SkuSphere Launched to Integrate the New Home Construction Supply Chain

DALLAS, March 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- A new Residential Item Master database ("SkuSphere") was announced today by Hyphen Solutions, LLC, creators of BuildPro, SupplyPro, a 35,000 user supply chain application offered on the Hyphen Network. This 12-year-old supply chain network distributed 15 million homebuilder purchase orders to trades in 2014 totaling in excess of $15 billion in PO dollars.  Supply chain scheduling updates, change orders, lien releases, inspections, bidding, document sharing and electronic payment processing accounted for another 200,000 tasks per day in 2014, automating collaboration among all participants.

The new SkuSphere catalog can be integrated into any existing bidding, sales, selections, procurement, CAD or enterprise planning system.  This gives the user automated product, takeoff and SKU level detail on all appliances, equipment, materials, or even, assemblies of products specified and utilized in the residential construction industry.

David B. Deniger, Chairman of Hyphen stated, " This industry-wide, free catalog should help bridge the supply chain impediments which arise from conflicts in nomenclature among thousands of manufacturers, distributors, installers and builders.  This shared catalog, available to the entire supply chain, will add clarity and reduce transaction costs for builders, installers, distributors and manufacturers while providing specificity of items purchased and installed."

"SkuSphere will enhance our SupplyPro Connect customers' fulfillment, which today, enjoy direct integration from customer builder's ERP into vendor order entry systems with enhanced mapping of PO line item detail", said Felix Vasquez, President and CTO of Hyphen Solutions, LLC.   Further, he stated, "As the residential supply chain adopts the data feeds from the new catalog, buyer and seller technologies will perfectly integrate to include mapped manufacturer, distributor, installer, and builder nomenclature into a shareable item master complete with retail or wholesale descriptions.  These common links will forever marry product specifications with bidding, procurement and fulfillment systems, eliminating manual processes and allowing construction automation to take a giant step forward, which would be consistent with other manufacturing sectors.  This communal catalog is offered and supported without charge," added Felix Vasquez.

Leading this new effort will be John R. Nygard III, former CIO at Lennar Corporation, now President of SkuSphere-Residential, LLC an affiliate of Hyphen Solutions. John will be responsible for the recruiting of manufacturer/distributor/installer data, the deployment and enhancement of the builder ERP item masters as well as Chief Evangelist of the integration benefits available by adopting a cohesive catalog strategy for the participants.  "I am pleased to be spearheading the effort of creating a unified approach to product/item data management for homebuilders and their trade partners.  I have worked tirelessly to drive this effort through my consortium activities and with my peer CIO's at other homebuilders," said Nygard.

The dream of the SkuSphere project began ten years ago when Hyphen first started integrating Homebuilder's back office systems with their trade partners using SupplyPro, a two-way communication portal that allows suppliers to work with builders regardless of which system a builder uses.  Today over 35,000 users enjoy that electronic integration for up to date scheduling, collaboration and purchasing activities.  The scheduling and collaboration functionality includes today bidding tools, inspection, electronic payment, lien releases and now warranty.

The integrated purchasing functionality has been impeded by the lack of SKU level information on purchase orders.  This requires trade partners to invoke manual processes to identify product needs for each requisition.  With so many SKUs available in the new home specifications, homebuilders and their supply chain partners have struggled to keep their systems' item master current.

SkuSphere will provide this coordinated data to all supply chain participants without charge.

For additional information, contact:

Felix Vasquez, Email
John Nygard, Email
972-728-8195
www.skusphere.com
Dallas, Texas

SOURCE Hyphen Solutions, LLC