Swisslog’s New Americas Leadership Team

Swisslog Logistics Automation Americas, a provider of intralogistics automation and software solutions and member of the KUKA Group, has named a new executive leadership team dedicated to specific industry segments.

Markus Schmidt, President of Swisslog Logistics Automation Americas, announced the following appointments as part of Swisslog’s global initiative to focus on key customers and industries.

John Dillon has been appointed Vice President, E-commerce/Retail and will lead the business unit from its office in Mason, OH. Dillon joins Swisslog from DAIFUKU where he served as Senior Vice President responsible for Client Care since 2012. Prior to that, he served as Regional President for Wynright Corporation in Chicago as well as Director of Engineering for Automotion.

T.J. Fanning has been promoted to Vice President, Consumer Goods and will lead the business unit from the regional headquarters in Newport News, VA. Fanning has more than 12 years with Swisslog, most recently serving as Director of Customer Support Sales & Account Management. He began his career in industrial engineering at Wal-Mart after graduating from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Terry Krantz has been promoted to Vice President, Production Logistics and will lead the business unit from Newport News. Krantz has more than 20 years of experience in the material handling industry, the last 12 with Swisslog. Most recently he served as Vice President, Sales and Consulting, for the Production Logistics business unit and prior to that served as Director of Retail Segment Sales. Krantz earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University.

Richard Kooistra has been appointed Vice President for Latin America. Kooistra has nearly 30 years of experience in the material handling industry, the last six with Swisslog, where he served as Vice President, Sales and Consulting, for Swisslog in the Americas. Kooistra earned a degree in Business Administration from Ryerson University.

Swisslog is a global organization with 2,500 talented employees in more than 20 countries on four continents and customers in more than 50 countries.

According to Markus Schmidt, “Swisslog’s exceptional growth in recent years has enabled us to organize our business around key industry segments and to dedicate specific talent with deep domain experience and expertise . These new enhancements to our management team will make us even more customer centric and better equip us to deliver exceptional customer value.” Added Schmidt, “We are very fortunate to have such a deep bench of talented individuals who were ready to step into these important leadership roles and equally pleased that someone with the outstanding industry background of John Dillon is joining our team.”