Press Release –
Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) today named Wes Barker as vice president of Operations. Barker brings more than 20 years of global experience driving lean operations and building efficient business cultures. He has an impressive record of success in building teams and driving results in the U.S., Asia, Europe and Mexico.
“We are thrilled to have Wes join the Polaris Leadership team and the strong operations group, as his background and skill set fits very well with the Company’s strategic direction,” said Bennett Morgan, President and COO Polaris Industries. “He is a proven leader with broad global experience and has a significant track record of successful implementation of Lean enterprise tools. Wes will play a key role in developing an ever-improving culture at Polaris while overseeing the manufacturing plants and managing relationships with suppliers around the world.”
Barker joins Polaris from Hubbell, Inc. where he was vice president, Global Operations, Hubbell Lighting Division, a $1.0 billion worldwide division that manufactures indoor and outdoor lighting solutions and controls.
In that position, Barker successfully managed 4,400 people and all aspects of operations, including managing plants, manufacturers abroad, distribution centers, product engineering and technical applications.
Before joining Hubbell, Barker worked at Ingersoll-Rand Inc. for 11 years in a number of senior positions. In his last position at Ingersoll-Rand, he was director of Air Solution Global Operations, Industrial Technologies Sector where he managed 10 plants worldwide and 2,600 associates supporting $1.25 billion in revenue.
A leader in teaching and coaching Lean principles, Barker led an initiative at Ingersoll-Rand to develop Lean policy deployment roadmaps for all functions and integrated the policy within Ingersoll-Rand’s operating system.
Prior to his tenure at Ingersoll-Rand, Barker was a process engineering manager for the Manufacturing Department, Specialty Materials Division for Tosoh Inc., a Japanese manufacturer of high purity thin film materials for the computer industry.
Barker holds a B.S. in metallurgical engineering from Ohio State University in Columbus. A former motocross racer, he is a recreational product enthusiast with a love for high performance vehicles. Barker and his family will relocate to the Twin Cities in the near future.
