Symmetry Medical Rings In New Year With New President

Thomas J. Sullivan is starting off the new year with a new job. The former president of DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. has been named president and CEO of Symmetry Medical Inc.

Sullivan assumed his new role on Jan. 17. He replaces Brian S. Moore, who has been the company’s chief executive since June 2003. Moore will continue working for Symmetry for the next 17 months as both a board member and as president of business development, though he possibly can remain with the Warsaw, Ind.-based firm past June 2012 if both he and the board share such a desire.

Sullivan praised Moore for his service to Symmetry and cited many of his accomplishments during his tenure, including the completion of an initial public offering and the acquisition of various businesses that diversified the company’s array of products and services (the $45 million purchase of an orthopedic instrument manufacturing facility in New Bedford, Mass., from DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. in 2007 and the $10 million deal for Clamonta Limited, which enabled Symmetry to enter the aerospace sector the same year, are two of the more significant mergers that Moore helped orchestrate during his reign).

Before he was appointed to the top post at Symmetry, Sullivan was president of the Supply Chain & Business Process division of Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc. In that role, he led the global supply chain competency center for the Medical Device & Diagnostics Group as well as the commercial and government contracting processes for J&J’s healthcare customers in the United States. Sullivan also led J&J’s Supply Chain Customer Experience team, which oversees worldwide customer facing logistics services in the Medical Device & Diagnostics, Pharmaceutical, and Consumer Groups.

Sullivan leaves behind a 20-year career at J&J, which began in 1990 after a five-year stint at Verizon. His first job at the healthcare conglomerate was in operations, followed by management—specifically, president of Medical Products Canada (2002-2005) and president of DePuy Orthopaedics (2005-2007).

Sullivan said his tenure in the medical device industry has given him an appreciation for Symmetry’s position in the market and the value of its Total Solutions offering. “I believe there is a tremendous opportunity to continue to build upon the company’s position…and to grow this business across multiple medical device segments,” he said.

Omni Components Welcomes Another Manager

Omni Components Corp. has added another manager to its ranks. Eric Grace has joined the company as plant manager to supervise various areas including production, training and personnel. He also will coordinate efforts with the sales, customer service, engineering and supply change management divisions.

Grace has assumed several manufacturing managerial positions over the course of his career, most recently at Freudenberg NOK, the Americas joint venture partnership between Freudenberg & Co. in Germany and NOK Corp. in Japan. Created in 1999, the combined company (headquartered in Novi, Mich.) produces elastomeric seals and custom molded products.

Grace is the second person in three months to join Omni’s management team. Last fall, the company hired Frank Stone as chief operating officer to manage the firm’s finances and its daily operations.

Based in Hudson, N.H., Omni Components provides multi-axis, precision turnkey machining services and engineered solutions to customers through CNC Swiss, mill/turn, vertical milling and EDM technology.

TranS1 Board Appoints CEO

The management shuffle continues at TranS1 Inc. Just three months after appointing a vice president of research and development, the company’s board named a new CEO.

Ken Reali, TranS1’s president and chief operating officer for the past year, now can add chief executive officer to his official job title. Reali succeeds Rick Randall, who becomes the board’s executive chairman; both men will work together to “build shareholder value in an evolving spine market that is more focused on cost effective, minimally invasive surgical therapies,” according to company executives.

“Rick has been instrumental in the development of TranS1 since joining the Company in 2002 and we are pleased that he will continue to serve as Executive Chairman,” said Paul LaViolette, TranS1 lead director. “Ken has made a significant impact on TranS1 since he joined last year.”

Reali has more than 20 years of general management, sales and marketing experience with leading medical device and orthopedic companies. He joined TranS1 from Smith & Nephew plc, where he spent five years in various senior marketing, sales and product development positions, including most recently as senior vice president and general manager of the Biologics and Clinical Therapies Business. Prior to working for Smith & Nephew, Reali held senior marketing, sales and product development positions at Stryker Corp. for seven years. He also was a territory and product manager at Biomet Inc. for eight years.

“TranS1 is well positioned to become a significant participant in spinal implants through growth of its AxiaLIF core technology,” Reali said. “The company will continue to leverage its minimally invasive foundation to develop a business based on technologies that improve outcomes and offer a value proposition to the current standard of care.”