The Temple Terrace-based Mize has merged with the Sweden-based Syncron to provide a new, comprehensive software-as-a-service platform to manufacturers.
The combined company, now valued at $650 million, will operate under the Syncron brand name, says Ashok Kartham, Mize’s Founder and CEO.
Some Mize product brands, however, will continue to be used.
Syncron approached Mize about a partnership about a year ago, which eventually led to the merger.
“We both felt that it was a very good pairing,” explains Kartham, who joined the Syncron executive management team as chief product officer overseeing all products and development.
Financial arrangements weren’t disclosed.
The merged firm will continue to operate out of the Mize office at 12802 Tampa Oaks Blvd., Suite 320, near Interstate 75, where it employs nearly 50.
It now can offer more integrated and efficient service through its platform, by things like eliminating extra trips for parts to do a repair.
Mize has been helping manufacturers improve customer service through the use of cloud technologies. Syncron has been helping manufacturers improve service, for example by locating repair parts, through its cloud-based software.
“I’m really excited about this merger. We feel like it provides us access to global customers,” says Kartham, who opened Mize eight years ago when he relocated here from Chicago. “We can grow faster.”
The merger comes as manufacturers deal with major transformation akin to what happened in the music business as it evolved from records to digital recordings and subscription services, explains Karen Sage, Syncron’s Chief Marketing Officer.
Industry is evolving from offering products like tractors to offering a service like hoeing an acre of wheat, she says.
The merger is helping this to happen faster and more seamlessly.
“Without these two companies coming together, there would have been extra layers of integration and challenge,” she says.
The merged company now offers customer service software in the automotive, construction and agricultural equipment, industrial engineering, high-tech, med-tech, and consumer durables industries.
Already an international operation operating in India and the United States, Mize now has 12 offices globally, including locations in Europe, Asia and North America.
The integrated Syncron currently employs 700 people companywide, and has plans to hire an additional 100. About 20 to 25 are anticipated for its Tampa area office, to fill roles such as product management, technical lead, and software managers, Kartham says.
The positions, which typically require an undergraduate degree in business or information systems, pay some $100,000 to $150,000 annually to start, he says.
A minimum of three to five years of experience is needed.
The company looks for employees who have a passion to serve the customer and who have the ability to deal well with different cultures, Sage says.
While it can consider remote workers, it prefers to hire locally.
“I think there’s a strength when the teams are together,” she says.
Syncron currently has 56 openings globally, and many are remote. It is looking forward to tapping into the area’s talent pool.
To check out openings, visit
the Syncron website.
Kartham, an investor in local startups, is enthusiastic about the Tampa Bay area economy.
“I believe in our ecosystem,” he says.