Robot manufacturer Motoman Inc., a unit of Yaskawa Electric Corp., has appointed Steve Barhorst as its new president and chief operating officer.
Barhorst, who was senior vice president and chief financial officer, succeeds Craig Jennings, who was with Motoman for 19 years. Barhorst's appointment comes at a time when Motoman is adopting a global growth strategy.
"Motoman is now ready and postured for significant growth because of Craig's leadership and focus on operational efficiency," said Gen Kudo, chairman and chief executive of Motoman and Yaskawa Electric America, in a prepared statement. "Thanks to Craig, Motoman is in an excellent position to aggressively pursue our next challenge — growth."
Motoman's growth strategy and Barhorst's appointment come at a time of recently improved robotic orders in the North American market. The Robotics Industries Association said this spring that orders from North American manufacturers rose 24% in 2007 to 15,856 units, or a value of $1.07 billion, reversing a 30% decline in 2006. Sales to companies outside of North America pushed the total to 17,261 units valued at $1.15 billion.