Kawakami first joined the parent company in 1981 after earning a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He advanced through the company in various sales and management positions at the U.S. subsidiary including vice president in 1994 and chairman in 2003.
He moved back to the Japan headquarters in 2006 and has held several senior executive roles at Mitsui Seiki Kogyo since then. Most recently he was senior managing director.
“It is my sincere honour to lead Mitsui Seiki during this exciting time in manufacturing,” said Kawakami. “The technology is evolving quickly, and the industrial revolution surrounding automation and software is particularly interesting and challenging. We will adhere to our fundamentals of building the most precise CNC machine tools available on the market today and tomorrow.
"At the same time, we are addressing the needs of our most advanced customers to promote and provide the automation and data connection architecture that is driving the industry.”