Global Sourcing: RockBlocks Group, Inc. Appoints Management Team
RockBlocks Group, Inc., unveiled its management team recently, all of whom bring strong retailing, sourcing, global trade management and supply chain experience to the technology company. RockBlocks is a leader in global sourcing and supply chain solutions for consumer packaged goods, grocery, electronics, department & specialty stores, branded apparel and footwear retailers.
Leading the company will be Chief Executive Officer David Diamond, Chief Operating Officer Matthew Hicks and Chief Technology Officer Gary Planthaber. Gary Hynes, Brian Anderton and Lisa Sawhney all join RockBlocks as vice presidents leading account management, professional services, and marketing and product strategy respectively. Diamond joins RockBlocks from Tourtellotte Solutions, a premium software product and services company serving pharmaceutical and retail supply chains where he had been COO since 2006. Diamond's background includes positions as COO and founder of Amperion Inc.; Managing Director, Redleaf Group; General Manager, Corporate Technology Planning for BBN, GTE and later for Verizon; President and CEO of MicroE Defense and Aerospace (MEDA); and senior positions in the U.S. Department of Defense. Diamond holds a BSME from the Pennsylvania State University, a BSEE/MSEE from Monmouth University and an MS degree (MBA) in the Management of Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he is active in MIT's Venture Mentoring Service. Diamond's vision is to maintain and extend RockBlocks' pre-eminent position as the global leader in efficient sourcing, and expand the breadth and depth of RockBlocks' capabilities to meet the needs of the emerging green supply chain.
Matthew Hicks, Chief Operating Officer, brings more than fifteen years experience that includes operations management, investment banking, private equity investment and strategic corporate development experience. Throughout his career, he has led numerous private equity and M&A transactions and has played key operating and leadership roles in start-ups and Fortune 100 companies. Prior to leading the management buyout of RockBlocks, Hicks was Vice President of Corporate Development and Co-founder of Rudder Capital Corporation, Vice President of Business Development for Ambient Corporation and a founding investor in Amperion, Inc. (a spin-off from Cisco Systems).
Hicks received his MBA from the FW Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College with concentrations in corporate finance and entrepreneurial studies. Hicks will continue to reach out to strategic alliance partners and acquisition targets as RockBlocks accelerates its expansion and growth.
Gary Planthaber, Chief Technology Officer, is responsible for managing RockBlocks' product research and development and has already begun advancing the architecture, reporting, interface and display capabilities of the core RockBlocks product, with a new release of RockBlocks planned for 1 April 2008. Planthaber has more than 11 years experience in software consulting and product development and has been responsible for the design and delivery of industrial strength solutions for the pharmaceutical, travel and publishing industries. Planthaber graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he studied Computer Science and Engineering with a focus on Artificial Intelligence.
Gary Hynes, Vice President of Account Management, has supported the RockBlocks' application for more than ten years in multiple technical and customer-facing capacities. This depth and breadth of experience with RockBlocks gives him a unique perspective about the application and provides a bridge between the technical and business challenges that the company's customers face. Hynes worked at both QRS Corporation and Rockport Trade Systems, holding the positions of customer support engineer, software engineer and director of sustaining engineering. In 2006 he assumed the position of account manager and eventually director of account management for RockBlocks to support the business needs of RockBlocks and the company.
Previously, Hynes spent 13 years with Raytheon Corporation as a software developer in its manufacturing and software engineering facilities. Hynes looks forward to extending the tradition of providing exceptional customer service throughout the portfolio of RockBlocks' customers, and managing the ecosystem of partners and resellers.
Brian Anderton, Vice President of Professional Services, has worked with the RockBlocks' application for more than 6 years while at both the QRS Corporation and Tourtellotte Solutions. Previously, Anderton worked as a principal application consultant at Oracle, implementing its merchandise planning and optimization solution, and at Sigrid Olsen, a division of Liz Claiborne as a distribution manager. During his tenure he developed a strong knowledge of logistics, inventory, quality assurance and product development. Anderton displays a unique combination of strong business knowledge and technical abilities with more than 11 years in the global retail industry and more than 7 years of implementing global sourcing and supply chain management systems. Anderton looks forward to improving the efficiency of client supply chains through application of his knowledge and experience around both the industry and the RockBlocks' family of products.
Lisa Sawhney, Vice President of Marketing and Product Strategy, heads up RockBlocks' product management and marketing teams, and brings more than 15 years experience in building advanced products and sustaining customer relationships. Sawhney contributes a technical understanding and insight into industry trends linking product development to the company's business strategy. Her leadership is instrumental in ensuring that the development of RockBlocks' products exceed customer expectations and are aligned with new market opportunities. An accomplished executive, Sawhney has an extensive background in international trade, supply chain software and global sourcing, and can cite demonstrated international success in developing software products and global solutions based on market trends and client needs. Sawhney has worked and maintained relationships with some of the largest companies in the world including Pepsi, Phillip Morris, M&M/Mars, JCPenney, Payless Shoe Source, Federated, Target, Argos, Staples and others.
Sawhney holds a B.A. degree in International Relations from Franklin College in Lugano, Switzerland. Sawhney has already begun accelerating the pace of innovation in RockBlocks, adding a wide and deep range of sourcing functionality to an already robust product.
Sara Gray, Director of Customer Service, has been a member of the RockBlocks team for more than seven years and contributes a detailed understanding of both customer needs and product capability. Gray is looking forward to translating emerging customer requirements into innovative guideposts for future development while maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction with present capabilities. Previously, she was manager of RockBlocks quality assurance.
About RockBlocks Group, Inc.
RockBlocks is a complete global trade management solution that allows retailers to accelerate, automate, streamline and optimize their supply chain, from product design to delivery. RockBlocks' Web-based, collaborative platform enables retailers to visualize the entire sourcing pipeline at a granular level, with data presented any way it is required.
RockBlocks' powerful process engine is a tool that drives efficiency throughout the entire organization yielding both qualitative and quantitative ROI.
RockBlocks has a dramatic impact on overall profitability and top-line growth. Customers including JCPenney, Staples, Bon-Ton, Argos, Home Depot, Target, Hanes, Payless and Macy's leverage RockBlocks solutions to drive product innovation and speed to market; lead cycle and expense reduction; and operational efficiency and productivity improvements.
RockBlocks users source over $100B in goods from 50+ countries; manage 40M+ stock keeping units; track 2M+ containers around the world; plan 40M+ and monitor 100K "critical path" events; provide production visibility and support into 75K suppliers; product managers; merchants; logistics planners; financial managers; agents; factories, service providers and financial institutions. RockBlocks is the most widely deployed solution in the industry and is used by three of the top ten largest retailers, six of the fifty largest retailers and seven of the world's fastest-growing retailers.
RockBlocks is headquartered outside of Boston in Wayland, MA and supports operations throughout North America, South America, EMEA and Asia.
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