AKRON, Ohio – Alec Pendleton, president of Ken-Tool, has announced that Randy Parrish has joined the company as operations manager. Akron, Ohio-based Ken-Tool manufactures tire service hand tools.

Parrish has had a long career in management of production in the automotive industry, as well as the steel and glass industries. A graduate of Aquinas College (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Parrish is also a certified trainer in Kaizen/Lean Manufacturing methodology.

In this new role, Parrish will oversee the day-to-day operations of the Ken-Tool facility, including production, plant scheduling, engineering and oversight of purchasing. He will report directly to Pendleton.

Douglas Romstadt, executive vice president of Ken-Tool, said, “We are very pleased to welcome Randy to the Ken-Tool team. He has a solid background in manufacturing leadership, and a real enthusiasm for getting things done. We feel his depth of experience and accomplishment will bring strong leadership to our team, and his track record of improved efficiencies in a number of areas will help build a stronger Ken-Tool.”

“I am looking forward to helping build upon the strong reputation Ken-Tool has in the tire market for tire service tools,” said Parrish. “I am very focused upon team-building and instituting the proven Kaizen/Lean Manufacturing methods to improve efficiencies and gain the resultant cost containment benefits. I firmly believe that the customer must always be the driving force behind the decisions made within operations, and the focus must always be on profitability, customer satisfaction, quality and the safety of the work force.

“Ken-Tool’s history of nearly 90 years of leadership is proof the company has been built on a solid foundation of product quality and value, and I feel there is a strong desire to continue these values and to assure the company’s future for years to come,” Parrish said.