Executive Committee
Anders Grudén, CEO
Anders Grudén joined Syncron as CEO in 2004. Mr. Grudén has 20 years of experience from working with strategic IT initiatives, as a senior advisor, as an investor and in his current role as the CEO for Syncron.
Working for Accenture Strategic Services Mr. Grudén focused on assisting Chief Executives of large, multinationals, primarily in the Manufacturing industry to take full advantage of their global market coverage. Mr. Grudén has also worked as a Managing Director for Investor AB, one of the largest financial institutions in the Nordics, investing in companies with innovative technologies. In this capacity, Mr. Grudén looked into more than 400 European technology companies and singled out Syncron as a company with outstanding quality and an unlimited potential.
Mr. Grudén is a member of the Board of publicly traded ABG Sundal Collier A/S, a leading investment bank in the Nordic region.
Anders Grudén holds two degrees: a M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering & Management and a B.Sc. in Economics & Business Administration.
Dag Sjöqvist, CFO
Dag Sjöqvist joined Syncron in 2008 as CFO and Head of Corporate Functions with global responsibility for Finance, Legal, HR and Internal IT. Mr. Sjöqvist leverages 15 years’ international experience in finance, mergers & acquisitions, global operations and strategy.
Prior to Syncon Mr. Sjöqvist held the position as Group Vice President at the headquarters of ABB Group in Zurich, Swizterland where he managed global M&A transactions. Mr. Sjöqvist has also worked as a management consultant at the corporate finance practice of ABB Financial Services.
Mr. Sjöqvist holds a BA in Business Administration and Economics from University of Uppsala and Stockholm University, School of Business and has also studied at IMD, Lausanne.
Kristina Olsson, Head of Global Professional Services
Kristina Olsson joined Syncron in 2009 as Regional Manager for Professional Services Europe. Mrs. Olsson has more than 15 years of experience from System Integration and Management Consulting.
Mrs. Olsson has worked with large system integration projects as well as with process and organizational development as a system integration and management consultant at Accenture. Mrs. Olsson has vast experience from several industries, primarily retail and public sector and was a member of the Nordic group of Senior Executives and Senior Managers at Accenture who lead and developed the public sector industry in Sweden and the Nordics. During 2000 and 2001 Kristina Olsson worked for Accenture in Silicon Valley, California.
Mrs. Olsson holds a M.Sc in Engineering Physics from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.
Senior Management
Erik Lindholm, Head of Product Management
Erik Lindholm joined Syncron in 2001 as a software developer. Mr. Lindholm has more than 10 years of experience from supply chain management and software.
Prior to joining Syncron Mr. Lindholm worked for ABB starting his career as a trainee. During his time at ABB he held various positions including such as strategic purchaser with responsibility for electrical components and also as logistics manager at ABB Distribution. Mr. Lindholm has held various positions at Syncron, starting as a software developer, moving on to become product manager and is currently holding the position as Head of Product Management.
Mr. Lindholm holds a M. Sc. in Engineering Physics from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.
Richard Barkestam, CTO
Richard Barkestam joined Syncron in 2000 as a software architect. Mr. Barkestam has more than 15 years of experience from working with product development, software engineering and supply chain management processes.
Prior to joining Syncron, Mr. Barkestam worked as a consultant at Sema Group AB, where he designed and developed a framework for building Intranet and e-commerce sites. Mr. Barkestam has held various positions at Syncron including product manager and chief architect.
Mr. Barkestam holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science from Lund University.
Carl Hildebrand, Head of Global Customer Support
Carl Hildebrand joined Syncron in 2007 and has worked in a variety of management positions. Mr. Hildebrand assumed the role as Head of Global Customer Support, including the overall responsibility for the Syncron Data Center in 2012.
While studying for a M.Sc. in Computer Science at the University of Linköping, Mr. Hildebrand managed the development of a complete software suite for the service industry. With over 10 years of experience in Computer Science and Customer Service together with great innovation, Mr. Hildebrand has been instrumental in the development of the global Customer Support operations as well as the Syncron Data Center.
Tomasz Urbański, Head of Development and Managing Director Syncron Poland
Tomasz Urbański joined Syncron in 2006 and has been instrumental in the establishment and growth of the operations in Poland, having managed to recruit an impressive team of talented and internationally recognized software developers.
Prior to joining Syncron Tomasz Urbański was involved in the development of a successful start-up in the field of web analytics, online advertising and real-time massive data processing. In addition to his high technical expertise, Tomasz Urbański has extensive experience in new product development and interdisciplinary team management with a special focus on innovation.
Tomasz Urbański holds two degrees: a M. Sc. in Mathematics (summa cum laude) and M. Sc. in Computer Science, both from Warsaw University. His master's thesis was recognized as the best student paper in Europe by European Association of Theoretical Computer Science.
Tony Abouzolof, Head of Sales SEME
Tony Abouzolof is one of the founders of the Syncron group. Mr. Abouzolof has more than 17 years experience in the development and implementation of global supply chain planning solutions. Over the years, he has enabled many leading organizations, such as BAE Systems, Supequinn and Electrolux, to formulate global supply chain strategies and to lead successful implementations of large scale supply chain solutions with a global scope.
Mr. Abouzolof is a regular presenter at many European conferences and he is well known for his leading views on various aspects of global supply chain management.
Mr. Abouzolof holds a M.Sc. from Cranfield Institute of Technology.
Steve Tonks, Head of Sales West Europe and Managing Director Syncron UK
Steve Tonks joined Syncron in 2007 and holds the positions of Managing Director Syncron UK and Head of Sales West Europe. Steve has many years experience of supply chain management gained from both the manufacturing and software industries.
During his 15 years in the software sector Steve has held senior sales and general management positions. He has enjoyed the opportunity to assist numerous companies worldwide in understanding the value of best of breed software in transforming their supply chain performance.
Steve holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Hertfordshire.
Hitoshi Tachibana, Managing Director of Syncron Japan
Hitoshi Tachibana joined Syncron in 2009 as Head of Professional services Japan and assumed the role as Managing Director of Syncron Japan in 2011. Mr. Tachibana has more than 20 years of experiences from professional services within the manufacturing execution, supply chain management, and enterprise resource planning sector.
Mr. Tachibana has worked with many global projects at solution providers, such as i2 Technologies Japan and Infor Global Solutions Japan. Prior to joining Syncron, Mr. Tachibana worked as a regular director at Global Exchange Service Co., Ltd where he managed operation & engineering and customer support organizations to deliver their global services to the customers.
Mr. Tachibana holds a B.Sc. in Electronics from Chiba Institute of Technology.
Tomas Wennerstein, Managing Director Syncron US
Tomas Wennerstein joined Syncron in 2001 as a business consultant. Mr. Wennerstein has since been involved and responsible for a number of global implementation projects of the Syncron applications and has a wide experience of Supply Chain Management from many different assignments in a variety of industries. Mr. Wennerstein has also held several senior management positions during his career within Syncron.
Prior to joining Syncron, Mr. Wennerstein worked as a project manager at Ericsson, where he was responsible for rolling out new Supply Chain concepts towards the Sales Units. Mr. Wennerstein holds a M.Sc. in Industrial engineering and Management at the University of Linköping.