Chris Eisenhart joined A123 Systems in October as its chief operations officer. He takes over from Ed Kopkowski who left the company in May to become COO of Dexter Alex Company,

Eisenhart will head A123’s manufacturing, quality and supply chain organizations globally and, in particular, oversee the company’s plan to more than double manufacturing capacity within the next two years.

Earlier this year, A123 announced a series of business expansion initiatives totalling more than $300 million in capital investments between its facilities in the US and China. The company say it is accelerating plans to reach 1.5 GWh of global manufacturing capacity.

Eisenhart started at Ford Motor Company before moving to the component supplier Spartanburg Steel Products. More recently he headed operations in a unit of Johnson Controls. He has also held a senior operations position at Lear Corporation.

“Eisenhart will be sharply focused on execution of our massive expansion both in terms of facilities and the organizational development to run them at world-class efficiency,” said Jason Forcier, A123 chief executive.

A123 says it will increase its total battery capacity produced annually to 1.5 gigawatt hours at its plants in Michigan; Hangzhou, China; and Changzhou, China, over the next three years