Broad-line supplier of MRO products bolsters executive team

CHICAGO — Grainger, a leading broad-line supplier of maintenance, repair and operating products serving businesses and institutions, has appointed Dr. Michael Ali as the company’s SVP and CIO. He replaces Tim Ferrarell, who has assumed the new role of SVP, innovation and continuous improvement.

"Michael is a great addition to our team," said Grainger chairman, president and CEO Jim Ryan. "Beyond his IT expertise, Michael brings a strong global perspective to our organization. At the same time, I'm excited to have Tim take on the role of leading our innovation and continuous improvement efforts, both of which are critical to our continued success."

Ali has extensive global experience in information technology. Most recently he was SVP, application services and project management office, at US Foods. Previous to US Foods, he was CIO at Harman, where he led the upgrade of its SAP platform and implementation of a new e-commerce platform. Ali also was CIO at U.K.-based Jaguar Land Rover, transforming its IT organization to follow the Ford One-IT model.

With Grainger, Ali will be charged with leading the Enterprise Systems team in building flexible and scalable systems that will support the current and future needs of customers, suppliers and team members, and help drive growth for Grainger worldwide.

Ali has a PhD in computer and systems engineering from Rensselaer, an MS in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, and a BS in mechanical engineering from Princeton University. Ali will be based in Lake Forest, reporting to Jim Ryan.