Former General Electric Executive Michael Mahfet has been appointed as vice president and general manager of ABB's robotics business in North America. Joining the company effectively May 13, Mahfet will lead the North American robotics business based in Auburn Hills, MI and will focus on the strategic development and growth of the business in the region.

Prior to joining ABB, Mahfet served as the general manager of global sales of the Sensing and Inspection Technologies unit of GE. During his career there, Mahfet held increasingly significant roles in sales, marketing and technology leadership. He also previously served as product engineer at Chrysler Corp.

Mahfet holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and a master's degree in mechanical engineering, both from Oakland University in Rochester, MI. He will serve as a management team member for both ABB's global robotics management team and its Discrete Automation and Motion division management team in North America.

"It's a great time to be part of ABB," Mahfet comments. "As the overall economy improves, we will be able to leverage ABB's longstanding tradition of quality and technology leadership in the Robotics marketplace, with deep domain expertise in traditional automotive applications, as well as our rapidly expanding expertise for material handling and assembly applications in general industries.

According to the Robotic Industries Association, the industrial robotic business in North America has seen new orders up 16 percent in unit volume and 30 percent in dollar sales in the first quarter of 2010, compared to the same quarter in 2009.