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Bigger, Stronger, Lighter™
Romeo RIM Promotes Tim Howell to President and CEO - Romeo RIM
Randy Johnson Taking on New Multi-Company Advisor Role with The Reserve Group
ROMEO, Mich. — Award-winning Romeo RIM (www.romeorim.com), the world’s innovative leader in custom reaction injection molding and composite solutions, is pleased to announce General Manager Tim Howell has been promoted to President and CEO.
Randy Johnson, who had served as president and CEO since 2014, is taking on a new multi-company advisor role for The Reserve Group, a private equity firm specializing in the acquisition and expansion of manufacturing companies such as Romeo RIM.
“It’s been an incredible experience helping to implement the principles of lean manufacturing at Romeo RIM that Randy introduced and achieving operational excellence,” Howell said, adding, “As President and CEO, I’m looking to expand on the success we’ve had and help us continue to serve our valued customers with quality, lightweight large-scale products for a multitude of industries.”
Howell has been with Romeo RIM since 2011, coming to the company with a plethora of experience in the automotive and plastics industry. As GM, he used his industry knowledge to help transform the company’s production of large-scale parts for industries ranging from transportation to spa to heavy truck into a lean manufacturing operation.
“Tim made it possible for our lean manufacturing to take flight,” Randy Johnson said, pointing to the GM’s role in installing and launching the company’s new fully automated rotary system — incorporating multiple presses and off-line mold changes — that is significantly boosting production capacity as Romeo RIM sees growing interest in its long fiber injection (LFI) molding solutions.
“Tim’s focus now is he wants to maintain and enhance the vision and mission of the company and drive revenues now for new opportunities out there,” Johnson explained, adding, “He’ll be executing new strategy, launching new products, and looking to double revenues in the next three years.”
Johnson came to Romeo RIM at a time when the longtime injection molding company was struggling to fill its sales pipeline. Introducing a new vision and mission for Romeo RIM based on the concepts of lean manufacturing; reallocating, balancing, and adding resources; and developing a lasting servant leadership culture throughout all levels of management and staff are some of the impacts Johnson was able to make during his time leading the company.
“We identified five core pillars of excellence, one being the need for world-class teams. Looking at where we needed to be, one of our big issues was alignment and teamwork. The servant leadership model enabled us to solve these issues, which in turn enabled us to take a dry sales pipeline and filled it with $100 million in new work while providing an even better value for our loyal, longtime customers,” said Johnson.
In his new role with The Reserve Group, Johnson will remain engaged in Romeo RIM, which is one of the group’s portfolio companies.
Romeo RIM’s LFI technology uses a mix of polyurethane and chopped fiberglass in molds to create products with the unique combination of superior strength and light weight. Romeo RIM was the first company to bring LFI to North America, providing customers with advantages including lower tooling and production costs, dimensional stability, and optimized weight and strength.
To learn more about Romeo RIM’s design, engineering, and support experience in reaction injection molding, LFI, and in-mold painting email sales@romeorim.com, call (586) 336-5877 or visit www.romeorim.com/lfi.
About Romeo RIM
Award-winning Romeo RIM is the world’s innovative leader in custom reaction injection molding and composite solutions. The company serves markets including transportation, heavy truck, agriculture and construction, spa, and rail car with complex engineering applications and a commitment to quality customer service. Our experienced, growing workforce combines years of technical and industry knowledge with a spirit of creativity to develop the next generation of long fiber injection (LFI) molded products and technologies. Romeo RIM’s lean manufacturing and operational excellence enables us to build a strategic connection with engineering and purchasing professionals up and down the supply chain, aligning our strategy with their strategy to form strong, lasting relationships. For more information, visit www.romeorim.com.