John Krafcik joins board of Directors at manufacturer Rivian

Rivian Automotive has announced that John Krafcik has joined its board of Directors. He has over three decades of experience in the sector, having worked at Waymo, an Alphabet company. He is also a member of the Rivian Automotive audit committee. 

Lean production and EV manufacturing

Krafcik studied Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University and Management at MIT Sloan School of Management. 

It was during his studies in 1988, he came up with the term ‘lean production’ in an academic research paper, titled ‘Triumph of the Lean Production System’. Lean production is improving the workplace through culture and maximising production. 

He then went onto work at NUMMI, the GM-Toyota joint venture, as a manufacturing engineer. Krafcik then worked in various engineering management roles at Ford Motor Company. He was President and CEO of Hyundai Motor America 2004-2014 and then President of TrueCar, where he also served on the Board of Directors. 

From 2015 to 2021, Krafcik worked as CEO of Waymo, an Alphabet company and served as a consultant from 2021 to 2022. He currently serves on the Supervisory Boards of Daimler Truck AG and Daimler Truck Holding AG.

“I am excited to join the Rivian board and help the company achieve its ambitious goals,” said Krafcik, following his appointment. “Rivian is at the forefront of the electric vehicle revolution, and I believe that the company will have a major impact on the future of transportation. I look forward to working with RJ and the rest of the team to help Rivian build the best electric vehicles in the world.”

“We are thrilled to welcome John to the Rivian board,” said RJ Scaringe, Founder and CEO of Rivian. “John has tremendous leadership experience in the automotive industry and an impressive track record of building and leading innovative companies. His expertise in manufacturing engineering and automotive technology will be a valuable addition to our team. I’m confident that John will play a key role in helping us achieve our mission to electrify transportation and make it more sustainable.”

Investment for Rivian, support from Amazon and Ford

Rivian Automotive was backed by Amazon and Ford Motor in 2020, raising another US$1.3bn from investors led by T. Rowe Price to support the rollout of its debut vehicles. The funds generated from Rivian’s fourth major investment boosts the total raised to US$2bn, according to Bloomberg. 

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