Guardian Industries has named Scott Thomsen group vice president for North American Flat Glass operations, a new position at the company. Thomsen will oversee all aspects of flat glass, including facilities, fabrication, marketing, sales, financial, business development and services. In addition, he will continue to oversee Guardian’s Science & Technology Center in Carleton, Mich., the company’s research and development activity.

“Scott has been instrumental in making Guardian a world leader in glass coating technology, and increasingly has been involved in our global coating business,” said Russell J. Ebeid, Glass group president and chairman of the board. “We look forward to Scott demonstrating these same leadership qualities in our overall North American flat glass business.”

“Like many North American success stories, Guardian started in a small shop in an entrepreneurial town before maturing into a global player,” said Thomsen. “But our success always has been based on a relentless commitment to growing with our local customers. Of course, when global opportunities emerged, it made good business sense to pursue them—and we developed focused regional operations in the process. With this new organization, however, we are renewing our focus on making Guardian the industry leader in North America. I am energized by that challenge.”

Thomsen’s first initiative was to establish his North American Flat Glass leadership team, which includes:

• Martin Powell, vice president of Sales and Marketing. Powell has 27 years of experience at Guardian, most recently at Guardian Building Products, where he created world-class sales, marketing and distribution programs.
• Jim West, senior director of Channel and Business Development. West developed Guardian’s solar product segment from its inception. In this new role, he will be responsible for market research and business analysis to help the company define its business model for the mature North American market.
• Jim Pettis, senior director of North American Fabrication Facilities. Pettis has enjoyed a long tenure with Guardian domestically and overseas. He will oversee Guardian’s fabrication plants and create a commercial paradigm for their success.
• Joe Bruce, vice president of Flat Glass Services, which includes purchasing, logistics, regulatory, environmental and related activities. Bruce has held numerous roles in his 25 years at Guardian, and he will also retain his responsibilities as vice president of Global Purchasing.

Before joining Guardian, Thomsen held senior R&D, operations and management positions at Optical Imaging Systems, Inc. (OIS), Honeywell and Hughes Electronics. He holds bachelor’s of science and master’s of science degrees in electrical engineering and has over 60 U.S. patents.

For additional information, visit www.guardian.com.