April 9, 2018—Several leadership management changes are taking place at Brake Parts Inc. (BPI), it was announced today by David Overbeeke, president and CEO.
Patrick Keane, vice president of global distribution and Dave Sather, vice president of global sourcing will retire at the end of the second quarter. Al Biemer will take on an expanded role in the company as vice president of supply chain, while Chris Mapes has joined BPI as vice president of global sourcing.
During his 32-year tenure, Keane has held a number of positions in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. His career at BPI began as materials/manufacturing manager at Continental Hydraulic Hose in Upper Sandusky, Ohio. In 1990, he was promoted to division manager of Friction Inc. in Irvine, California and then became vice president of BPI’s distribution and logistics group in 1995. In 2003, the hydraulic and chassis operations were added to his responsibilities. Keane was promoted to vice president of the chassis group in 2008 followed by vice president of global distribution in 2010.
Sather joined BPI in 2008 as vice president of global sourcing, a role where he has managed and overseen global sourcing and vendor relationships around the world. During his 10 years at BPI, Sather drove the supplier financing program that contributed to the company’s overall growth and profitability. He has played a significant role in shaping the company’s success through strengthening internal and external relationships.
As vice president of supply chain, Biemer will assume responsibility for global distribution and transportation in addition to his current responsibilities of inventory and planning. He joined BPI in 2013 as vice president of product demand and inventory planning, coming from A.M. Castle & Co. where he served as vice president corporate supply chain and Oracle ERP implementation lead. At BPI, Biemer has consolidated the inventory and product planning functions along with customer service, allowing the company to better align work processes, gain efficiencies and build on customer service success. In his new role, he will also manage the global supply chain with a focus on enhanced order fulfillment.
Prior to joining BPI, Mapes spent more than 20 years leading supply chain and operations teams. He began his career at Navistar and held similar roles with Behr GMbH and Dover Corporation. Most recently, Mapes served as chief procurement officer at Xylem Inc. He has a track record of driving productivity improvement and operational excellence and is known as a consensus team builder who focuses on leveraging scale and process to drive business improvement.
“It is with mixed emotions we say goodbye to Pat and Dave and we wish them all the best in their retirement. Both men have contributed greatly to the success of BPI and their dedicated service will be missed,” said Overbeeke. “We congratulate Al Biemer on his expanded role and welcome Chris Mapes to the BPI leadership team. By building efficiencies and strengthening processes throughout the supply chain, we can best serve our customers throughout North America and the world.”
