Toyota Material Handling USA Inc. (TMHU) and Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing Inc. (TIEM) on July 7 announced management changes including the appointment of Tony Miller to vice president of production engineering, design engineering, manufacturing and maintenance for TIEM and Martin Boyd to vice president of product planning and marketing for TMHU.
"These executives bring Toyota an extraordinary blend of leadership combined with material handling industry expertise," said Brett Wood, president of TMHU. "Martin and Tony will be instrumental in continuing Toyota’s leadership in quality and product development initiatives for the number one selling lift truck brand in America."
Miller previously served as TIEM’s senior manager, production engineering, manufacturing and maintenance at the Columbus, Ind.-based facility, which manufactures the majority of Toyota lift trucks sold in the United States. He assumed responsibility for the manufacturing and maintenance departments in 2009, reporting directly to TIEM’s president.
Miller, and his team, won the TICO President’s Award for their achievements in assembly line consolidation and the plant’s launch of Toyota’s new 4-wheel AC electric lift truck. Throughout his career, he has identified and implemented kaizen continuous improvement measures on the plant floor, which are instrumental to the Toyota Production System practiced at TIEM.
Miller joined TIEM in 1996 as a production engineer and has held several positions in the production engineering department. During this time period, he was influential in leading TIEM’s upstart of hydraulic cylinders, hydraulic hosing, laser cutting and sheet metal forming. Miller began his professional career at Arvin Sango, an exhaust manufacturer and supplier for Toyota Motor North America.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.
Boyd formerly served as the company’s national product planning and marketing manager. During his 11 years at Toyota, he has played a significant role in key product launches including the Toyota 7-Series and 8-Series lift truck model lines and has helped establish strong relationships within the Toyota group of companies (TICO, TIEM, Raymond Corporation and Cesab), international Toyota distributors, suppliers and strategic partners. Boyd has been instrumental in the development of TMHU’s automated solutions and automated guided vehicle (AGV) business as well as TMHU’s introduction of the Aichi line of aerial work platforms (AWP) products.
A TMHU associate since 1999, Boyd oversees the product planning, product support, marketing, product marketing and event planning departments and has reported directly to TMHU’s president since 2008. Prior to joining Toyota, Boyd spent seven years working for NACCO Material Handling Group, Inc. in various positions ranging from design engineer to service engineering manager.
As a member of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA), Boyd has served as chairman of the air quality subcommittee and currently represents Toyota on the general engineering committee.
Boyd has a master’s degree in engineering management from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, as well as a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering technology from Trenton State College (now known as The College of New Jersey).
About Toyota Material Handling USA Inc.
Celebrating more than 40 years of established operations in the United States, Irvine, Calif.-based TMHU has been the No. 1-selling lift truck supplier in the U.S. since 2002 and currently offers a full line of high-quality lift trucks sold under the Toyota brand. TMHU, as the sole United States distributor for Aichi, now offers a line-up of AWPs, including scissor lifts, crawler and wheeled boom lifts designed specifically to meet a wide range of industrial and construction applications.
TIEM, and all Toyota manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Canada, comply with the ISO 14001 standard from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and have been honored for their environmental management systems and dedication to continuous improvement.
Toyota’s commitment to excellence in customer service extends nationwide. Sixty-eight authorized Toyota Industrial Equipment dealers, with a total of 189 dealership locations throughout the United States offer comprehensive customer service and support, including one-stop shopping for both new and used lift trucks, rentals, parts and service, fleet servicing and financing.
