Okuma announces new personnel appointments

From left: Timothy Thiessen, Summer Cline, Simon Schneider, Mike Hampton, and Wade Anderson.

Okuma America Corporation, a manufacturer of CNC machine tools, controls, and automation systems, has announced new personnel appointments to direct and support the company’s strategic growth initiatives in the Americas.

“As we build on strategic business initiatives for the next decade, it is important to have a world-class team and a strategically aligned organization to help drive and facilitate growth," said Jim King, president and COO, Okuma America Corporation. "On behalf of our entire management team, I am pleased to announce the following strategic organizational leadership appointments designed to position our company for growth and recognize the strong contributions these individuals and their teams make to our company."

Timothy (Tim) Thiessen has been promoted to the role of senior vice-president of sales and marketing. In this new role, Thiessen will continue to lead the Okuma America sales, product management, marketing, and corporate accounts teams and partnerships with Okuma distributors throughout the Americas region. Prior to this appointment, he served in various roles at Okuma America Corporation, including vice-president of sales and marketing, senior regional sales manager, and applications engineer. He will continue to report to Jim King.

Summer Cline has been appointed to the role of senior vice-president of finance. In this role she will continue to be responsible for the company’s finances and lead the accounting, human resources, and information technology teams. Cline previously served as vice-president of Finance at Okuma America Corporation. She will continue to report to Jim King.

Simon Schneider has joined Okuma America Corporation in March 2024 in the role of director of Okuma Factory Automation. He will be responsible for leading Okuma America’s Factory Automation Division as the group develops and expands a comprehensive line of CNC automation solutions to be used with Okuma machine tools. Prior to joining Okuma America, Schneider served as an engineering manager, director of customer services and quality, quality manager, business process analyst, and mechanical engineer at CHIRON America Inc. He will report to Wade Anderson, vice-president of engineering and Factory Automation Group.

Mike Hampton has been appointed to the role of field service senior manager. In this new role, he will lead the Field Service group as they continue to provide comprehensive service to Okuma users in the Americas. He previously served as business development manager with a focus on growing aftermarket parts and services. He also managed the Okuma Partners in Technology program and its supporting technology centers. He will report to Mr. Ira Busman, vice-president of customer service.

Wade Anderson has been appointed to the role of vice-president of engineering and Factory Automation Division in February 2024. This new role was created to position Okuma to serve customer needs for evolving and next-generation manufacturing needs. Anderson brings more than 30 years of machine tool industry experience to his role, having held previous positions as a machinist, applications engineer, sales engineer and manager, product specialist manager, technical center manager, and most recently the general manager of Okuma America’s Factory Automation Division.

All of these leaders assumed their new roles on April 1, 2024, with the exception of Schneider who joined the company in March 2024 and Anderson who was appointed to his new role in February 2024.