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  • Bastian Material Handling LLC (BMH) has acquired the assets of Van Pak Corp., located in St. Louis, Mo. The acquisition expands BMH's robotics, packaging automation and palletizing technologies for the food, beverage, pharmaceutical and consumer products industries.
  • Mike Blough has joined Borroughs Corp., the Kalamazoo, Mich.-based manufacturer of storage and material handling products, in the newly created position of chief operating officer. Blough, who has extensive experience in the material handling business, came to Borroughs from Siemens Logistics and Assembly Systems Inc.
  • Connextions, a firm that provides integrated fulfillment, customer contact, kitting and technology outsourcing, has promoted Rob Panepinto to the position of president. Panepinto had previously been executive vice president for the Orlando, Fla.-based company.
  • Robert (Bob) Armstrong is joining Fort Erie, Ontario-based PBB Global Logistics as senior vice president, government affairs. Previously he had been head of the Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters and president of the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers of Canada. In addition to leading PBB's government affairs program, Armstrong will also work with PBB's Trade & Regulatory Services group, which consults with clients on trade compliance and supply chain security initiatives.
  • LeanLogistics, a provider of Web-native transportation management systems, has appointed Charles Eggerding as its new vice president of sales. He will oversee national and inside sales, pre-sales activities and staff. Previously he had served in sales management positions with Covisint, Corio and QAD.
  • Best Buy Co. has hired Daniel Currie as senior vice president, global supply chain. Currie comes to Best Buy with 35 years of experience in food retailing operations and supply chain management, most recently with Ahold USA.
  • Jeff Liesendahl has joined RedPrairie as chief financial officer. He brings 17 years of experience in finance, administration and operations in both public and private companies. He was most recently corporate controller for Orbitz, the Web travel site. In his new post with RedPrairie, he will oversee all global accounting practices and procedures for the supply chain technology firm.
  • P&O Nedlloyd, one of the world's largest logistics companies, has signed a lease for a 549,195-square-foot facility in the Chino South Business Park in Chino, Calif. The Class A industrial building, constructed by The Carson Companies, will support P&O Nedlloyd's expanding warehousing and distribution operations in Southern California. The 10-year lease, valued at $23 million, will bring the total amount of space P&O Nedlloyd occupies in the industrial park to more than 1.5 million square feet.
  • Dan Van Alstine has been promoted to senior vice president of sales at Schneider National. He will lead the transportation and logistics company's enterprise portfolio of services and strengthen the alignment between Schneider's sales channels and brand. Prior to this appointment, Van Alstine served as area vice president at Schneider's headquarters in Green Bay, Wis. He has been with the company since 1981. Schneider National has also announced that it will endow a transportation and logistics chair at Georgia Tech. Named to the Schneider National Chair in Transportation and Logistics for the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering is Chelsea (Chip) C. White III. Dr. White is also director of The Logistics Institute at Georgia Tech.
  • UPS has named Dave Barnes chief information officer and senior vice president. Barnes has been with UPS since 1977, when he started as a part-time package loader. He has since managed virtually all UPS technology initiatives that directly touch the customer. Barnes will also join the Management Committee for UPS, the executive group that oversees the day-to-day operations of the company, and he will chair the UPS Information Technology Governance Committee, which is responsible for the direction of UPS's technology investments.
  • D. Jon Berger is joining Timogen Systems as vice president of global sales. Berger will be responsible for the software company's sales and business alliances throughout the United States and Asia. Timogen Systems supplies automated supply chain resolution software for global manufacturing and distribution organizations.
  • Associated Material Handling Industries Inc. announces that Michael B. Romano has become the majority shareholder and president of the Illinois-based material handling solutions provider. Romano was formerly a principal partner and CEO of Abel-Womack Integrated Handling Solutions of Lawrence, Mass.

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