Calvin Wallace succeeds Joe Ottenhof at Beckhoff Canada

Beckhoff Automation has announced the promotion of Calvin Wallace to the managing director position Beckhoff Canada (Beckhoff Automation Ltd.). Wallace takes over the leadership role previously held by Joe Ottenhof, who is retiring, but will remain with the company on the board of directors.

As managing director, Wallace will oversee all operations at the headquarters of Beckhoff Automation Ltd. in Mississauga, ON, where administration, sales and marketing, customer service and technical services are managed. The Mississauga facility also houses a customer training area and warehouse.

“Calvin was the second employee I hired to work at Beckhoff Canada and has been with us since 2006,” said Ottenhof. “Since then, Calvin has maintained an impressive record of achievement without blemish and he is the most qualified person imaginable to lead Beckhoff Canada into our next phase of rapid business development.”

Wallace has worked at Beckhoff for more than 12 years in sales management positions, initially focused on Southwestern Ontario, but has since spread out his responsibilities to include management of sales and application engineering activities across the country. According to Wallace, the advantages of Beckhoff PC-based control systems have made them widely accepted over conventional control systems in Canada. As a result of increased market share, Beckhoff Canada has also recently opened a regional office in Laval, Quebec (Montreal area), and expanded its sales coverage in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“I am honored to take over for Joe, who has helped guide me professionally for over a decade at Beckhoff,” said Wallace. “Joe is beginning his retirement when our Canadian business is on its firmest financial footing ever – I am dedicated to keeping this extraordinary momentum going for our customers and employees in Canada.”

By continuing to supply Canadian customers with a clear migration path toward smart factory solutions, the technological foundation for Beckhoff Canada is just as sound as the subsidiary’s finances, the company states. “Customers look to Beckhoff not just for advanced machine control but for an optimal IoT and Industry 4.0 platform to manage the rapid convergence of automation technology (AT) and IT standards,” Wallace said.

“Customers increasingly require a fully connected and flexible automation system that offers high performance at the machine level but can also manage a constant steam of data between the machine and the manufacturing/enterprise system. Beckhoff is ideally positioned to fulfill these demanding requirements, providing a unique competitive advantage for our customers in Canada and around the world.”