Robert W. PotokarPresident & CEO

Robert W. Potokar has over 30 years of automotive OEM, Tier 1 and Tier 2 experience. His experience spans from product & manufacturing engineering and development, to plant & facilities engineering and production leadership, to IPOs and turnarounds of troubled enterprises. Bob is the CEO, President and Co-Owner of Steel Parts Manufacturing (SPM), Inc. taking on this position in December 2006. As CEO, Bob provides the strategic vision and planning for the company with regard to technology, business growth and development. Given his operations experience, Bob also maintains a high level of involvement in daily production and employee engagement.  Bob and his team are committed to making SPM a world-class steel fabricating company by providing high quality, on-time products that exceed customer expectations.

Before Steel Parts, Bob held key executive positions at General Motors Corporation, Saturn Corporation and Decoma International Inc., a division of Magna International. He has extensive experience in site selection and startup of new facilities including Saturn (in Tennessee), Norplas (in Ohio) and Magna/Decoma (in Brazil and Mexico). At Saturn Corporation, Bob was one of the first executives of Project Saturn in 1982 and the Corporation in 1985 leading the enterprise from concept to launch and eventually leaving Saturn in 1993 as the Director of Engineering & Quality, Body Systems. At Decoma, Bob was Vice President of Operations with responsibility for 9 production facilities in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil and growing the Decoma sector from $500 million to $900 million in sales over 4 years under his leadership. More recently, Bob started, owned and was President of RP Manufacturing Inc., having a staff of recognized industry technical and operations experts that provided design, engineering and production support services with specialization in injection molding, reaction injection molding, painting, stamping, roll forming, fabrication, assembly and sequencing services to Tier I & 2 automotive suppliers and automotive OEMs.  His clients were based in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the U.K. 

Bob received his bachelor degrees in chemical and mechanical engineering, and master degrees in, thermal and environmental engineering from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, graduating with High Honors.

John F. RiggleVice President Engineering

John F. Riggle has over 20 years of experience in engineering and business development related to the automotive industry.  As V.P. Engineering at Steel Parts Manufacturing, Inc., John is responsible for product engineering and program management. Previously at SPM, John was successful in new business development and built new and profitable sales through engineering design and development. John’s experience in the automotive industry includes positions at Borg Warner Automotive, Sealmaster Bearings, and Miner Enterprises. John holds a degree from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers.

David A. SystermannDirector of Operations

David A. Systermann has over 20 years of experience in automotive parts production and manufacturing.  His strengths are in lean manufacturing and plant operations in an automotive environment. Systermann is the Lean Manufacturing Engineering Manager for Steel Parts Manufacturing, Inc., and he works on cost reduction, streamline, and the scheduling of operational processes.

Previously, Systermann was the operations manager at Global Automotive Systems LLC, where he was directly responsible for all aspects of plant operations for automotive structural stampings. He trained 6 direct reports and 121 hourly employees, and championed the launch of the Chrysler MD program.

Systermann was a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps and oversaw 46 helicopters. His education also includes Dale Carnegie, Six Sigma, and lean manufacturing and synchronized manufacturing.

Todd W. NorwoodDirector Sales & Marketing

Todd Norwood has been in metal stampings for over 15 years. He is currently the Director of Sales & Marketing for Steel Parts at the Livonia, Michigan sales office. His responsibilities include the development and execution of sales & marketing strategies, including new business development, customer relations, and advertising. During his career, Todd has served in a number of positions, including Production, Quality, Cost Estimating and Account Management providing him with a keen understanding of all business aspects. Todd earned a General Associates Degree from Lansing Community College and has completed courses in Die Design, Die Theory, Metal Forming Technology and SPC.

Melvin R. OgdenQuality Manager

Melvin R. Ogden has over 35 years of experience in the quality field, with the last 20 years in the development of quality systems towards certifications for QS9000, ISO14001, and TS16949. Ogden has been the Quality Manager at Steel Parts Manufacturing, Inc. for 12 years. He is responsible for overall product quality from receiving inspection to the final product. In addition, Ogden manages customer interaction for all quality-related actions.

Ogden received an Associate Degree in Tool & Die Design from ITT Technologies in Indianapolis, IN, as well as Quality Engineering from VES and SPC training series from Technicomps.

Vance E. Witham Jr. Tooling Manager

Vance E. Witham has been in automotive manufacturing management and tool engineering specializing in the steel stamping of automotive parts industry for over forty-five years. He is currently the Manager of Tool Engineering. His responsibilities consist of supervising tool engineers and controlling the tools used to produce products. Witham began his career at Steel Parts in the hinge assembly and drill department, and has received invaluable experience in a plethora of different job titles.

Kevin W. BlissController

Kevin W. Bliss was the Plant Controller for Deckerville Metal Systems, LLC before joining Steel Parts. Kevin took a lead role in implementing over $500K in cost saving initiatives. Kevin’s current experiences include plant controller, corporate finance, interim plant manager, acquisitions and plant consolidations. Kevin holds a Bachelor of Accountancy from Ferris State University, and has held numerous controller positions at different corporations.

Michael D. SmithDirector Human Resources

Michael D. Smith has experienced thirty-five years in automotive manufacturing management and personnel administration.

Smith is the Director of Human Resources at Steel Parts Manufacturing, Inc., and he is responsible for for all salaried and hourly human resource management in the Tipton, IN facility.