Syncra Release Addresses Promotions Management

Compiled ByJill Jusko Collaborative solutions provider Syncra Systems Inc. says its newest release will be a boon to manufacturers and retailers subject to the supply-chain volatility that typically leads to out-of-stock items and excess inventory. Syncra Events helps both manufacturers and retailers coordinate the details and lifecycle of temporary price reductions, new product introductions and other special events that can dramatically impact product demand. The new application helps collaborative volume planning and logistics, handles exceptions as they occur and evaluates performance to improve future promotional events, the Dallas-based technology company says. Syncra Events is implemented in conjunction with Syncra Xt, Syncra's open value-chain collaboration platform. Syncra Xt supports applications that address collaborative demand planning, continuous replenishment, and collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (CPFR). "Many of our customers, both U.S. and European-based, are primarily interested in improving the performance of promotional events, and this tool is laying a foundation for doing just that," says Mark Jamison, vice president of consumer logistics, Kimberly-Clark Corp. "Certainly synchronizing promotional information has proven to be the area where CPFR has had the most obvious positive impact." Syncra's value-chain technology has been developed using open Internet, database and data interchange technologies, the company says.