As expected, Activplant Corp. yesterday announced that co-founder and CEO Dennis Cocco has ceded operational responsibilities to an industry veteran whose charter is to fortify the manufacturing intelligence vendor's worldwide sales and distribution efforts in support of the ongoing diversification of its customer base. Activplant's new CEO, Ted Williams, joins the London, Ontario company from Computer Associates, where he most recently served as senior vice president of worldwide sales operations. Much of Williams's relevant experience, however, stems from two stints at MRO Software, where in 1985 he helped form the company's original Maximo product team and -- after returning to the company in 1993 -- led worldwide sales as executive vice president. Williams again left MRO Software in 2004 to join Concord Communications, an applications performance management vendor that was acquired last year by Computer Associates, where he oversaw direct and indirect sales as well as professional services. Cocco remains at Activplant as chief product strategist, a role in which he will focus on the "wave of new products" planned for the coming months, such as batch optimization and the traceability applications. Williams, meanwhile, will put his years of worldwide sales and distribution experience to work by helping the company build out its successful automotive practice into new geographies and take its technology into new markets, including CPG, forestry, and food & beverage. "At MRO I had a lot of experience working internationally, setting up distributorships, translating products, and working with global enterprise solutions [companies]," Williams said in an interview. "And initially automotive was our strength ... and we learned how to jump to adjacent markets with our product and leverage it in similar markets. I see a lot of parallels between that and what we see [happening] here." Part of Cocco's vision is to use Activplant's strength in the automotive sector as an anchor to built out business in Western Europe and South America. In parallel, he wants to position the Activplant Performance Management System, which is based on the recently unveiled ActivEssentials SOA infrastructure, for other high-volume vertical segments. CPG, food & beverage, and forest products are all on his radar, "but we are being selective and targeted," he said, so as not to dilute any efforts. Industry observers recognize that Activplant has a loyal customer base with some very large names, including Toyota, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and Bridgestone, but believe the company could do more. "They are only constrained by their ability to deliver," noted Jane Biddle, vice president of manufacturing research at Aberdeen Group. "[Activplant] has done a great job of building a global network in Europe ... but there's a lot of opportunity out there, and I'm not sure it has been as professionally managed as it could be. They could do a lot more to nurture the network." For Cocco, an engineer, the opportunity to step back and design products that actually solve manufacturers' problems is where he can really make an impact, he said. "I'll work with the marketing, sales, and services team to take products to full commercialization ... l'll still get to do that entrepreneurial-type work contained within the boundaries of a well-structured, organized, fast-growing company," Cocco said in an interview. It's a plan he's had in place since he originally solicited venture capital funds for the company in the 1980s. He recently told investors that he would transition out of his role as CEO when the company reached a certain milestone. Apparently, he's hit it. "Activplant is coming off one of the best years it's ever had," Cocco said. "We've had tremendous growth, which is why I look at this as the perfect time to make the transition ... we've come to a point where my personal impact on the company is lessened because it's time to transition to the next stage." Together, Cocco the entrepreneur, and Williams, a self-proclaimed "operations guy," balance each other out, the two agreed. But it's perhaps the passion they both share that will drive this company forward. According to Cocco: "We want to be the number-one performance management company in the world. Period."