Lectra Names New Software R&D Director
Paris-based technology solutions provider Lectra named Laurent Alt director of the company’s software R&D department.
Alt was most recently chief executive officer of HD3D, a company that develops digital content production management software. His career includes 14 years at Dassault Systemes, working in R&D development, consulting and pre-sales PLM (product lifecycle management) solutions. His resume includes stints at SpaceClaim, a concept design software startup company, and Solidworks, where he worked with the company’s 3-D geometry tool R&D team. Alt got his start at Thompson Digital Image, where he worked on the development of a 3-D modeling package for industrial design.
“My previous experience has prepared me for this new challenge of enabling Lectra to reinvent the rules of the industry, while capitalizing on its business experience and leveraging all the latest technologies,” Alt said in a Lectra statement.
Daniel Harari, Lectra chief executive officer, praised Alt’s “mastery of complex information-systems projects,” as well as his experience with latest-generation technologies, CAD (computer-aided design) and PLM.
“The arrival of Laurent Alt at the head of the software R&D team follows Lectra’s ambitious investment policy over the past seven years,” Harari said.
Lectra’s software R&D department staffs more than 200 employees, and last year, the company invested 18.2 million euros ($24.1 million), or 8.9 percent of its revenue, in the department’s projects. The company has invested 68.6 million euros ($91.19 million) in software R&D over the past four years.
“The decision made in 2005, after deep consideration, to maintain Lectra’s R&D and production in France has enabled it to meet the three challenges it faced: compete with the low-cost products of its international competitors that had relocated to China and those of its Asian competitors; increase its competitiveness; and boost its margins. This decision has also enabled Lectra to protect its industrial property,” Harari said.
Lectra provides software and hardware solutions for a broad range of markets, including fashion (apparel, accessories, footwear); automotive (car seats and interiors and airbags); furniture; aeronautical and marine industries; wind power; and personal protective equipment.
The company has 23,000 customers in more than 100 countries, employs 1,350 employees and reported $287 million in revenue last year.—Alison A. Nieder
