CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

23 June 2004

Financial News

Missler Software Reports Profits for 2003

Reorganization efforts at MISSLER Software, following the takeover of Missler's competitor CN Industries, are showing positive results. Despite a slight slump in sales, the French software provider made a profit of nearly one million Euro in 2003. The group's turnover reached EUR 18.7m in 2002 compared to EUR 19.5m the year before. For the current fiscal year Dominique Laffret, International Sales Manager, expects yet another two-digit turnover growth to amount to approx. EUR 22m and believes profits may be as high as EUR 2m.

In 2001, MISSLER Software took over CN Industries to supplement its integrated TopSolid CAD/CAM product family with the popular GOélan CAM package. According to Dominique Laffret, the integration of both companies is now complete. In the course of its reorganization, the number of employees was reduced to 185. More than one third of the current staff is engaged in software development at company sites in Toulouse, Évry, Lyon and Grenoble.

Business abroad was especially successful in the past year-the group was able to increase international sales by 20 percent to EUR 3.8m. Despite the difficult economic climate, 40% growth was achieved in the fast-growing markets in Germany and other German speaking countries. Dominique Laffret, who is also CEO of the German branch office in Offenburg, expects a similarly positive result for the current year.

The TopSolid product family significantly contributed to the success in export markets with sales rising by seven percent to EUR 15.7m in the previous year. MISSLER clearly benefited from the trend towards integrated CAD/CAM solutions. Tool and mold makers and other manufacturing companies alike increasingly focus on a continuous data and process chain in order to shorten their cycle times from design to machine and to speed up the change process.

The number of TopSolid licenses sold rose by 15 percent to around 1,500, 60 percent of which were installed abroad. More than 7,000 customers around the globe, including renowned companies from the automobile, aerospace, machine, consumer goods and plastics processing industries, are using the integrated CAD/CAM software. In Germany, France and Japan, tool and mold making are also very important market segments.

After the TopSolid'Mold design package, the highest turnover is accounted for by the TopSolid'Cam CAM software. MISSLER intends to increasingly position TopSolid'Cam as an independent manufacturing solution for industries such as machine engineering. Originally, the programming system was designed for milling with up to five simultaneous axes, but it also speeds up programming of 2.5D milling and drilling operations. The software automatically recognizes holes, pockets and slots on imported geometries and suggests automated machining cycles.

For the current fiscal year, MISSLER Software wants to strengthen TopSolid's position in the design area. Prospects are good since the demand for integrated CAD/CAM solutions continues to rise, as Dominique Laffret explains. In the current version, the performance of the 3D system for processing shaded models and large assemblies was improved by 30%. Now the developers' task is to re-design the user interface in order to facilitate system operation. The market launch of the new version is scheduled for the end of the year.

 

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