Farmington
Hills, Mich. (December 10, 2009) - Jervis
B. Webb Company -a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Daifuku Co., Ltd. and leading provider of material handling
solutions - today announced the appointment of Brian Stewart as President &
Co-CEO. Stewart replaces Ryuichi
Kitaguchi who is retiring from the company.
Prior to his appointment as President & Co-CEO, Stewart
served as Executive Vice President & COO of Webb. He joined the Webb Company in 1981 as a junior
engineer and has held numerous positions, including Vice President of
Engineering and Senior Vice President of Operations. During his 14-year tenure as Vice President of
Engineering, Stewart was involved in all aspects of material handling. Under
his direction, Webb's airport baggage handling standards were established,
which continue to be the foundation for airport products today.
“We are fortunate to have a leader like Brian who can
move the company forward during this critical time,” said Masaki Hojo,
President & Co-CEO of Daifuku Co., Ltd.
“He not only has extensive operations and engineering experience, which will
be instrumental in our global expansion, but also has an extensive knowledge of
the Webb Company.”
Stewart received his bachelor's of science degree in
electrical engineering from the University of Michigan. He is a member of Engineering Society of Detroit’s
Board of Directors, as well as Webb’s Board of Directors.
The company also announced new
additions to the Webb Board of Directors including Aki Nishimura, Senior Vice
President of Daifuku America Company’s AFA Division; Lon McAllister, Vice President
of Webb’s Manufacturing, Quality & Procurement; and Ken Hamel, Vice
President of Webb’s Airport Systems.
About Jervis B.
Webb Company
Jervis
B. Webb Company is a subsidiary of Daifuku Co. Ltd and leading developer of
innovative material handling technology and systems, including Automatic Guided
Vehicles (AGVs), conveyors,
baggage
handling systems and Automated
Storage & Retrieval Systems (AS/RS). Webb specializes in the design, engineering, installation and support of
integrated systems used in the automotive, airport, beverage, bulk handling, warehousing
and manufacturing industries. Webb is
headquartered in Farmington Hills, Mich., with manufacturing locations in
Harbor Springs and Boyne City, Mich.; Carlisle, S.C.; Canada; India; and
China. The company was founded in 1919
by Jervis B. Webb who invented the forged rivetless chain conveyor that helped
revolutionize mass production.
