WAUKEGAN, Ill. (April 15, 2016) -- Yaskawa America Inc. (YAI) has announced the promotion of Mike Knapek, president and COO of the Drives & Motion Division, to the position of CEO.

Knapek takes over for Masahiro Ogawa, who has led Yaskawa’s Drives, Motion and Robotics business in the Americas for the past 5-1/2 years. Ogawa will return to Kurosaki, Japan, to take on the role of corporate vice president and general manager of Yaskawa’s global robotics business.

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (Nov. 5, 2013) – The Drives & Motion Division of Yaskawa America, Inc., recently signed DRV, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pa., as its first medium voltage drive distributor in the U.S.

DRV, a highly respected Yaskawa low voltage drive and motion control distributor over the past ten years, will now partner with Yaskawa to promote the company’s new MV1000 medium voltage drive

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (July 22, 2013) – The Drives & Motion Division of Yaskawa America, Inc. announced that it has received the NorthFace ScoreBoard AwardSM from Omega Management Group Corp. in recognition of achieving excellence in customer service and support in 2012. Since 2000, the award has been presented annually to companies who, as rated solely by their own customers, exceeded expectations in customer satisfaction during the prior calendar year.