C&U Americas, LLC, the North American subsidiary of The C&U Group, recently named Thomas W. Rouse as its new president.

The announcement was made by XianLiang (Peter) Zhou, chairman of C&U Americas, who noted that Rouse will be responsible for managing all aspects of the C&U Americas’ operations, including new business, sales, marketing, engineering, customer service, warehousing operations, and administration. Rouse succeeds William A. Childers who is retiring.

“We are delighted to have Tom Rouse on our team," Zhou stated. "He brings a wealth of expertise as well as top-level management experience in the bearing business to the C&U Americas organization. His proven ability to deliver excellent sales results and his exceptional leadership qualities are precisely the attributes that we need to continue to grow the C&U Americas business in the U.S. and build an even stronger brand in the NAFTA market.”

Rouse comes to C&U Americas after serving Precision Gear Holdings, LLC & Merit Gear LLC as president and chief executive officer since Dec. 2009. He held full responsibility for P&L, manufacturing, and all department functions of both organizations.

Prior to Precision Gear, Rouse enjoyed a 20-year career at NSK Corporation. During his tenure as president and COO from 2004 to 2009, he was responsible for all industrial, aftermarket, and automotive business segments, five manufacturing locations, and 1,500 employees.

While at NSK Corporation (1989 to 2009) Rouse also served as president and general manager of NSK Precision America, director of information management and business planning, and senior automotive marketing manager.

From 1983 to 1989, Rouse was a sales engineer and market analyst for steering and suspension products at TRW Automotive, Inc.

Rouse also served as a board and executive committee member of the American Bearing Manufacturers Association. He holds an MBA from Wayne State University and a B.A. in business from Michigan State University.

C&U Americas offers a full line of bearing types and styles for use in original equipment manufacturing, aftermarket replacement, and MRO operations. The C&U portfolio includes over 30,000 types of bearings in a wide range of specifications and sizes ranging from 1.5 mm ID to 4000 mm OD.