Murata Machinery, Positions Itself for the Future

• September 8, 2020

Charlotte NC — (September 8, 2020) —

Murata Machinery, USA, a leading provider of manufacturing and intralogistics automation and support, announced two recent hires to help the company achieve a new strategic direction: leading modern manufacturers to the future withMuratec automated solutions. Masazumi Fukushima, President of Murata Machinery, appointed Christine Spiegel as the company’s first-ever Strategic Marketing Director and Jeff Holtzapple as North American Sales Manager for Turning Products.

“We are pleased to welcome these talented individuals to our North American team,” said Fukushima. “Mrs. Spiegel’s more than twenty-five years of B2B marketing and brand positioningexperience, and Mr. Holtzapple’s deep understanding of machining and distribution will expand the innovation, sales, and service support Murata Machinery provides customers nationwide. These new team members will also play an integral role in our new initiatives to help overcome today’s growing challenges in manufacturing and logistics — skilled labor shortages, increased demand, order fulfillment pressure, and more — by leveraging automation in intelligent ways.”

Spiegel joins Murata Machinery from Ironpaper, where she served as Marketing Director, leading high-impact digital campaigns for Fortune 100-500, oil and gas, high-tech, SaaS, telecom, and cybersecurity companies. Previously, she was Global Marketing Director for Unifi Manufacturing, where she developed and launched sustainable textile campaigns that improvedproduct sell-in 13% year-over-year and boosted revenue to $640M, attaining status for REPREVE as the leading branded recycled fiber in the world.

In her new role, she will oversee development of a strategy to unify branding across four Muratabusiness units, leading the company’s channel marketing, dealer, trade, digital, social, and website strategies to reach key customers in existing and emerging markets in North America.”

I’m honored to join Murata at such a critical time in manufacturing,” said Spiegel. “The sector has been in a state of transition for decades, and the customers who adopt automation in this time will own the future of manufacturing. I’m excited to help put Murata Machinery in a position to lead. In the same way that our customers are constantly re-evaluating their operations and business models to increase productivity, we will focus on our branding to help us lean into our strengths, increase our impact, and support the growth of the Muratec brand and its customers.”

Joining as North American Sales Manager for Turning, Holtzapple’s executive leadership background in engineering, including more than twenty years of technical manufacturing and machine tool distribution experience, has prepared him for his role.

“We are excited to have Mr. Holtzapple as a part of our team, and we look forward to future business growth and development with our partners,” said Jeff Kalmbach, General Manager, Machine Tools Division. “His strong industry background and sales experience position him to help lead the company’s growth strategy in automated turning solutions throughout North America.”With a strong history of personnel development and customer satisfaction, Holtzapple will lead and support Murata regional sales managers and distributor teams, increasing sales of Muratec turning systems and services, and driving strategies.

About Murata Machinery USA, INC.

Murata Machinery USA, Inc. is a subsidiary of Murata Machinery Ltd., a world leader in machinetool technology, automated material handling systems, clean room automation, and textile machinery. Established in 1935, Murata Machinery Ltd., is the sole manufacturer of the Muratecbrand, which is synonymous with industrial automation and reliability across our extensive product line. Each of our solutions uses time-tested technology and is customized at our Charlotte, NC, headquarters, providing customers with tailored automation strategies to meet their exact needs. For more information, visit muratec-usa.com.