ROL Mfg. Welcomes New Western USA Regional Sales Manager

ROL Mfg. of America is pleased to announce the addition of Curtis Jennings as the new Western USA Regional Sales Manager. Curtis will be responsible for sales to the Retail, Wholesale and Rebuilder distribution channels. Curtis will cover the entire Western Region of the United States excluding Washington and Oregon which will remain with Ross Weber.

Curtis brings with him over 25 years of Automotive Aftermarket experience. Most recently, he was a Territory Manager for RPM Associates Sales Agency covering Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Las Vegas. During his time with RPM, he gained several new accounts for the ROL Gasket Line. Prior to RPM, Curtis was the Owner/Operator of ABC Auto Parts Inc. in the Metro Phoenix area.

Curtis is a Certified ASE Master Technician and in addition to his training and work experience, he brings with him an extensive amount of experience from both Automotive and Community Groups. He sat on the Board of Directors for the Automotive Wholesalers of Arizona (AWOA) for 9 years and was the President of the AWOA from ’88-’90 and again from ’01-’03. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the following organizations;

GLA Orphanage, Petionville, Haiti
Community L.I.F.T., Phoenix
Deer Valley Little League

Curtis has been married to his wife Susan for 23 years and has four children ages 21-8. Please join us in welcoming Curtis to the ROL Team. His experience and energy will help us continue to grow in the Western Region.

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ROL Mfg. of America Names New Director of Technology

ROL Mfg. of America is pleased to announce that Marty Novil has joined the company as the new Director of Technology, Sealing Products. In this capacity, Marty will be responsible for all gasket design, developing aftermarket solutions for troublesome engines and customer engineering support. Marty brings with him over 30 years of OE and Aftermarket design engineering experience.

Prior to joining ROL Manufacturing, Marty most recently held the position of Director of Technology for Corteco, the aftermarket business of Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership. In this capacity, Marty was responsible for all design engineering aspects for gaskets, engine mounts and power steering hose. Marty joined Freudenberg-NOK in 2000 as the Director of Static Sealing for the Original Equipment Division and was the creator of the “White Seal Technology” that is used on several gaskets in the Corteco gasket line. In addition to “White Seal”, Marty also developed other advanced technology products; such as, the exhaust manifold gasket for the Dodge Viper and new MLS cylinder head gasket designs.

Between the years of 1990 and 2000, Marty held positions of increasing authority at Fel-Pro. He began his career with Fel-Pro as the supervisor of market research and progressively worked his way to Fel-Pro Chief Engineer, Aftermarket.

Before joining Fel-Pro, Marty worked for 15 years in the area of energy research and development at the Institute of Gas Technology. He was involved with analyzing hydrogen production, the intended hydrogen economy, high efficiency equipment and the economic viability of clean fuels from coal.

Marty holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering with a specialization in mechanical analysis and design from the University of Illinois, Chicago and an MBA from Loyola University of Chicago.

For more information please call Whitney Epperson of ROL Mfg. at 800-327- 1027

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ROL Mfg. and Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership jointly announced that they have closed the transaction announced on May 21st which consists of ROL Mfg. acquiring specific assets of Corteco’s North American Traditional Aftermarket Business from Freudenberg-NOK.

Specifically, the acquisition includes the assets in the USA, Canada, and Mexico which are related to Corteco Gaskets & Seals, Omega Power Steering Hose & Kits, and MounTec Engine & Transmission Mounts.

In addition, ROL Mfg. and Freudenberg-NOK have formed a Strategic Alliance by means of a Supply Agreement. The agreement provides for ROL Mfg.’s purchase of parts from Freudenberg-NOK to support ROL’s Aftermarket customers. As a result of the sale and the alliance, ROL Mfg. will focus and strengthen its position as a leader in the Aftermarket, while Freudenberg-NOK will maintain its leadership position in their Specialty and OE markets.

With a goal of ensuring a seamless transition for customers, a key component of the arrangements between ROL Mfg. and Freudenberg-NOK, is that the Customer Service, Product Management, Packaging and Distribution functions for all three product lines will remain at Freudenberg-NOK’s Milan, OH facility for up to one year until these functions can be transferred to ROL Mfg.’s facility in Oviedo, Florida.

The Omega Power Steering Hose manufacturing plant in Solon, OH will continue to operate as is under ROL Mfg. and all employees have been retained. The Corteco de Mexico facility in Queretaro, Mexico will also continue to operateas is, but will do so as ROL Mexicana, S.A. de C.V. after the closing. Freudenberg-NOK’s Newport, TN gasket manufacturing plant will cease production but will continue to be used by ROL Mfg. during a transition period to warehouse and ship product. All manufacturing equipment and related activity will be transferred to ROL Mfg.’s brand new state of the art facility in Montreal, Canada. Several key quality and plant management employees from the Newport facility have been retained permanently or on a contract basis by ROL Mfg.

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