Three Sales Engineers Add to Customer Support

Okuma America Corp. officials have hired three new sales engineers – John Soukup, Robert Lacey and Brandon Glenn – to support the existing team of regional sales managers, the Okuma distribution network, and customers. The sales engineers will work closely with the distributor territory sales staff to ensure customer productivity needs are met, provide sales and engineering support for events, and conduct training as needed.

John Soukup has extensive experience in manufacturing, having worked as a chief manufacturing engineer and project engineer for 19 years prior to joining Okuma. His background in CNC machine tool selection and purchasing, and his previous experience in machine tool sales enable him to understand both sides of the purchasing process and will enable him to provide the best possible solutions to the Okuma customers.

Bob Lacey joins Okuma from Roush-Yates Racing where he served as sales and engineering support manager. His 25+ years in manufacturing and CNC machine tools provides him with a unique perspective, as he’s been a user, specifier, purchaser, and sales representative for manufacturing equipment. Lacey is a Certified Machine Tool Sale Engineer (CMTSE) and a member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

Brandon Glenn comes to Okuma from Hendrick Motorsports’ engine engineering department where he worked as a design engineer and project manager. He was responsible for parts design and has experience with rapid prototyping, material selection, quality control, and lean manufacturing. 

“Okuma’s business has strengthened significantly over the past year as our customers’ businesses have improved. The addition of these three top-notch engineers will enable us to be more responsive and provide a higher level of service to our distributors, partners and end-user customers,” notes Tim Thiessen, vice president of sales.

The sales engineers will work from the Okuma America Corp. headquarters in Charlotte, NC, and will report to Tim Thiessen, vice president of sales.