Valmont® Irrigation, the manufacturer of the Valley® brand of irrigation equipment, announces the appointment of Steve Kaniewski as vice president of global operations. Kaniewski will be responsible for global manufacturing, process engineering, supply chain management, quality, order management, safety, and logistics.
Kaniewski is an experienced manufacturing executive who has a wide-ranging operational background that includes vice president of Operations – Specialty Division and country director of Mexico for Belden, a global manufacturer of wire and cable products. His past operational experience includes leading the Lean Initiative, construction of new plants, and initiating capacity and distribution expansion efforts. He also has broad international experience and extensive merger and acquisition experience. He joined Valmont Industries in 2010 as corporate vice president of technology.
“When this role came open, we took a look at Steve’s background in operations and lean management prior to joining Valmont,” said Len Adams, president of Valmont Irrigation. “As part of the overall succession planning, we decided to see if he would be interested in leaving his corporate position to step into this role.
“I’ve been very, very pleased with Steve’s operational understanding. He has hit the ground running and made this a seamless transition. He has a great personality and is a great fit with our business and our culture.”
Having worked for such a strong parent company in Valmont, Kaniewski said he finds the global nature of irrigation division very appealing.
“My goal in this new role is to develop our global supply chain to best serve our customers and to allow our dealers to be competitive,” he said.