BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — The Toro Company (NYSE: TTC) announced that Kevin Carpenter will join the enterprise as vice president, global operations and integrated supply chain. Carpenter will succeed Blake Grams who is taking on a newly created role as vice president, sustainability, business analytics and process improvement. These enterprise leadership moves are effective December 1, 2021.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Kevin to the organization and to recognize Blake in this new leadership role,” said Rick Olson, chairman and chief executive officer of The Toro Company. “As we continue to position The Toro Company for a strong, sustainable future, these leadership appointments will help advance our strategic priorities of accelerating profitable growth, driving productivity and operational excellence and empowering our people. Both individuals are highly accomplished leaders with proven track records of driving successful change.”
Carpenter joins The Toro Company from Carrier Global Corporation where he most recently served as vice president of operations, Residential and Light Commercial Systems. His focus on quality and continuous improvement, paired with his experience around automation, position him well to further advance key enterprise initiatives. He also brings extensive experience developing and deploying data-driven manufacturing strategies and optimizing equipment effectiveness resulting in significant productivity savings. Prior to joining Carrier, Carpenter served as vice president of manufacturing services at Rockwell Automation, Inc., where he led global manufacturing initiatives across multiple locations, driving standardization, eliminating waste and increasing profitability. Carpenter holds a Master of Business Administration from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve, a Master of Science in industrial engineering management from Youngstown State University, a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in general engineering, with a minor in mathematics, from Morehouse College. He also holds a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from Ashland University.
Grams has served as vice president of global operations for The Toro Company since 2013 with responsibility for manufacturing and end-to-end supply chain. During his tenure, he managed historic growth and expansion of TTC’s operational footprint, drove notable improvements in key metrics and successfully navigated a number of challenging manufacturing and supply chain conditions. Drawing on Grams’ operational experience and deep financial knowledge, this new position represents the next significant milestone in TTC’s sustainability journey. He will play a key role in leading the company’s efforts to define and drive related metrics, while enhancing visibility to the organization’s sustainability opportunities globally. Further, he is uniquely positioned to help the organization operate more competitively, drive additional profitability and increase customer value through robust data and analytics. Prior to leading operations, Grams was appointed vice president, corporate controller in 2008 and has held various roles of increasing responsibility since joining TTC in 1998.
