Sullair, an industry leader in innovative compressed air solutions since 1965, announced that Mr. Natsuki Kawabata will be appointed as the new President of Sullair Asia, effective April 1, 2021. As the successor of John Randall, who was recently promoted to President and CEO of Sullair Worldwide, Mr. Kawabata will assume full responsibility for the overall operations of Sullair in Asia.

Mr. Kawabata has worked for Hitachi since 1994. He has held leadership positions within the new product development and engineering teams of Hitachi’s oil flooded and oil free compressor divisions for more than 20 years.

In 2004, Kawabata-san worked for Hitachi Asia Singapore as a sales engineer. In 2006, when Hitachi introduced the DSP distribution network in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Kawabata-san served as the lead engineer. In this role, he enjoyed having the opportunity to visit several North American Sullair distributors including Blake & Pendleton, Comairco, Maqpower and more. Kawabata-san’s direct experience in China includes launching the Hitachi OSP-NEXT2 Series of oil flooded rotary screw compressors while working with Hitachi Industrial Equipment Co., Ltd. Nanjing, China (HINC). HINC is a subsidiary of Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems (HIES) and manufactures oil flooded and oil free rotary screw compressors, oil flooded and oil free reciprocating compressors and scroll compressors.

Kawabata-san will soon relocate to Suzhou, China. Kawabata-san brings extensive knowledge of, and experience in, the air compressor business. With oil free compressors playing a key role in our company’s global growth strategy, Kawabata-san’s leadership will make him an incredible asset to Sullair, and will help Sullair’s sustainable development and growth in China and Southeast Asia.