Bridgestone/Firestone Announces Organization
Shifts
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (December
12, 2002) - Bridgestone/Firestone North
American Tire, LLC (BFNT) today announced several management changes
in its manufacturing and quality assurance functions.
Nobuo (“Tim”) Kawakami,
president, Bridgestone/Firestone Manufacturing Operations (BFMO), the
manufacturing unit of BFNT, and an executive vice president of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. (BFAH), has elected to retire effective March
31, 2003. Assuming Kawakami’s responsibilities at BFMO is Masao
Wada, currently plant manager of the company’s Aiken County, South
Carolina facility. Wada will be elected to the position of BFNT executive
vice president manufacturing effective February 1, 2003 and Kawakami
will be available to assist in the transition until such time as he retires.
Succeeding Wada at the company’s Aiken County plant will be Mike
Rose, currently that facility’s operations manager.
Also effective February 1, 2003,
John McQuade, BFMO vice president manufacturing, will be accepting
a new assignment as a full time member of the team responsible for
the 2003 round of labor negotiations with the United Steelworkers of
America. The negotiations are expected to begin in Spring, 2003. Succeeding
McQuade will be Steve Brooks, presently vice president of quality assurance.
Mike Kane, currently manager quality assurance, will become vice president
quality assurance for both BFNT and BFAH, BFNT’s parent company.
Commenting on the changes to the
organization, Mark Emkes, chairman, CEO and president of BFNT, said “A
clear focus on the business and loyalty to the company are clearly
part of the BFNT culture. Each of the individuals named here embody
those traits and are strong leaders with the vision and the ability
to support our company as it works to ‘Make it Right.’ Our
goal with this announcement, as with any change to our organization,
is to celebrate and preserve the advancements we have achieved through
this focus and loyalty and continue to build on that strong base.”
“ I am sorry to see Tim
leave BFMO,” continued Emkes. “However I know that he will
now have the opportunity to return to Japan and enjoy a well-deserved
retirement. Tim is a person whose ability to focus on the task at hand
and to execute and complete complex projects is unmatched.” It
was under Kawakami’s leadership that the Aiken County team completed
the construction of that plant in record time, producing its first
tire just one year after the project was announced. The Aiken County
plant is now one of the premier tire manufacturing facilities in the
world.
Graduating from Niigata University
in Japan, Kawakami joined Bridgestone Corporation in 1964. In 1982,
Kawakami received his first U.S. assignment at Bridgestone USA’s
first U.S. tire plant in LaVergne, Tenn., which had just been purchased
from the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company. Following the purchase
of the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company by Bridgestone, Kawakami’s
career in the U.S. included assignments in Wilson, NC and Akron, Ohio.
Returning to Japan in 1991, Kawakami served as plant manager of Bridgestone’s
Shimonoseki and Hikone facilities. In 1997 he returned to the U.S.
to oversee the design and construction of BFNT’s Aiken County
plant, serving as that facility’s first plant manager. He was
promoted to his current position in 2000.
Wada, who will be relocating
to Nashville, Tenn. in the near future, has significant experience
in U.S. manufacturing plants. Joining Bridgestone in 1971, his first
assignment in the United States was at the LaVergne facility as a manufacturing
advisor in 1983.
Assignments at
BFNT’s Warren County,
Tenn. and Decatur, Ill. followed in 1988 and 1993, respectively. After
returning to Japan for a series of jobs with Bridgestone beginning in
1994, Wada was appointed plant manager of BFNT’s Aiken County facility
in February, 2002.
Succeeding Wada
at the Aiken County plant, Rose joined the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in 1972 at
the LaVergne, Tenn. plant. He accepted a position as an instructor at
the company’s Wilson, NC plant in 1974 and has held positions of
increasing responsibility at that facility and the Aiken County plant,
where he was first assigned as a group leader in 1998. Rose, who holds
a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from North Carolina Wesleyan
College, has served in his current position as operations manager since
January, 2002.
McQuade is a
38 year veteran of Firestone and Bridgestone/Firestone, beginning his
career with the company in England
in 1964. He has focused his efforts in the manufacturing area, with assignments
as technical manager, production manager and plant manager at a number
of the company’s locations, including the Russellville, Ark. tube
plant and the company’s Joliette, Quebec, LaVergne, Tenn. and Wilson,
NC tire plants. He assumed his current responsibilities as BFMO vice
president manufacturing in 2001. McQuade earned his Bachelors and Masters
degrees in business administration from McMaster University.
Prior to accepting his current
assignment as vice president quality assurance in February 2002, Brooks
has had experience in plant environments since 1989, when he joined
the company at its Warren County, Tenn. facility. His duties have included
area manager, division manager production control and division manager
operations at Warren County and general manager and plant manager at
the company’s Aiken County operation. He and Wada were both integral
members of the startup team at the Warren County plant in 1989.
Kane has had a broad range of experience
with the company in functional areas as diverse as manufacturing, Quality
Assurance and the Law Department. He began his career with Firestone
as an experimental tire assembler in Akron, Ohio in 1973. He has served
in various capacities in the Law Department and his duties have included
assignments as logistics manager at the Wilson, NC plant and group leader
at the Aiken County facility. He assumed his current responsibilities
as manager quality engineering in 2002. Kane holds a Masters degree in
Business Administration from Vanderbilt University.
Nashville-based Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc. is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation,
the world’s largest tire and rubber company. BFAH, through its
subsidiaries, develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of tires
to address the needs of a broad range of customers, including consumers,
automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers
and those in the agricultural, forestry and mining industries. The
companies also produce Firestone air springs, roofing materials, synthetic
rubber, and industrial fibers and textiles and operate the world’s
largest chain of automotive tire and services centers. Bridgestone/Firestone
North American Tire, LLC, a subsidiary of BFAH, develops, manufactures,
and markets Bridgestone, Firestone, Dayton and private and associate
brand tires. The company is focused on wholesale and original equipment
markets, supplying passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off-road,
agriculture and other tires to its customers in North America.
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