New VP to Lead Healthcare and Life Sciences Business at Jabil Circuit

New VP to Lead Healthcare and Life Sciences Business at Jabil Circuit

Jabil Circuit Inc. has added to its management team. The electronic product solutions firm recruited medical device industry veteran Alan Myers to lead its Healthcare & Life Sciences global business unit.
In a four-paragraph news release, executives said they hired Myers to “expand and enhance Jabil’s service and technology platforms to support the company’s emerging market growth expectations.” He is based at the company’s headquarters in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Jabil bigwigs said they chose Myers to lead the company’s Healthcare & Life Sciences unit based on his experience managing medical device and pharmaceutical firms.

“Alan brings to Jabil a distinguished pedigree in many different aspects of the medical device industry from operations to manufacturing to research and development,” said Courtney Ryan, a senior vice president at Jabil. “His broad experience working in key locations worldwide, such as Thailand, Malaysia, Europe, Mexico and Singapore, will be an invaluable resource for our global customers. Alan’s leadership will be instrumental in growing our medical business and providing additional value-added services as part of Jabil’s comprehensive and expanding offering.”

Before joining Jabil, Myers was senior vice president of global operations for Somerset, N.J.-based Catalent Pharma Solutions, where he managed more than 30 manufacturing facilities in the United States, South America, Asia and Europe. He also developed Cardinal Health’s Global Sourcing Enterprise in Singapore and opened the company’s sourcing office in Shanghai, China. In addition, Myers held several executive positions with Baxter Healthcare and Allegiance Corporation (which merged with Cardinal Health in 1999), where he was vice president of manufacturing and research and development.

Myers promised to help Jabil expand its global footprint and help customers expedite the manufacturing process.

“I’m excited to lead Jabil’s Healthcare and Life Sciences business,” Myers said in a news release. “Jabil has built upon its competencies and service offerings in the electronic manufacturing service sector to establish a strong presence in the industry. Going forward, we will aggressively invest in resources and capabilities that will enable us to strategically expand our global footprint and better help our customers accelerate their design, development and manufacturing processes. By leveraging Jabil’s expertise, global reach and focus, we are confident that we can differentiate our offering in the healthcare and life-sciences marketplace.”

Company Veteran Takes Helm of J&J Consumer Unit

It appears that Johnson & Johnson is learning from its mistakes. The healthcare conglomerate has appointed a 34-year veteran to lead a new management team that is responsible for overseeing manufacturing and quality control issues.

Ajit Shetty, vice president of supply chain, now also oversees McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the company’s troubled consumer products business. Shetty’s responsibility extends to medical devices as well.

Shetty’s appointment is part of an overall plan to improve manufacturing operations and recover from quality control problems that caused a massive recall of widely-used over-the-counter products (such as Tylenol and Motrin) as well as contact lenses, and forced the closing of a major facility in Pennsylvania. Late last month, the quality control problems spread to the firm’s medical device business, claiming two hip replacement devices as victims.

On Aug. 26, Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Orthopaedics unit announced the recall of its ASR XL Acetabular System, a hip socket used in traditional replacement surgery, and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System, a partial hip replacement that involves placing a metal cap on the ball of the femur in order to preserve more bone. The company said it is recalling both products due to the number of patients who needed a second hip replacement.

In addition, DePuy was accused by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of selling its TruMatch Personalized Solutions System, which makes artificial knee products, and the Corail Hip System without “market clearance” and in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The FDA warned DePuy to immediately stop selling the products until it complies with the agency’s requirements.

As part of its reorganization plan, Johnson & Johnson has appointed chief quality officers over each of its major businesses (pharmaceuticals, medical devices and consumer products). The chief quality officers will report to Shetty.

Minnetronix Appoints COO

Joe Renzetti has joined Minnetronix Inc. as its chief operating officer.

A former U.S. Army helicopter pilot and flight platoon leader, Renzetti brings more than 20 years of leadership experience to his new position. He most recently served as president of Specialty Construction Brands Inc. in St. Paul, Minn., and also was president of Adalis Corporation, a packaging, supply chain and plywood composing solutions provider based in Vancouver, Wash.

Renzetti is the co-inventor of two patents for radio frequency identification in packaging and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.