Getting To Know You ...

It's that time 'Getting to know you' time of the month again and this month is all about Shane Allen .....

Name: Shane Allen.

Job Title: Head of North American Operations.

How long have you worked for Synchro ERP?

5+ years.

What is the best part of your job? 

Working with a great group of people.  Working in the foundry industry.

Describe yourself in 3 words:

ни шагу назад! - Not a Step Back!

What did you have for breakfast this morning?:

Multiple cups of coffee and kolaches (Pastry with fruit inside)

What is your favourite food?

Boiled Jumbo Shrimp

What do you dislike most?

Eggs

Who is the most precious person to you?

Family, Friends, Pets

Who is your famous idol?

Stephen Covey is my mentor.

What is your favourite book?

7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

What is your favourite film?

Tombstone

If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go and why?

Россия - Russia - the Motherland - the land of the Tsars. Fascinating land and people with rich history of the Tsars that has overcome much through the millennium’s and survives in harsh conditions.  Taking the Trans-Siberian railroad from St. Petersburg and picking up the Trans-Mongolian railroad to Ulan Bator to go snow skiing in Mongolia, then returning to the Trans-Siberian railroad to Vladivostok.  Making many stops along the way.  During the dead of winter.

  

Shane works from our American office dealing mainly with sales but i'm sure many of you would have spoken to him on the phone at some point.

Simon and Richy were visiting one of our Indian Foundries recently and they saw this Monkey, Upon investigation they were told that keeping the  Monkey  on site stopped any other Monkeys getting in. Pretty cool guard dog I thought!

Most of Team Synchro are busy preparing to fly out to St Louis in the next few days ready for CastExpo - I cant believe its only 8 days away!! Everyone that's going hopes to see you at our booth #1463.

Over here in Germany i'm pleased to say the snow has gone! I'm keeping everything crossed we wont see it again until next winter!!

It has been a stressful week for us Leah was taken into hospital on Sunday night with the Rota-virus, She had to have 3 infusions via a drip, She was so good bless her and even though the nurse had to come in and check her every hour she was very co operative, lots of cuddles helped her through and she was so pleased to get a Raddit (Rabbit) plaster when she left.

Thank you all for your lovely get well messages for Leah on Facebook, She is home now and nearly back to her normal cheeky,funny,sometimes naughty self!!

Biscuit's growing fast and we have decided that he probably needs a new bed!!

Hope you all have a great week.

Victoria x

Head Of Social Media

Synchro ERP.

2 Weeks!!!!

WOW only 2 weeks till CastExpo!! 

We are all so excited about CastExpo here at Synchro ERP and we have all worked extremely hard in preparation for it don't forget to stop by out booth and meet some of our amazing team.

You could also get some nice chocolates or maybe even a T-shirt ;)

This week Team Synchro have been busy as ever....

Simon and Richy have been training a customer over in India. 

Jean-Marie has been in the office remotely training a new customer in China.

Lee and Jon have been busy supporting our lovely customers as usual.

MD Chris Collins has been hard at work with many new system additions and amendments and he has also produced an editorial about the latest modules we are putting into our System.

And everyone else is busy with CastExpo preparations.

Over here in Germany I was hoping the snow was a distant memory and Spring would soon be on the way until i looked out of the window on Tuesday morning ....

Even though I am fed up of wading through snow now you cant deny it is pretty.

Biscuit is settling in well - It is like having another baby! ...

The CastExpo competition is proving very popular, Please make sure you enter and you could win a Microsoft Surface Tablet! You can find all the details on our Facebook page.

Remember to check in next week for our monthly 'Getting to know you' This month it's all about Shane Allen.

Have a great week.

Victoria x

Head Of Social Media
Synchro ERP

Snakes Alive, Excitement is Building...

 Howdy from Texas, where everything is covered in green and yellow pollen,

Spring has definitely sprung, but as the Pecan trees have not started budding, I'm sure another freeze is due.

The excitement is building up to a fervor pace as CastExpo in St. Louis is rapidly approaching.  Only 17 days until the gates open.  My prediction is that this show will have a huge attendance, perhaps record breaking!  Everyone I talk to is planning on stopping by the Synchro ERP booth# 1463 to meet the team - and what a team we will have on-hand!  We will have some great promotional items and will be doing on-the-booth demonstrations!  This is the big one.

If you are a metalcaster, you need to be at CastExpo 2013 and you need to be at the Synchro ERP booth!  Bring your tennis shoes, as you don't want to be in your metatarsals. I was just talking to someone in Louisiana and they mentioned being sure to pack their tennis shoes!

Until next time, see you on down the road in St. Louis.

Shane Allen
Head of Synchro ERP North American Operations

How Much?

 Howdy from Texas,

"The Cloud...The Cloud"...  talk about "The Cloud" is everywhere.  Move your business operations to the cloud.  There is no need to have local servers, everything can be done from the cloud.  You can do it much cheaper from the cloud.

However...

I was looking into the hotel the Synchro ERP team will be staying at, as I wanted the address.  The Crowne Plaza downtown St Louis.  This is part of the IHG - InterContinental Hotels Group.  This group includes Holiday Inn Express and Holiday Inn, amongst others.

Guess what...  In the middle of Friday afternoon, with Spring Break in full force, you can not make a reservation...  Talk about bad timing.  I have a feeling that there are many travel reservations made on Friday afternoons...  Ok, so, what do you do if you need a room for this weekend?  In this age of instant communications on the Wild West Web, you would go to a different hotel chain...

How much is this group losing by the minute in reservations for the weekend?

This is what scares me the most about having your mission critical operations in the cloud.  When I worked at Texas Foundries, Friday's were always huge shipment days and if the AS400 or network was down, then we couldn't ship.  No ASN's through EDI could be sent, no barcodes could be printed, no BOL or packing slips.   In short, the foundry was at a standstill as it is not possible to ship without access to the computer system.   At Texas Foundries, if a shipment went out and was delivered without the proper paperwork and ASN, the shipment would either be returned or we would be charged a penalty...

Before you put all of your eggs in one basket and look towards the sky...  give it some hard thought...  some hard thought about how much money you are willing to risk losing by migrating to the cloud... 

This isn't some mom & pop hotel chain, this is THE HOTEL CHAIN.

Until Next Time,

See you On Down the Road in St. Louis...

Shane Allen
Head of Synchro ERP North American Operations

22

Twenty-two days till CastExpo in St. Louis.

Synchro ERP @ CastExpo

Yes, my garage serves as the staging area for the shipment! 

Until Next Time, see you on down the road in St. Louis.

Shane Allen

Head of Synchro ERP North American Operations

Biscuits ...

Good afternoon all.

I hope your week has been an enjoyable one? 

I would firstly like to introduce you to the latest addition to our family here in Germany ..

Biscuit!!

Biscuit is 9 weeks old and such a cute cheeky chap! Leah thinks he is great and we are so happy they will grow up together and i'm sure they'll be the best of friends.

Team Synchro have been busy as usual this week and I am delighted to announce we have smashed our 100 likes target for comic relief by gaining 106 likes. 

Thank you everyone for sharing and helping us get there Synchro ERP will now be donating £100 to Comic Relief.

Shane Allen has been busy packing everything up for CastExpo this week ...

CastExpo '13 - 6th - 9th April 2013

St. Louis, Missouri

Booth  # 1463

Don't forget to stop by our booth if you're going, We have lots of exciting things to give away and you can meet a few members of Team Synchro too.

We would all like to wish Denise Kitchen a fond farewell from Erie Bronze. 

Denise said of Synchro ERP - "You set the bar for customer service and I appreciate how you made my job easier"

We sent her some flowers to wish her well and had a lovely email back saying - "Oh my goodness.I just received the flowers from all of you.thank you!! They are beautiful. You are a great group of people and I truly wish nothing but the best for you.THANK YOU!!"

Also a big well done to Ken Barnes for winning a 8GB USB Memory stick in a tin through the Facebook competition - Remember to pop over and LIKE our page and you could be the next winner.

Please feel free to share with us on our Facebook page your Comic Relief pictures or any other interesting Stories/Pictures etc. 

David Rose one of our customers sent us in a great picture this week of his weekend antics! .....

Looks like fun!!!

Anyway I wish you all a wonderful week.

Victoria x

In It To Win It ...

Hope your all well this week?

The sun has been out here in Germany and everyone seems to be cheering up! 

As ever, we have been busy again this week and I have a few exciting things to tell you .. 

Synchro ERP are proud to announce that they have given 2 loans through Kiva ..

Kiva are a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. 
Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.

Let me tell you about our two loans ..

In this Group: Rashida, Zubaida, Shakila, Razia, Shahnaz, Hamida

Rashida makes and sells plastic hand fans. She has a son who also works and contributes financially to the family. She couldn’t educate her only son due to financial constraints but she now feels satisfaction that he is learning more skills in his profession and doing well.
She has applied for a loan from KIVA partner Asasah for further expansion of her business. With the loan, she will buy plastic and a plastic molding machine. This will help her increase her sales by making a larger quantity of fans.

And ...

Stanley is a single man. He describes himself to be a hardworking and trust worthy man. He operates a motorcycle where he provides transportation services. His business is located in a suitable and viable business area and his primary customers are local residents. He describes his biggest business challenge to be insufficient funds for improving the business. He will use the KES 25,000 loan to buy spare parts for his motorcycle. His business goal is to expand the business within 5 years.

We are very proud to be able to do this and look forward to sharing their progress with you all.

As i'm sure you all know RED NOSE DAY is on the 15th March! We are hoping to donate £100 for 100 LIKES on our Facebook page. We need to reach 100 LIKES by the 15th March so please help by clicking the link on the website and clicking LIKE on our page! 

Please remember to enter our CastExpo competition and you could win a Microsoft Surface Tablet - Please use the link on our Facebook page ...

Well I hope you all have a lovely week and I will catch you on the next one  :o)

Victoria