Shemesh Automation announced it will open a North American headquarters in 2020. The strategic decision comes following 20 years of active Shemesh operations in the U.S. via local representatives and other proxies resulting in the successful installations of over 100 Shemesh assets in the territory. The North American offices are set to open this year in northeast Wisconsin and will include a machinery demonstration room as well as ready-to-dispatch spare parts inventory and meeting rooms. To further facilitate its business conduct facing its U.S. client base, Shemesh Inc., a 100% subsidiary of Shemesh Ltd., is to be established as all North American activities will be channelled through the new Shemesh company incorporated in the U.S.

Mark Calliari, a U.S.-based professional boasting over a decade of experience in sales and other leadership roles with both Paper Machinery Converting Company and Rockline Industries, has been selected to co-lead the move out of the U.S. as Shemesh’s director of North American Operations and will be working closely with the Shemesh Teams in the U.K. and in Israel.

Shai Shemesh, Shemesh Automation’s CEO, comments: “With over 50 Shemesh supported assets under our Nonwovens division and with well over 100 Shemesh supported assets in total in North America across the food and beverage, cosmetics, nonwovens and medical industries, the current move was only natural to the dramatic growth trajectory we have experienced in recent years. As companies grow, resources, capabilities and business models need to be analyzed. For Shemesh, this means taking more ownership over our own Shemesh supported assets in North America which will in turn allow us to provide our North American client base the attention it truly needs with a first-hand, time-conscious support. In doing so, Shemesh follows the same 'Think Global, Act Local' business model it has so successfully applied to in other territories such as the U.K., France and Israel where Shemesh currently operates with its own people on the ground on a daily basis.”

Furthermore, on Mark Calliari, Shemesh comments: “We were truly overwhelmed by the quality and quantity of great candidates approaching us as word of this exciting opportunity spread. Although it was certainly one of the most meaningful decisions I have had to make in recent years, six months on after starting the process with Mark, I do not think that I could possibly be more content with the decision to partner with such a candidate whose integrity, pleasantness and vast industry experience are so rare to find. I cannot wait to start working with Mark and learn from him as much as myself and everybody else at Shemesh possibly can.”

Calliari comments: “With an arsenal containing decades of experience with both Rockline and PCMC I was feeling and hoping that the next thing I’d do would be bigger – one that I have been trained to do all my life. I had been made aware of the Shemesh opportunity by a common colleague I worked very closely with for over a decade at Rockline and it did sound right to me from the get-go. I mean, not only that, but also everybody else I have spoken to across the industry had only the greatest things to say about the Shemesh brand, giving me the feeling that this is a truly unique opportunity that has come at a perfect time for both Shemesh and myself.”