CANTON, Ohio — The Timken Co. has named Russell Folger as vice president – quality advancement. He assumes the leadership role formerly held by Donna Demerling, who retires at the end of December after a 38-year career with the company.
Folger has held the position of director of global quality since 2007, overseeing the implementation and management of Timken’s Quality Management System, the backbone of the company’s quality assurance processes. In his new role, he will be responsible for quality management systems and quality assurance throughout the company, including business processes, product design, manufacturing, supply chain and administration.
"Quality is a core value at Timken. Customers around the world rely on us wherever parts move and turn in their most critical applications," said James Griffith, president and CEO. "Russ brings more than 30 years of customer engineering experience to the quality organization and has worked with Timken facilities around the world. In his new role, he will ensure that we continue to live the core value of quality throughout our organization."
Demerling retires after a long career of engineering and leadership positions with Timken. Since joining the company in 1972 as an application engineer, she held numerous positions of increasing responsibility including president of Timken’s aerospace business and senior vice president of supply chain transformation. She also managed bearing manufacturing and distribution operations in Bucyrus, Ohio, and bearing manufacturing in Lincolnton, N.C. She has been vice president of quality since 2005.
Having a customer focus throughout his career at Timken, Folger joined the company in 1979 as a sales engineer before progressing through a series of global roles in sales and application engineering, including a leadership role in the Yokohama, Japan, sales office and later serving as chief engineer and vice president of engineering for automotive markets. After moving into a leadership role in the quality organization, he worked closely with Demerling to ensure a continued focus on quality throughout a time of significant global and product expansion.
Folger earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and completed the executive development for global excellence program at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.
