O’Connor Makes Appointments, Names Holding Company Board
Livermore, CA (US) — Tony Hirayama, Topcon Positioning Systems’ (TPS) executive vice president, has assumed the role of president and CEO of TPS-Australia. He will also have the title of president and CEO with KEE Technologies, which joined TPS October 3.
Les Mann, former KEE president and CEO, will be the new chief operating officer at KEE.
The announcement was made by Ray O’Connor, TPS president and CEO, who will be chairman of the TPSA board. Joining him on the board will be Richard Jackson, David Mudrick, and Norio (Nick) Uchida. Jackson is vice president TPS-Australia; Mudrick is the president and CEO of Topcon America Corporation, Topcon’s management holding company, and; Uchida is TPS director and executive officer.
O’Connor also announced that Mick Yamazaki, named vice president of operations last spring, will become TPS executive vice president, in addition to maintaining his operations role.
Rick Davidson, TPS senior technical adviser, has been named by O’Connor to the new position of senior vice president-agriculture operations. O’Connor called the company’s strong commitment to growing its share of business in the agriculture market “an exciting business venture.”
KEE Technologies, an Australian-based company with more than 25 years experience in agricultural electronics and applications, focuses on the precision agriculture market.
Hirayama said, “Utilizing the research and development resources of Topcon and KEE will accelerate the next generation of product development to provide increased environmental management, real time remote monitoring, and control of equipment. This acquisition matches the overall business strategy of Topcon Corporation’s positioning division and is guaranteed to spread our presence in the global agriculture market.”
He also announced that the KEE Technologies facility in South Australia will become Topcon’s Technology Center for development of the next generation of agricultural technology and solutions.
KEE currently provides agricultural users a fully integrated solution with its single console ZYNX system, which allows farming equipment – seeders, sprayers, spreaders, and harvesters – to be monitored and controlled in real time and provides exemplary environmental risk.
About Topcon Positioning Systems
Topcon Positioning Systems, a developer and manufacturer of positioning equipment, offers the world’s leading selection of innovating precision GPS, GIS, laser, optical surveying, and machine control, products, software, and applications. Topcon Corporation is traded on Tokyo Stock Exchange
(7732).
