Datron Systems Makes Management Changes

Datron Systems Inc., a Simi Valley-based producer of telecommunications and radio equipment, has announced two changes in top management, but denies that the moves are related to the company’s recent setbacks.

Both sales and earnings are down at Datron, and the firm has announced that it will close its plant in Camarillo.

In one management shift, David A. Derby, Datron’s president and chief executive officer, will take on added duties as president of Trans World Communications Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary in Escondido.

Derby will replace Gary Gist, who is leaving to become manager of the Escondido division of a Fortune 500 company.

Thomas V. Baker, Datron’s chief financial officer, declined to identify Gist’s new employer, saying Gist had requested that the firm not be named until he leaves later this week.

In another management change, Datron announced that Donald R. Rondeau has been named to the newly created post of president of the firm’s Datron/Transco division. The unit was formed as a result of the planned closing of the Camarillo plant, scheduled for June.

Baker said neither switch is related to Datron’s loss of $8.6 million in the nine months that ended Dec. 31. The loss included an $8-million charge related to the Camarillo closure. In the same period, sales fell 26%, to $40.8 million from $55.5 million.