Survitec, a global safety and survival solutions leader, has announced the appointment of Ron Krisanda as Executive Chairman for its worldwide life-saving equipment business.

As Executive Chairman, Krisanda will drive a comprehensive strategic plan to focus on customer needs and profitable growth.  In this newly created role, he will lead both the Survitec Board of Directors and the Executive Management Team.

Krisanda has extensive business experience, including the roles of Chairman, President, CEO and COO across various global manufacturing and service businesses.

He is highly skilled at driving significant operational improvement to achieve financial goals, reach growth targets and create shareholder value. He has experience with both public-traded companies as a corporate officer and with private equity-owned organisations, leading their executive teams.

Most recently, Krisanda was CEO of Quality Metalcraft – Experi-Metal, Inc., a premium provider of highly engineered, metal formed assemblies for the automotive and aerospace sectors.  He has been a member of its Board of Directors since 2015 and will continue in this role. During his two-year tenure as CEO, the business underwent a major transformation and returned to profitable growth.

Krisanda also currently serves as Chairman of Cooper Turner Beck, a leading global manufacturer and distributor of safety-critical fasteners focused on the energy sector. This privately held company, based in Sheffield UK, has 11 factories around the world, and was recently named as one of the top 200 fastest growing companies in the UK.

Prior to Quality Metalcraft-Experi-Metal, Krisanda was President and COO of Milacron Holdings Corp., a global leader of highly engineered and customised systems for the plastics industry. He led the company’s restructuring, including the integration of the Mold Masters acquisition, and helped position the business for a 2015 IPO on the NYSE.

As COO of Edwards Vacuum, he led the company’s restructuring plan, which focused on service delivery, and invested in R&D to fuel growth. This resulted in double-digit revenue growth and the doubling of EBITDA, which led to an IPO on NASDAQ.

Krisanda has a deep understanding and passion for the life safety product sector. At Tyco International, he served as President of Tyco Safety Products, leading the global Fire, Security and Life Safety product division. He also served as the President of Tyco Fire & Security Europe, Middle East and Africa based in London. This business focused on the contracting, installation, and service of Fire and Security systems across 26 countries.

Ron Krisanda commented: “I am delighted be joining Survitec and re-joining the life safety industry. One of the aspects that attracts me to this business sector is what we do every single day matters. Saving and protecting lives matters – whether that’s through a pilot wearing our gear on a flight, or in an emergency situation where our customers depend on us for their products to work first time, every time – such as the deployment of one of our life rafts.

“With the full support of our lenders behind us, we have a strong, recapitalised balance sheet with access to additional funding.  We now have a unique opportunity to enhance our people-first business to deliver greater value for our customers, with a passion for keeping our customers safe that is demonstrated through our commercial and operational excellence. Our people are truly committed to working above and beyond our customer expectations every single day around the world.

“I am impressed by the scale of the business opportunity and I look forward to working with the Board and the Executive team at Survitec, the world’s most trusted company for critical safety and survival solutions.’’

Krisanda holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University in New York and a Master of Science degree in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

He will be based out of Survitec’s London office.