Stephen Ballenger Joins Hitachi Global Air Power as Vice President Operations
Hitachi Global Air Power US, LLC, an industry leader in innovative compressed air solutions since 1965, announced Stephen Ballenger has joined the company as vice president operations, effective November 20. Ballenger will lead the company’s manufacturing in Michigan City, Ind. He has worked as a Lean consultant for Hitachi Global Air Power since July 2023.
“We are modernizing our operations using Lean methodology with great success and as a consultant, Steve has been an integral part of that transformation,” said Hitachi Global Air Power president and CEO, John Randall. “He [Steve] brings a wealth of experience in not only Lean manufacturing, but in operations management, strategy development and continuous improvement. We are very excited to have Steve officially join our team and help us continue to build a truly world-class manufacturing operation.”
Ballenger brings more than 40 years of management experience to Hitachi Global Air Power. Prior to the vice president of operations role, Ballenger was senior consultant for Lean Focus in Michigan City, Ind. He has also held senior operations leadership roles at Bosch USA, Stihl, GKN Automotive, and Camco Manufacturing. Ballenger specializes in bringing Lean Six Sigma and continuous improvement efficiency strategies to global and multi-site manufacturing environments. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a master’s degree in industrial management from Clemson University.
Hitachi Global Air Power US was formerly known as Sullair.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.