Pennsylvania-based trade promotion software company enjoys new gains through Whitehair’s math, business acumen
Challenge
In 2012, Synectics Group, Inc., a trade promotion software company in Allentown, Pa., was seeking to enhance its promotion strategies. The vision was to use a process known as constraint-based modeling to optimize promotion expenditures between consumer products manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble and supermarkets such as Stop & Shop and Shaw’s. Today those expenses have risen 23 percent of gross revenue of a manufacturer, and C-suite leaders do not have specific insights into how well this modeling is working.
Solution
Wayne Spencer, then the senior vice president of business development for Synectics Group, became aware of the mathematical modeling capabilities of Robert Whitehair, the founder of software company River Logic. Specifically, Synectics determined that Whitehair had the modeling skills that would match their needs, so he enlisted Whitehair to find a workable solution. Whitehair’s coders and developers listened intently to the pain points faced by Synectics and, through an extensive software iteration process, built out a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution in the cloud. Whitehair and his accomplished team ultimately built software products to support Synectics and their activities in the consumer packaged goods market.
Benefit
In addition to meeting the challenges faced by Synectics, Spencer and Whitehair co-founded T-Pro Solutions, which provides best-in-class trade promotion optimization solutions to CPG manufacturers in retail markets. The pair secured their first client by early 2013. In January 2019, T-Pro Solutions of Columbus, Ohio, was subsequently acquired by Massachusetts-based Blacksmith Applications, a leading provider of SaaS-based trade promotion management software for consumer packaged goods manufacturers.
“Bob Whitehair’s mathematical prowess is par none. He is one of the most optimistic and creative entrepreneurial thinkers today. Not only is he a math genius, but he has a vision and can-do spirit to accomplish things that may seem out of reach.“
Wayne Spencer
Vice President of Retail TPX Commercialization
Blacksmith Applications
(Former senior vice president of business development for Synectics Group, Inc.)