Harshad Gujarathi has been named president of Global Gear of Downers Grove, IL, effective June 1. Gujarathi will take over for Cory Ooyen, the outgoing president, who remains with the company in a sales management role.

Gujarathi rejoined Global Gear in March 2020 as vice president of operations, after six years at Reliance Gear in Elmhurst, IL. At Reliance, Gujarathi served in a number of roles, including project manager, plant manager, operations manager and, most recently, managing director (from 2017 until his return to Global Gear in March). Previously, Gujarathi worked for six years as a manufacturing applications engineer at Global Gear and four years as a senior engineer at Jayna Inc. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Sanjeevani Education Society’s College of Engineering, as well as a master’s degree in industrial and systems engineering from The Ohio State University. 

The move is part of a planned transition. In a letter to Global Gear employees, Ooyen stated: “Since the end of 2018 we have started the planning process for the transition of key staffing at Global Gear to support near term retirement plans and put in place a future team for the next many years of the company."

Ooyen continued, “That plan included the recruitment of my successor to insure the right leader was in place and the transition would be smooth, seamless, yet ready for the changes and challenges that Global Gear will face now and in the future. So with that, I am pleased to announce that effective June 1st, Harshad Gujarathi will take over as President of Global Gear. His past experiences at Global Gear and at Reliance Gear support his desire and ability to assume this role and lead the company. I firmly believe Harshad is the right person to lead and direct these efforts. He needs the Team with him to prepare for these challenges at all levels of the company. I will move fully into a sales role to expand our customer and market base and secure the future business to provide growth and future opportunities for all. In the 13 years I have been in the president’s role, I can say we have made some tremendous strides in diversification of the business in both customers and markets. I thank all who have supported and played key roles in these efforts. This would not have happened without a crew who dedicated their time and efforts into moving Global Gear from a simple engine timing gear company to a respected and diverse gear supplier to a broad range of applications.”