Mark Finnie named President of Performance Machine

MARK Finnie has been named as the new President of Performance Machine. The announcement comes following the news that Perry Sands has stepped down from his role in the company he formed in order to join the management team at Motorsport Aftermarket Group, Inc. (MAG).

Finnie joins Performance Machine (PM) from Forge-Tec where he held the role of Vice President/General Manager and oversaw the company’s move from manufacturing wheel blanks to finished wheels and the launch of the FHO (For Harley Only) program. Finnie was headhunted for his role at Forge-Tec after being with Weld Racing Motorcycles, where over three years he aided the company in its move from private label wheel manufacturing to retail wheel supplies.

Mark Finnie’s appointment at PM marks a return to the company for him as he began his career in the motorcycle industry there in 1999, when he was appointed Director of Operations, having previously been primarily interested in hot rods.

In an exclusive interview with AMD Finnie told how he was approached by Arnie Ackerman, Chairman of MAG, to return to PM. A move which was backed by Sands himself, who said of Finnie: “There is no one better to take Performance Machine forward. I have known and worked with Mark for many years and I’m confident of his ability to run the company.”

Finnie was equal in his praise for the man whose role he is taking on, saying: “I am honored and humbled to follow Perry. These are big shoes to fill. He’s an industry icon.”

As Finnie takes on the challenge of continuing the success of Performance Machine in the current economic climate, he has the knowledge that Perry is still available to offer advice when needed. He explains: “As Perry is on the MAG Board of Advisors, he is there for me to talk to anytime I want to.”

Perry is not the only member of the Sands family involved with PM that Finnie can count on. He has the assistance of Summer Sands, who is continuing her work as VP of Sales and Marketing, and Finnie says: “We will also continue to utilize Roland’s design abilities as Director of Research and Development to create new products. He’s currently the best in the business as far as I’m concerned.”

Having acknowledged the strengths that Performance Machine has, Finnie is also aware of the weaknesses, saying: “When the market was buoyant no one had to actively sell, orders just came in and sometimes it was a struggle to meet the demand. When things began to slow down, PM was slow to catch up with the changing marketplace. Now we’re turning that situation around.

“My number one objective, right now, is to address poor delivery performance by working with the operations department. We’re going to take PM back to a customer-focused company. We’re going to focus on what made PM the company it is and head forward. We’re looking at changes in manufacturing to make us more competitive.”

Those changes are already beginning to happen, and MAG has invested in new machinery for the production of the company’s brake calipers, one of the key lines for the business. The investment is an indicator of the status of Performance Machine in the MAG group of companies, a point which Finnie is keen to elaborate upon: “I feel that Performance Machine is the Mercedes Benz of the V-twin aftermarket wheel and brake industry, and I intend to ensure that we retain that exclusive status.”

PERFORMANCE MACHINE
La Palma, California, USA
Tel: 714 523 3000
Fax: 714 523 3007
E-mail: sales@performancemachine.com

www.performancemachine.com

This entry was posted on 27/06/2008 at 10:27 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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