among the top challenges Gruden sees is the fragmented supply chain. In recent years, as it developed its product, Syncron created a service-oriented architecture geared to keeping existing global infrastructure and not trying to replace all of the various legacy systems. He cites one major automaker which has 80 different systems globally. There are fewer ERP systems, continues Gruden, so integrating on that level is easier. But, he cautions, even if two companies have both implemented SAP, the implementations will be different.

Gruden's position is that, properly managed, a company's IT investment can help move its supply chain management function from a cost center to a strategic asset.