Beckhoff Automation has named Kevin Barker as the new president of Beckhoff Automation LLC to manage Beckhoff business operations across the US. Barker takes over the leadership role that Aurelio Banda has held for four years.

As the president, Barker will oversee all sales, engineering, marketing and administrative operations from the headquarters of Beckhoff Automation LLC in Savage, Minn. This location also houses the main technical support hub and warehouse for Beckhoff customers in the US.

Prior to joining Beckhoff, Barker worked at Yaskawa America, Inc. as the director of sales in the company’s motion division. Over an eight-year tenure there, Barker led multi-national sales teams with the responsibility to develop complex industrial markets, large sales channels and advanced motion control offerings, including the company’s lineup of EtherCAT servo drives. Barker also held director-level positions at Mitsubishi Electric Automation and Omron Electronics earlier in his career.

“I have dedicated my entire career to helping machine builders, manufacturers and other high-tech companies succeed on a global scale with leading-edge automation technologies. Beckhoff Automation is the logical progression of my journey and an exciting new chapter,” said Barker.