KEMET Announces New Leadership Position: Senior Vice President, Operational Excellence and Quality
GREENVILLE, S.C., September 16, 2008 - KEMET Corporation (NYSE: KEM) announced today that Robert Argüelles joined KEMET on Monday, September 8, as Senior Vice President, Operational Excellence and Quality. Argüelles will lead all supply chain function activities, which include Procurement, Shipping and Logistics. In addition, he will lead the Information Services Group and the Corporate Quality function, and will coordinate Lean Manufacturing activities.
"Historically, KEMET has not had a strong integrated supply chain function from procurement through product distribution and logistics," stated Per Loof, KEMET's Chief Executive Officer. "While we have made great strides in reducing the cost of our raw materials through aggressive sourcing techniques and investing in our Easy To Buy From (ETBF) infrastructure, which is viewed as an industry-leading order entry and product delivery system, there is still much room for improvement. This new structure, coupled with Robert's experience and abilities, will enable us to align and manage resources and priorities to address areas of our business that have experienced significant price increases and have adversely affected the profitability of the company," continued Loof.
Argüelles comes from the automotive and electronics industry with a strong, diversified background in engineering, manufacturing, quality and supply chain management. His most recent assignment was with Continental Automotive Systems, where he was the Vice President and Plant Manager at the Morganton, NC site that manufactures electronic brake systems, air suspension devices and sensors, which followed his role as Continental's North American Chassis and Safety top R&D Executive. Previous to Continental Automotive, he worked at Valeo Electronics/ITT Automotive where he was the Product Line Director for Valeo's North American Sensors and Electronics product lines. Argüelles began his career serving in
technical roles at Electronic Data Systems in the Delco Chassis Division.
He received a BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Dynamics and Controls, from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
KEMET Corporation (KEM) applies world-class service and quality to deliver industry-leading, high-performance capacitance solutions to its customers around the world. KEMET offers the world's most complete line of surface-mount and through-hole capacitor technologies across tantalum, ceramic, film, aluminum, electrolytic, and paper dielectrics. KEMET's common stock is listed on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KEM.
Additional information about KEMET can be found at www.kemet.com .
Contact:
Dean W. Dimke
Director of Corporate and Investor Communications
954-766-2806
deandimke@kemet.com
