IRD leadership comes from engineering, operations, ceramics, sales, process development, and the production floor—not from a separate layer above the work.
The broader team is cross-trained across production areas to support cell-based manufacturing and respond as schedules and customer requirements change.
3
Leadership profiles
2
Minnesota facilities
1 cell
Customer-to-process ownership
Leadership
Experience across the full customer program
Biographical details are condensed from the current public team page.
DK
Dirk Kvale
CEO
A West Point engineering physics graduate and former Army Military Intelligence officer, Dirk joined IRD in 2000 as an engineer. He led product development, operations, and continuous-improvement work before becoming CEO.
JR
John Rutledge
VP Sales
John joined IRD in 1998 as a field sales engineer, helped launch IRD Ceramics in Alexandria as production manager and engineer, and now leads sales operations and customer relationships.
TA
Todd Anderson
VP Business Development
Todd joined IRD in 2006 as a part-time machine operator and moved into sales and business development. Since 2012 he has led marketing, growth, customer programs, and cross-functional initiatives.
Culture
Partnership. Pride. Innovation.
IRD describes its Midwest culture through practical behavior: work together with integrity, take responsibility for difficult challenges, and keep finding better ways to serve customers and coworkers.
01
Partnership
Share information, solve problems across functions, and keep the customer context connected to the work.
02
Pride
Own the result, the quality of the part, and the effect the work has on the next person in the process.
03
Innovation
Improve tools, fixtures, processes, and ways of working rather than accepting avoidable variation.
Next step
Talk to the people behind the process.
Bring the drawing and the application context. The team will connect you with the right technical conversation.
