Danaher Corp. (USA; NYSE:DHR) has named Ron Meyer as President of its Thomson Industries bearing operation, a division of Danaher Motion, a division of Danaher Corp.
Mr. Meyer joined Danaher in 1997 and is President of the company's Qualitrol Corporation. Founded in 1945, Qualitrol is the, "leading global supplier of instruments, controls and monitoring systems utilized on transmission and distribution equipment in the Electric Utility industry." Danaher acquired Qualitrol in 1986.
He will remain President of Qualitrol while adding Thomson Industries to his duties.
Thomson Industries was founded in 1945 by John B. Thomson, Sr. Mr. Thomson invented the ball bushing linear bearing, and then developed the necessary manufacturing processes. The company currently manufactures precision bearing balls, ball bushing and profile rail bearings, case shafts, lead screws, ball screws, rolled ball screws, ball splines, bearing supports, linear actuators, and related components and systems. Brands under Thomson include BSA, Neff, Tollo, Deltran and Micron.
Danaher acquired Thomson from the Thomson family in mid-2002, for $165 million, as part of its Motion Control Division.
Thomson has faced competitive difficulties in an increasingly competitive market for its product range. In first quarter 2008, Thomson ran a highly publicized effort to sell off excess North American warehouse inventory at massive discounts. Illustrating the market issues Thomson faces, over half the items offered in the sale were precision bearing balls from its plant in Bristol, Connecticut.
Mr. Meyer has raised some eyebrows among former Thomsonites who contacted eBearing about the appointment, particularly questioning Danaher's long-term commitment to Thomson. The arguments are that Mr. Meyer's Qualitrol division is operationally, physically and managerially unrelated to Thomson, and they operate in entirely different markets. Also, they point out Mr. Meyer is set to run Thomson long-distance from his Qualitrol office in Fairport, New York, while Danaher Motion, including Thomson, is based in Wood Dale, Illinois.
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