Ganesh Ramaswamy has been named the next president and CEO of Southwire, succeeding longtime President and CEO Rich Stinson as part of a planned leadership transition. He has more than 25 years of global leadership experience across industrial, energy, building technologies, and healthcare sectors. Most recently, he served as executive vice president of industrial & energy technology at Baker Hughes and sits on the board of PACCAR Inc. as an independent director. His prior roles include senior leadership positions at Johnson Controls, Danaher (including Videojet and Beckman Coulter Diagnostics), Hoya’s Pentax Medical, and GE Healthcare. He holds engineering degrees from the University of Kerala and Auburn University, a PhD in mechanical engineering & applied mechanics from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He was described as having a record of driving growth, transformation and innovation that positions him well to guide the company from where his predecessor left it. During his 10 years leading Southwire, Stinson guided the company through significant organic growth and strategic acquisitions as well as expanding the company’s scope into a broader electrical solutions provider. Under his leadership, Southwire strengthened its financial position, advanced an ambitious sustainability agenda toward carbon neutrality and earned multiple recognitions for its culture, innovation and leadership in electrification. Based in Carrollton, Georgia, Southwire is one of North America’s largest wire and cable manufacturers.
Following a restructuring that included a small number of voluntary redundancies, Rautomead reported its leadership team now consists of the following six people. Stephen Hall is the managing director. He joined the company in 2024 after working for FLEXcon for 17 years. Lee Macnamara leads sales and marketing. She previously worked for FLEXcon for 21 years. Ryan Nish is operations manager. He joined the company in 2025. He previously worked in engineering positions for Rubberatkins for 11 years. Lorraine Macdonald heads finance. She joined the company in 2025. Mervyn Cooper is the innovations manager. He previously was a project engineer for Rautomead from 1984 to 1991, and rejoined in 2025. Jan Barclay now oversees strategic operations as chief of staff. She joined the company in 1983 as an executive personal assistant. Based in Dundee, Angus, Scotland, Rautomead manufactures continuous-casting equipment for processing nonferrous metals and alloys.
Justin Quinn has been promoted to product line manager for premise cables at AFL. He joined the company as a product development engineer in 2012, and held positions that included process engineering manager and cable development manager. Prior to that he worked for seven years for Prysmian, where he was a senior engineer. He holds a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Clemson University. Based in Duncan, South Carolina, and a subsidiary of Japan’s Fujikura, Ltd., AFL specializes in fiber optic and related cable products for communications and energy networks.
Ryan Snyder has been promoted to vice president of manufacturing for Tri Star Metals. He joined the company 13 years ago and has more than 30 years of wire drawing and manufacturing leadership experience. Russ Davis has been promoted to vice president of plant maintenance and engineering. He began his career in the U.S. Navy’s Nuclear Submarine Program and over the past 11 years was described as having delivered exceptional results. Based in Aurora, Illinois, with its main manufacturing campus in Freeport, Illinois, Tri Star Metals is a domestic manufacturer and stocking distributor of stainless steel, nickel alloy, and aluminum wire and bar.
Premix Group USA announced that Matt James is its new director of sales, tasked with expanding the company’s compounds presence in the U.S., where it recently opened its first U.S. compounds plant in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has decades of leadership and expertise in the plastics industry. He previously served in a sales leadership role at Techmer PM. His background includes a wide range of sales, engineering, and managerial positions across the plastics sector. Based in Finland, Premix Group USA supplies electrically conductive and semiconductive polymer compounds.
Schlatter North America has promoted Mark Hall to general manager. He joined the company in 2021 and had been serving as North American sales manager. He has 36 years of experience in manufacturing/engineering that include Automated Industrial Machinery Inc. (AIM Inc.) from 2015 to 2019. He studied business management, marketing and related subjects at DeVry Institute of Technology. Based in Rockford, Illinois, and part of Germany’s Schlatter Group, Schlatter North America supplies wire processing lines, cold rolling lines, multidraft drawing lines, stretching and respooling lines, and wire welding equipment.
REELEX Packaging Solutions recently promoted Billy Head to a sales manager position. He joined the company in 2017 and worked as an electrical assembler and a field service technician. During that period he left for about a year for another position then returned. The U.S. Marine Corps. veteran was promoted last year to a sales manager position that is officially called international sales & business development. See p. 20 for more on his story. Based in Patterson, New York, REELEX Packaging Solutions provides a range of packaging equipment to the wire and cable industry.
Jessica Stamer has joined Amphenol Network Solutions as strategic account sales manager - hyperscale. She has about 15 years of industry experience, previously working for Google Fiber, AT&T, Tillson, Stewart and UC Syntergetic. She holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering from North Carolina State University. Part of Amphenol Corporation and based in Liberty Lake, Washington, Amphenol Network Solutions provides solutions for telecom, broadband and data center networks.
Obituary
James John Joseph Jr., of Williamsburg, Pennsylvania, a widely respected authority in the field of industrial liquid filtration (primarily metalworking coolants) who was better known as Jim, died Oct. 21, 2025, at age 90.
The WAI Life Member launched Joseph Marketing in 1986, offering consulting services to major metalworking and automotive manufacturers. As an inventor, he developed advanced cross-flow filtration systems and invented the Cross Flow Filter that extends the life and improves efficiency in industrial applications. His focus included nonwoven roll media, cross-flow and semiconductive filtration concepts and coolant maintenance. Joseph was a speaker at WAI industry events. He also spoke widely in the tribology and metalworking fluids world, contributing articles to International Filtration News and other trade publications. He authored Coolant/Metalworking Fluids Filtration, which reached its third edition in 2024. It was still being reviewed and cited in tribology and lubrication journals in 2024–2025, underscoring his continued relevance late in life. He continued to work in 2025, and remained in contact with WAI staff.
Joseph was predeceased by his wife, Marjorie Castle Joseph. Survivors include: two children, Lynn Joseph and Jim Joseph, two grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
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