Toyota Material Handling Division Realigns to Ensure Superior Products and Service for North American Market

KARIYA, Aichi, Japan, March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO) today announced it is formalizing the management and operations structure of Toyota Material Handling North America (TMHNA) to further strengthen the Toyota and Raymond brands in North America. This restructuring -originating from a long-term growth plan launched in 2005-allows all TMHNA organizations to better collaborate on business efficiencies and share resources resulting in continually improving levels of quality, service and support.

TMHNA is comprised of Toyota Industrial Equipment Mfg., Inc. (TIEM), the Columbus, Ind.-based lift truck manufacturing plant; Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc., (TMHU), North America's number one supplier of lift trucks; and The Raymond Corporation, the North American market leader in electric warehouse trucks.

TMHNA will be headquartered at Toyota's TIEM facilities in Columbus, Ind. The new management and operations structure will strengthen North American regional coordination, while continuing to grow the existing brands and maintaining distribution channels for Toyota and Raymond.  

"Today we are further evolving TMHNA's capabilities to better leverage the knowledge and expertise throughout our North American companies," said Tatsuo Matsuura, chairman of the Toyota Material Handling Group (TMHG). "This step will ensure that Toyota and Raymond customers continue to receive the best products and service in the industry."

TICO formed the TMHG to better leverage the Toyota, BT and Raymond brands and operations worldwide. TMHNA was formed by TMHG as a framework to support the North American market.

Management Appointments

As part of the reorganization, key management positions have been appointed, effective April 1, 2010:

• Kazue Sasaki will be appointed chairman of TMHNA and will continue to serve as president of TIEM and Toyota Industries North America, Inc. (TINA). He also will serve on the board for TMHU.  Sasaki brings more than 20 years of management and engineering experience, most recently serving as a senior managing officer of TICO.
• James Malvaso will be appointed president and chief executive officer of TMHNA, and thus will resign as the president and chief executive officer of Raymond. He has been president/CEO/chairman of Raymond for 13 years and has more than 35 years of operations, sales & marketing experience.  Malvaso, a recognized leader in the materials handling industry, is a former president of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) and a current member of ITA's Executive Committee and Board of Directors.  
• Charles Pascarelli will be appointed president of the Raymond Sales division of The Raymond Corporation, which includes sales, marketing, distribution development and aftermarket services. He has more than 25 years of proven success in leading companies to sales and marketing excellence.  Pascarelli has been with Raymond since 2007 and has served as executive vice president of sales and marketing at Raymond since 2009.
• Michael Field will be appointed president of the Raymond Operations division of The Raymond Corporation, which includes manufacturing, quality assurance, engineering and procurement. Field has over 20 years of experience managing engineering and operations groups at industrial companies.  Field has been with Raymond since 2004 and has served as executive vice president of operations at Raymond since January 2009.
• Brett Wood will continue to serve as president for TMHU.  A TMHU associate since 1989, Wood formerly served as the company's vice president of marketing, product and strategic planning and training operations and previously oversaw dealer development. Wood is a member of ITA's Executive Committee and Board of Directors.
• Ed Rompala will serve as chief financial officer for TMHNA and will remain as chief financial officer for The Raymond Corporation.  Rompala has served as Raymond's CFO since 1998.
• Hitoshi Matsuoka is appointed TMHNA Executive Coordinator, and will remain as Executive Vice President/Treasurer for TMHU.
• Kazuhiro Kurosaka is appointed TMHNA Coordinator, in addition to serving as Finance & Planning Coordinator for TIEM.

About Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO)

TICO was founded in 1926 by Sakichi Toyoda. Since that time, TICO has promoted diversification and expanded the scope of its business domains to include textile machinery, automobiles (vehicles, engines, car air-conditioning compressors, etc.), material handling equipment, electronics, and logistics solutions.

About Toyota Industrial Equipment Mfg., Inc. (TIEM)

Established 20 years ago in Columbus, Ind., TIEM is a zero-landfill facility responsible for manufacturing the majority of Toyota's lift trucks sold in the United States.

About Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc. (TMHU)

Celebrating more than 40 years of established operations in the United States, Irvine, Calif.-based TMHU has been the No. 1 selling lift truck supplier in the U.S. since 2002 and currently offers a full line of high-quality lift trucks and tow tractors sold under the Toyota brand.  For more information on TMHU or to locate a Toyota dealer, please visit www.toyotaforklift.com or call 1 (800) 226-0009.

About The Raymond Corporation

The Raymond Corporation is a global provider of material handling solutions that improve space utilization and productivity, with lower cost of operation and greater operator acceptance.  For additional information about The Raymond Corporation, or to locate a Raymond Sales & Service Center, visit www.raymondcorp.com or call 1 (800) 235-7200.

SOURCE Toyota Material Handling North America