Bovie Medical Adds 30-Year Medtech Veteran to its Board of Directors

Bovie Medical Corporation, developer of J-Plasma, a patented surgical product, has appointef Craig A. Swandal to the company’s Board of Directors, effective March 9. Swandal will also serve as a member of the company’s Audit Committee.
 
“Mr. Swandal has a strong background in global manufacturing strategy and execution, as well as a track record in leading and advising companies in the medical technology sector,” said Andrew Makrides, board chairman. “On behalf of my fellow directors, I am pleased to welcome Craig Swandal to our board and we look forward to leveraging his insights and expertise.”
 
Swandal joins Bovie Medical’s board with over 30 years of experience at public and privately-held medical technology and electronics manufacturing companies. He began his career in 1981 at Unisys Corporation, a manufacturer of main frame computer systems, where he held a variety of manufacturing positions of increasing responsibility. In 1995 he joined Silent Knight, a manufacturer of industrial fire and security systems, as a manufacturing manager and was promoted to vice president of Operations.
 
In 2001, Swandal joined Gyrus, a manufacturer of surgical devices, where he was responsible for the company’s manufacturing operations as director of Operations and later vice president of Operations. During his tenure, he improved manufacturing efficiencies by leading his manufacturing group through the implementation of lean and Six Sigma techniques. Following Gyrus’s acquisition of ACMI in 2005, Swandal was promoted to senior vice president and was responsible for the global operations of the combined company, which included 12 facilities across eight countries. He developed and executed Gyrus ACMI’s strategy to consolidate its manufacturing, distribution, customer service and service and repair operations and was a member of the leadership team that successfully sold the company to Olympus Corporation for $2.2 billion in 2008.
 
Following the acquisition of Gyrus ACMI, Swandal served on the executive leadership teams of several companies, including ATS Medical, ACELL and Tendyne, where he was focused on operational development. He is currently the principal of Lead 2 Change Consulting, where he assists companies in identifying and implementing new manufacturing initiatives.

Swandal has a bachelor’s degree in organizational management and communications from Concordia University, as well as a mini master’s degree of business administration in medical technology from the University of St Thomas.
 
Bovie Medical Corporation is a maker of medical devices and supplies as well as the developer of J-Plasma, a patented plasma-based surgical product for cutting, coagulation and ablation of soft tissue. J-Plasma utilizes a helium ionization process to produce a stable, focused beam of plasma that provides surgeons with greater precision, minimal invasiveness and an absence of conductive currents through the patient during surgery. The new J-Plasma handpieces with Cool-Coag technology deliver the precision of helium plasma energy, the power of traditional monopolar coagulation and the efficiency of plasma beam coagulation—enabling thin-layer ablation and dissection and fast coagulation with a single instrument, minimizing instrument exchange and allowing a surgeon to focus on their patient and their procedures. With Cool-Coag technology, the new J-Plasma handpieces can deliver three distinctly different energy modalities—further increasing the utility and versatility of the J-Plasma system. Bovie Medical Corporation also manufactures electrosurgical products and technologies, marketed through both private labels and the company’s own brands (Bovie, IDS and DERM) to distributors worldwide. The company also leverages its expertise through original equipment manufacturing (OEM) agreements with other medical device manufacturers.