CLINTONVILLE, WI – The Board of Directors of Seagrave Fire Apparatus, LLC (Seagrave) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ulisses D. Parmeziani to President and Chief Executive Officer effective November 21, 2019.
Mr. Parmeziani is an 11-year veteran of the Company with 36 years of experience in manufacturing and engineering. He most recently served the Company as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. His many contributions to Seagrave include implementation of modern concepts on processes, methods, planning and scheduling. His focus has been on reduction of waste, documentation and process change to transform a low volume, high variation operation environment into a more flexible and customer focused manufacturing environment.
Mr. Parmeziani holds a bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering from Escola de Engenharia Maua, Brazil, an Associate 's degree in Technical Education from Universidade Estadual Julio de Mesquita, Brazil, and is alum of the Executive Development Program from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago. He is also trained in the Toyota Production System by General Motors Corporation and has received extensive individual coaching on Lean Manufacturing from Sumitomo Corporation.
With General Motors and later with its spin off company Delphi Automotive Systems, he held a series of positions in South America and Europe, including Joint Venture Managing Director, South America Operations Director, and Materials Manager - Europe. In such positions, he led teams in competitor acquisition, plant expansion, and new customer development projects, as well as various initiatives in regional Lean Manufacturing implementation, Systems Migrations, and ISO/QS 9000 certification. Ulisses also served as regional Customer Manager for Fiat Automotive South America, wining a 50% share of that customer business.
After joining Indalex Aluminum Solutions in January, 2000, as Vice President of Manufacturing, he managed a network of five extrusion plants, implementing significant cost reduction initiatives and downsizing projects, while upgrading the operations of a large acquisition and implementing a business plan to enter a new market segment for the company.
As Chief Operating Officer of Novar Controls Corporation from September, 2001 – September, 2007, he implanted a turnaround project that allowed double digit sales increases by greatly improving customer satisfaction through the implementation of Lean Manufacturing and a Quality System creating a world class operation. He also led the integration team of two acquired companies, the expansion of the company business in the OEM segment, and a sales expansion in the South America region. After Novar was acquired by Honeywell International, he led the supply chain integration team creating synergies above project goals, supporting a large new product introduction effort, and improving overall process efficiency.
Commenting on his new role, Mr. Parmeziani stated:
“I am honored to take the responsibility to lead a great team of professionals and to continue the long tradition of excellence and customer focus that Seagrave has established over more than 130 years of innovation and service to our brave and mission-driven customers, helping them to safely protect their communities.”
Seagrave designs, engineers and builds its own aerial apparatus and custom chassis in a variety of models to meet the demands of diverse firefighting needs. Products include: custom pumpers, tankers, rescues, hazmat, aerials, tractor-drawn aerials, rear-and mid-mount platform, articulating water towers, as well as commercial wildland and brush trucks. Seagrave also has a significant refurbishment business which includes the capability to re-chassis and rebuild aerial units, restoring them to fully operational compliance.
Seagrave, founded by Fredric Seagrave in Detroit in 1881, is the oldest continuous manufacturer of fire apparatus in the United States and is a premier manufacturer of severe-duty vehicles with a longstanding tradition of excellence.
Seagrave is a portfolio company of ELB Capital Management, LLC.
For more information, visit www.seagrave.com.
