New CEO for Davis-Standard

Davis-Standard (D-S) has a new CEO. The builder of extrusion and converting systems has named Giovanni Spitale to the post. Jim Murphy, who has held the CEO position since 2015, has been elected as vice chairman of the Board of Directors. 

Spitale joins after a two-year stint at Boeing, most recently as v.p. of commercial parts within Boeing Global Services. In that role, Spitale had full P&L responsibility and directed Boeing’s $4 billion portfolio of commercial aircraft and engine parts businesses. Prior joining Boeing, Spitale was president of customer service and support at Milacron.

“I am extremely excited to join the Davis-Standard organization,” Spitale said. “Having spent considerable time in the polymer processing and broader capital equipment industries, I have long admired Davis-Standard’s leading position in the market, its unmatched engineering capability and the company’s reputation as a strong partner to its customers through both original equipment and aftermarket support.”

Added Murphy, who joined D-S in 1989, “I want to thank the entire Davis-Standard organization for the many years of strong performance that we have collectively executed upon under my tenure as CEO. I am thrilled to continue to serve the company  and look forward to collaborating with Giovanni alongside the broader Board of Directors in this next and very exciting phase of Davis-Standard’s long history.”

Last fall, D-S was acquired by Gamut Capital Management, L.P., a New York-based middle-market private equity firm, from ONCAP, the middle-market private equity platform of Onex. 

Joining Spitale and Murphy on the Davis-Standard Board of Directors are Dan Guthrie, COO of Davis-Standard; representatives from Gamut; and plastics industry veterans Brian Marston, Bill Barker and John McGrath. Marston is currently president & CEO of Uniloy and was previously president of Milacron’s blow molding and extrusion businesses. Barker was previously the president and CEO of Mold-Masters. McGrath was previously the CEO of packaging processor Pactiv Evergreen.