ReleaseWire Connect

Kirk Studdiford manages customer and partner relationships by providing support, post go-live consulting services, and training at Synchrono. Prior to this role, Studdiford worked as a delivery consultant and managed several successful Synchrono implementations. Studdiford has more than fifteen years' experience working in manufacturing and more than eight years with Synchrono. He is a subject matter expert in ERP, MRP, supply chain, manufacturing planning and scheduling systems, and constraints management.

For almost twenty years, Synchrono systems have helped discrete manufacturers, engineer-to-order (ETO) manufacturers, and others manage constraints, improve flow and drive on-time production. Synchrono was recently profiled in Supply Chain 247 magazine. Using a demand-driven manufacturing (DDM) approach, Synchrono SyncManufacturing software drives ETO manufacturing production based on actual demand rather than outdated forecasts. SyncManufacturing enables a synchronized, closed loop between customer orders, production scheduling and manufacturing execution – all while simultaneously coordinating the flow of materials and resources across the supply chain. The terms Pull-based manufacturing and Just-in-Time (JIT) manufacturing are also used within the context of DDM and the flow of materials.

Lean manufacturing and continuous process improvement is an intentional, ongoing practice of eliminating waste and improving services and procedures to increase production flow, customer satisfaction, quality, safety, and profit. According to Synchrono, since systematic processes like Lean and continuous improvement are quantified through ongoing, measurable gains, monitoring actionable metrics is key. Actionable metrics are measurements that manufacturers can quickly take action on to improve results.

When integrated under the Synchrono Demand-Driven Manufacturing Platform, lean and demand-driven initiatives achieve new levels of excellence, transforming businesses by synchronizing people, processes, machines, materials, and data to drive production flow from order inception to delivery. Synchrono Best Practice eKanban Technology, a component of the Demand-Driven Manufacturing Platform, was recently featured in SupplyChain247.

Dehne's business sense and passion for business-enabling technology come together perfectly at Synchrono. Dehne has spent his career leading world-class teams while building and managing successful software products. Prior to Synchrono, Dehne held the title of Senior VP, Operations, at Sagebrush Corporation. He has held a series of management and executive roles, including Managing Director, at Tripletree LLP, Director of Sales at Ciber, Senior Manager at Price Waterhouse LLP, and Program Manager of Kroll Ontrack.

Dehne's business sense and passion for business-enabling technology come together perfectly at Synchrono. Dehne has spent his career leading world-class teams while building and managing successful software products. Prior to Synchrono, Dehne held the title of Senior VP, Operations, at Sagebrush Corporation. He has held a series of management and executive roles, including Managing Director, at Tripletree LLP, Director of Sales at Ciber, Senior Manager at Price Waterhouse LLP, and Program Manager of Kroll Ontrack.

John Maher, Vice President of Product Strategy at Synchrono, is a leader in demand-driven manufacturing software systems. In this role, he defines and drives the product roadmap for the company, leading the software development and consulting services organizations.

Supply chain visibility matters to the bottom line. Synchrono (www.synchrono.com) demand-driven manufacturing software synchronizes complex manufacturing environments in real-time, to drive business results.

Building trust in the supply chain is essential to driving flow; and when there are forecast errors, there is an inherent mistrust throughout the supply chain, according to Synchrono. Lack of collaboration is often the cornerstone of conflict, blame, and mistrust between a manufacturer and suppliers. These communication breakdowns lead to finger-pointing when forecast errors and disputes arise. The manufacturer contends the supplier did not acknowledge the material purchase orders, or ship on-time as promised. The supplier argues that the purchase order was not received or duplicated or rejected or went missing-in-action.

SKU proliferation is a significant issue in manufacturing. Manufacturing steel wires that range in diameter from the width of a hair to the width of a finger – and every millimeter in between, combined with different packaging options, customer specifications and multiple machine requirements, result in a product line of 10,000 items. Throw in the fact that raw materials vary for each of those items and the daily challenge faced by Sumiden Wire Products Corporation begins to emerge. The process of taking orders and tracking them was incredibly burdensome and time-consuming.