Denso Announces Management Shake-up, Arkansas Chief Takes Over U.S. Manufacturing Operations

Denso Manufacturing, the Japanese automotive supplier that landed in Arkansas nearly a dozen years ago, is shaking up its U.S. North American operations as the world’s second largest auto parts giant seeks to expand and ramp up its U.S. business amid flailing sales in Europe and the Far East.

As part of a series of executive changes, Andris Staltmanis was promoted to president of DENSO Manufacturing Michigan, Inc. (DMMI). In his new role, Staltmanis will oversee DMMI operations, as well as lead the manufacturing activities of Denso’s North American Center Business Group, or TAC.

Staltmanis, based in Denso’s regional headquarters in Southfield, Mich., currently is president of Denso Manufacturing Arkansas in Osceola, where nearly 500 employees are employed. Staltmanis will stay in his role as chief of Denso Manufacturing Arkansas, while taking on additional executive duties, company officials said.

Currently, Denso’s 225,000 square foot manufacturing plant produces HVAC assemblies and radiators for its North American customers, including Toyota, Honda and Caterpillar. Denso North America operates 28 manufacturing facilities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, generating nearly $8 billion in sales for fiscal year ended March 31, 2014.

DENSO MIMICS FORMER PARENT TOYOTA WITH U.S. LEADERSHIP CHANGES
Globally, the Japanese-based automotive supplier has more than 140,000 employees, and had sales of nearly $40 billion in fiscal 2014. However, Denso’s third quarter net income fell nearly 13.4% from the previous year due to the decrease in car production mainly in Japan, Asia and Oceania, and the depreciation of the yen, company officials said.

“Denso’s sales increased due to an overseas production volume increase,” Kenichiro Ito, executive director of Denso Corp., said in the company quarterly earnings report on Feb. 3. “However, despite cost reduction efforts, an increase in production volume as well as the depreciation of yen, research and development expenditures and investment costs for strengthening future growth led to a decrease in operating income.”

Like its former parent company Toyota, which still owns 20% of the Kariya, Japan-based auto parts supplier, Denso recently has begun to promote U.S. managers into top executive positions that are not based in Japan.

Last month, Toyota shook up the auto world by announcing that it would elevate U.S. executive Julie Hamp and European chief executive Didier Leroy to its insular board of directors. The world’s largest automakers also tapped James Lentz as the senior managing officer of Toyota’s North America Region, where he will take over leadership of Toyota’s sales and marketing, as well as the auto giant’s sprawling manufacturing operations across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Like Toyota, Denso is seeing robust in U.S. sales, mainly due to the increase in car production and steady economic growth in the world’s largest economy. In the third quarter, sales for auto parts supplier jumped to $5.8 billion, a 16% increase over the previous year.

In Japan, Denso officials said the decrease of export sales led to an overall decline in revenue to $16.4 billion, 2.4% lower than the previous year. The decrease in production volume and the increase in labor costs and other expenses led to an operating income of only $1.4 billion, down 25.2% decrease from a year ago.

To support its expansion and growth in the North American region, here are additional executive changes announced by Denso this week:

Stephen Milam was promoted to chief operating officer of DENSO Thermal Systems North American Center (TAC) Business Group, leading TAC in the region. Milam will also continue to serve as president of DENSO Manufacturing Canada, Inc.

Michael Winkler was promoted to vice president of DENSO’s North America Purchasing Group, responsible for overseeing regional sourcing strategy to support the growth of DENSO in North America and enhance supplier relationships. In addition, Winkler will now serve as executive coordinator of TAC Purchasing, responsible for daily operations and management of DENSO’s thermal purchasing groups. Winkler will manage annual cost reduction activities, procurement of equipment and machinery and purchasing planning. He previously served as deputy functional leader of TAC, responsible for purchasing activities at all thermal plants in North America.

Atsushi Uchida was promoted to vice president of TAC Purchasing and Purchasing functional leader, responsible for supporting TAC daily purchasing operations and management. Previously, he served as executive coordinator of TAC Purchasing.

Martin Deschenes was promoted to vice president of Electronic Products and Body Electronics Divisions at DENSO Manufacturing Tennessee (DMTN), responsible for strategy development and execution for electronics manufacturing operations. In addition, Deschenes serves as the North American Information and Safety Business Team manufacturing leader, responsible for creating electronics manufacturing expansion strategy for the region. Previously, he served as director of the Electronics Products Division at DMTN.