Kitagawa-NorthTech, Inc. has named Ed Johannesen as Senior Manager of Engineering and Quality. Johannesen will lead the design engineering group, quality function and lead continuous improvement processes for the company.

Before joining Kitagawa-NorthTech, Johannesen has held manufacturing engineering and quality management positions at various industrial companies, most notably Nissan Forklift and Toyoda Machinery USA for over 15 years. While at Nissan, his contributions included new product and process development, CNC and robotic equipment implementation, and cross functional team leadership. He also managed both internal and external engineering and quality teams responsible for machining, fabrication, welding, paint and assembly operations.

Johannesen led many continuous improvement initiatives and activities using the Nissan Value-Up (six-sigma) methodology and tools and refined the implementation of the Nissan Production Way, which is a never-ending effort to synchronize operations to customer demand. Certified as a V-Pilot and trained as a V-Expert, Johannesen successfully demonstrated year over year improvement in vehicle manufacturing productivity, quality and safety. "The tools and skill sets that I have developed from extensive continuous improvement projects are directly transferrable to my role at Kitagawa-NorthTech," Johannesen said. "I am also very proud to join Kitagawa-NorthTech, and to be a part of the most respected brands of workholding solutions in the metalworking industry."

Johannesen brings 25 years of manufacturing engineering, quality and process improvement expertise to Kitagawa-NorthTech's engineering and quality group. Johannesen holds a Bachelor's of Science in Industrial Technology from Southern Illinois University and MBA from Northern Illinois University. He currently resides with his family in Cary, Illinois and works out of Kitagawa-NorthTech's headquarters for the Americas located in Schaumburg, Illinois.