Rolf Schwind, up until now the CEO of SCHWIND eye-tech-solutions GmbH, has withdrawn from active leadership of the company effective 1 October 2022 and joined the Advisory Board. In that capacity he will continue to actively contribute to the growth of SCHWIND with his more than forty years of extensive experience in the ophthalmology industry. In addition, Rolf Schwind and his family remain involved in the company. In a planned succession, the previous COO Domenic von Planta has taken on the responsibilities of CEO, and will be supported by an extended management team.
“I am very proud of what we have achieved for our users and employees. After over 30 years it’s now time for the next generation to take the helm. As COO and Deputy Managing Director, Domenic von Planta was successful at my side for almost five years. Now I am very glad to pass the responsibility for the future of the company on to him and his management team. I myself will continue to support SCHWIND as an advisory board member and remain committed to refractive surgery.”
Over the last past decades, Rolf Schwind has shaped and continuously developed one of the global market leaders in refractive and therapeutic corneal surgery. In 1992 the first SCHWIND eye laser was shipped to South Korea. Since then, about 2250 of the company’s laser systems have been installed worldwide. With the SCHWIND AMARIS product family, the company is the technology leader in excimer lasers, and has a market share of around 35 percent (excluding the US market). SCHWIND users have performed about 9.5 million treatments with AMARIS technology so far, and this successful model enjoys a continuously high demand. Among the major milestones during Rolf Schwind’s tenure as CEO was also the expansion of the product portfolio into an entire refractive suite with the latest laser model, the SCHWIND ATOS femtosecond laser, whose excellent clinical outcomes in lenticular extraction are especially impressive.
The basis for the success of this medium-sized, family-oriented company has always been its highly qualified interdisciplinary team and agile structures, which ensure high product quality and drive the innovations of tomorrow. New developments and improvements, tightly focused on the needs of clinical practice, are implemented in fruitful collaboration with reference physicians. Among the defining strengths of SCHWIND are its excellence in customer care, global presence through strong partnerships with carefully selected distribution partners, and a high level of in-house ophthalmological expertise. In addition, with his employees, Rolf Schwind has created a distinctive company culture of passion for technological innovation coupled with close relationships with eye surgeons. Thus, users feel part of the “SCHWIND family”, clearly noticeable at regular International User Meetings.
“Together with the SCHWIND user family, we want to make a major contribution to laser treatment becoming the first choice for correcting refractive errors,” says the new CEO Domenic von Planta. “I am very much looking forward to pursuing this vision with the SCHWIND team and our customers. It remains our goal to provide eye surgeons with innovative solutions, so that they can offer their patients safe and precise laser eye surgery. Rolf Schwind has made impressive contributions to refractive laser surgery and the SCHWIND company, and his faith in this succession is a great motivation as we continue on our growth path.” With the support of investment company Adagia Partners, SCHWIND’s new management has its sights set on the next stage in the company’s growth – higher quality of life for patients through further extending SCHWIND’s global market position and increasing the demand for its technologies in target markets. At the top of the agenda is the goal of making the SCHWIND ATOS femtosecond laser, with its excellent treatment results and new treatment options, available to a growing number of eye surgeons and their patients. Additional resources, particularly in product development, customer care and sales, are being built up for the planned dynamic growth of the company.
