Hayward Holdings Inc., a designer, manufacturer and marketer of pool equipment and technology, announced March 31 that Senior Vice President, Chief Supply Chain Officer Don Smith plans to retire after more than 15 years with the company.
Smith will remain with the company through the transition of his successor, who will be announced later, the Berkeley Heights company said.
“Don has been an integral part of the Hayward senior leadership team for over 15 years and has been a driving force in shaping Hayward into the company it is today,” Kevin Holleran, Hayward CEO, said in a statement. “He has built a high-performance culture in our manufacturing, supply chain and distribution organizations around the world, which continues to meet challenges and deliver growth for the company. We thank Don for his years of leadership and wish him well as he moves into this next chapter of his life.”
Smith joined Hayward in 2007 as a member of its senior leadership. During his tenure, his initiatives focused on enhancing Hayward’s production and distribution capabilities, including the opening and growth of Hayward’s manufacturing facility in Wuxi, China. More recently, Smith led the transition of manufacturing from Pomona, Calif., to Clemmons, N.C., and Wuxi, China, and the establishment of Hayward’s West Coast distribution center in Phoenix.
Over the past two years, Smith led efforts to increase Hayward’s global production capacity by more than 75% since the onset of the pandemic — a challenge considering supply chain bottlenecks, logistics struggles and labor shortages.
Smith’s other initiatives include establishing a Centers of Excellence architecture across Hayward manufacturing facilities, instituting a new product development process and implementing the company’s global distribution network.
“It has been my honor to lead Hayward’s Operations and Supply Chain through its development into a global leader in swimming pool original equipment. Our operational expansion and transformation into a vertically integrated, lean, global operation was a vision I shared with our many team members and stakeholders. I am beyond proud of the world-class enterprise we’ve all built together,” Smith said.
Hayward announced in March 2021 that it will move its corporate offices to North Carolina. According to the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, the company began the relocation process this fall and expects to be completed this year.
