Board of Advisors
Jeoffrey Burris, Founder and Principal,
Advanced Purchasing Dynamics
Jeoff founded APD after spending 20 years in the automotive industry, where he became a recognized authority on procurement processes. He is a noted builder of high performance teams: he led purchasing staffs at Ford Motor Company, Metaldyne and Intier Automotive Seating. Jeoff’s teams were able to consistently save money on procurement costs and significantly improve related processes.
In addition to developing a deep understanding of purchasing in the domestic automotive industry, Jeoff became a successful manager in the global arena, directing profitable facilities and joint ventures in India, Korea and Mexico.
In 2004, the time was right for Jeoff to bring his passion for discovering optimal procurement solutions to his own firm. He infused APD with methodologies for true cost model engineering, and approaches to evaluate global sourcing options while performing precise, customized risk assessments.
At APD’s Plymouth, Michigan headquarters, Jeoff believes in forging a better, more collaborative relationship with suppliers. His techniques improve the entire organization, not just the purchasing department. He believes that a transparent, highly professional, collaborative approach to procurement brings not only substantial financial rewards but also allows well-informed people to operate in a thriving environment.
Jeoff has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Supervision from Purdue University and an MBA in Operations from Indiana University. He remains a key figure in the world of procurement and global sourcing.
John Smolinski, SVP Global Subscription Services
and License Management
As Senior Vice President, John heads up both Infor’s global SaaS/Maintenance renewal business and License Management business.
John joined Infor in 2002, and has held several positions in the organization ranging from operational, product related, to field/customer facing roles. Over his 15 years with Infor he has been an integral part of the company’s growth and transformation from $100M to nearly $3B in annual revenue.
Prior to Infor John worked for other software companies, of which some have become part of Infor over the years. Having held a variety of roles his background includes extensive experience in field sales and consulting/professional services relating to the Automotive Industry.
Joseph Borruso, former President and Chief Executive Officer,
Hella North America
Joseph V. Borruso had been President and CEO of Hella North America since August 1999 until his retirement in 2005. He currently is applying his accumulated skills in a consulting role as President of AOEM Consultants LLC.
Responsible for all of Hella’s business operations in the United States, Mexico and Canada, he also was a member of Hella KG’s Extended Management Board. Prior to joining Hella, he was Executive Vice President of Sales for the Bosch Automotive Group in Detroit.
Borruso has worked in the automotive industry for his entire business career, starting in 1963 as a project engineer for the Automotive Lighting Division of ABEX (formerly Signal-Stat), where he advanced to vice president of sales and marketing. In 1977, he joined Wagner Brake and Lighting Products as Vice President for OEM and Heavy Duty Aftermarket Sales.
He joined Bosch in 1983 as Vice President for Automotive Sales and Application Engineering and later was promoted to Senior Vice president for Sales and Engineering. In 1989, he completed a two-year assignment at the Bosch World Technical Center in Stuttgart, Germany, where he served as Director of Overseas Sales for Bosch’s Gasoline Engine Management Division.
In 1996, Borruso was promoted to Executive Vice President responsible for the Automotive Group – Sales at Bosch and became a member of the Executive Management Team at the Bosch Automotive Division.
Mr. Borruso has a mechanical engineering and business background having attended City University of New York, Stanford Graduate School (SEP-78), and Stanford University, Director’s College. He served in the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. He is conversationally fluent in both German and Italian. He is married to Elaine and has two children and three grandchildren.
In addition to his consulting activities, he is currently a member of the Board of KEMET Inc. and Gibbs Technologies.
Wolfgang Greil, Cheif Operating Officer
LLamasoft
Wolfgang Greil is Chief Operating Officer for LLamasoft, responsible for managing the company’s day-to-day global operations. Wolfgang brings more than two decades of experience operating manufacturing, supply chain and enterprise software organizations.
Prior to LLamasoft he held the positions of vice president and general manager of the automotive division for Infor. He also served as the chief operating officer for Brain North America, a global leader in automotive supply chain technologies, and as CEO at R+H America.
Wolfgang holds a Mechanical Engineering degree and BBA from the Verwaltungs- Wirtschafts- Akademie in Heilbronn, Germany as well as a Master’s degree in Management Consulting from the Verwaltungs- Wirtschafts- Akademie in Stuttgart.
Bruce Swift, former Chief Executive Officer,
Diversified Machine
Bruce Swift was most recently CEO of Diversified Machine, Inc., where he transformed a local Detroit company into a global $600 million enterprise. This six-fold growth was achieved by both organic growth and global acquisitions. Previously, Mr. Swift was President of Metaldyne Driveline Division, a global $800 million business unit comprised of 19 manufacturing facilities in 5 countries with 3600 employees.
Prior to Metaldyne, Mr. Swift was Chairman of the Board of Covisint LLC, a jointly held information technology company owned by GM, Ford, Daimler Chrysler, Renault-Nissan and Peugeot. Before joining Covisint, Mr. Swift enjoyed a long career at the Ford Motor Company, where he held several executive Purchasing positions, culminating as Vice President Purchasing, Ford of Europe.
Mr. Swift started his automotive career at Honda of America where he was responsible for the North American supply base expansion and localization of vehicle parts and systems.
Bruce holds a Bachelor’s degree from Ursinus College of Pennsylvania.
Mark Symonds, Chief Executive Officer,
PeachWorks
Mark Symonds is chief executive officer of PeachWorks, maker of an app-based restaurant operating system designed to simplify and streamline the business functions of running a successful restaurant.
Mark believes that business software should be purpose-built for the needs of a specific industry. As a pioneer in cloud computing, Mark is also passionate about the benefits of software-as-a-service for businesses of all sizes.
As CEO of PeachWorks, based in Southfield, Mich., Mark is responsible for leading and generating business growth for the company, which offers a groundbreaking development platform and powerful cloud-based mobile applications for the restaurant and foodservice management industry.
Prior to joining PeachWorks, Mark served as CEO of Plex Systems, Inc., where he was instrumental in launching the first cloud-based ERP solution for manufacturers. At the start of his 12-year career at Plex, Mark served as its executive vice president, where he helped build the sales and marketing functions and lay the groundwork for sustained growth. Mark helped drive 10-fold growth in revenues during his tenure there.
Mark is deeply committed to helping young companies and their leadership teams succeed. Through his consulting firm, TruWin Partners, he helped technology company leaders clarify their go-to-market strategy, define execution plans for growth and success and find necessary funding. As a business coach at Detroit’s TechTown, he aided budding entrepreneurs in developing their business ideas.
A graduate of the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y., Mark earned his undergraduate degree in economics and French. He also earned his MBA in finance and accounting from Cornell University’s S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management. He is a member of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA).
