NN Inc. (USA; NASDAQ: NNBR) has made two key top management appointments.

Frank Gentry has been named Vice President and Managing Director of the company's Precision Bearing Components division. He had been Vice President and General Manager of the U.S. Ball & Roller and NN Asia divisions.

Jeffrey Hodge has been appointed to Mr. Gentry's former position of VP/GM.

Mr. Gentry is moving into a newly created position at NN. Rock Baty, Chairman and CEO, said the new position is, "an important step in the strategic restructuring of our global precision bearing business. This structure will strengthen and improve the competitiveness of our global operations and allow us to capture needed global organizational synergies in our precision ball, roller and metal cage businesses in North America, Europe and China."

NN is the world's largest dedicated manufacturer of bearing components -- antifriction bearing balls, rolls, seals and retainers -- for a wide variety of bearing manufacturers worldwide. The company also produces highly engineered plastic components to customer specification.

NN has been facing strong headwinds in the current economic climate, with financial stresses and operating issues that go directly to its position as a fundamental product manufacturer in the manufacturing "food chain." However, because NN's components are considered bellwethers for manufacturing in general, the company is also expected to see early improvement in any economic recovery, as fundamental manufactured components are the first to see a pickup in global economic and manufacturing activity.