Previously, Norwood Medical was a family-owned company operating in the Dayton area since 1927.
Stietz led Norwood Medical for the past two years as Norwood Medical transitioned into the Heraeus Group. With Kircher’s appointment, Stietz has returned to Germany to continue his role on the Heraeus Board of Managing Directors and serve as chief operating officer of the company.
“It is an honor to lead Norwood because it has earned such an unmatched reputation for excellence and innovation with its medical device customers. Another thing that has truly impressed me has been every employee’s sacred commitment to put the patient at the center of everything they do,” Kircher said.
The employees’ mindset will help the company deliver new medical technology breakthroughs to improve patient care and outcomes, Kircher said.
Norwood Medical has added five new buildings to its Dayton facilities in the past 10 years. Last March the company broke ground for the construction of its 11th building, a 72,000 square-foot manufacturing facility, which will focus on producing components for minimally-invasive, robotic-assisted surgeries and orthopedics.
Kircher’s background is in the medical technology field, along with international operations, micro-manufacturing, engineering, commercial strategy and business expansion.
Kircher was most recently CEO of Libra Industries, a global manufacturing and systems integrator based in Dayton. Prior to that, he held senior leadership positions with international companies including Jabil, Flextronics, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas.
Kircher holds a bachelor’s degree in avionics engineering from Emery-Riddle University and an MBA in marketing and international business from Rutgers University. He also served in the United States Air Force from 1981 to 1985.
Norwood has long Dayton roots. The business was born in the 1920s, going by various names in its history, including the “Dayton-Norwood Tool Co.” or the “Dayton Tool Shop.” Customers over the decades included Dayton stalwarts such as NCR, Frigidaire, Huffy and others.
By the 1970s, the company was branching into components from tooling, producing bicycle and auto parts and components in other areas.
In time, the decision was made to focus solely on medical device contract manufacturing, with the name of the company changed to “Norwood Medical” by about 2005.
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