CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
24 June 2008
Company News
Lectra Announces the Opening of its Subsidiary in India and Appoints Laxmanasandra Jayaram (LJ) Prashanth as its Managing Director
Lectra announced the opening of a subsidiary in India. Based in Bangalore, this subsidiary aims to develop new sales opportunities and to strengthen proximity with Lectra’s clients.
India is a superpower in the making: With a growth rate of around +8.5% in 2007, India is one of the countries with the best economic prospects in the world, for its internal markets as well as its export capacity. More than 58 % of the Indian population—total around 1.1 billion—is currently under the age of 25. Each year, 400,000 qualified engineers leave Indian universities, and the country has the largest number of software developers in the world, second only to the United States. With this huge pool of young talent, India has everything it needs to position itself as a major player in worldwide innovation.
For foreign companies, the Indian market is simultaneously dynamic yet complex. Not only does it comprise a number of different cultures, religions, and languages, but it is geographically very vast and is currently experiencing a significant economic boom. The decision-making cycles in India—the largest democracy in the world—are often long and fraught with administrative rules and regulations. Closeness to our clients is therefore essential.
Lectra works with Indian companies in the apparel, footwear and fashion accessories industries, as well as in the automotive and industrial fabrics sector.
From an industrial point of view, two sectors are particularly well-developed in India: automotive and apparel. Concerning the automotive sector, the main global players all have a presence in India and have opened production facilities there, especially for the manufacturing of cars for the domestic market, which is booming. India is in fact the second largest market in the world for small cars. For apparel, India is among the top five biggest textile and clothing exporters worldwide (T-shirts, dresses, blouses, pants, and men’s shirts).
Setting up operations in India and developing strong links with clients is therefore a major competitive advantage for a business such as Lectra.
Lectra has been present in India for over 10 years, represented by its dynamic and trusted partner Magnum Solutions Pvt Ltd, and has clearly established its leadership position among its installed client base, particularly in the garment, wind energy, and automotive markets. Lectra enjoys a leadership position across all markets with over 70% share of the market for car seats and interiors.
In addition to setting up its own subsidiary in India, Lectra intends to continue—and strengthen—its partnership with Magnum Solutions Pvt Ltd, by adopting a mixed distribution model. This strategy will enable Lectra to optimize its contact with clients and to offer focused and customized solutions adapted to its clients’ specific process requirements, whether those be automated cutting solutions, state-of-art software, or value-added services.
Lectra India will concentrate on three main objectives: build and manage account relationships in the apparel, footwear and fashion accessories markets; develop and build on its presence in the automotive (seats and interiors) and industrial fabrics markets; and finally position itself as a key solutions provider for the Indian furniture market.
Lectra appoints Laxmanasandra Jayaram (L.J.) Prashanth as head of its Indian subsidiary
In order to accomplish these goals, Laxmanasandra Jayaram (L.J.) Prashanth has joined Lectra as Managing Director of the Indian subsidiary.
“L.J. Prashanth is in charge of defining, planning and coordinating all of Lectra’s activities in India, in direct contact with headquarters and the regional management teams in order to give a new dimension to Lectra’s development on the Indian sub-continent," emphasized Daniel Harari, CEO Lectra. ”With his in-depth understanding of the Indian markets and a wealth of experience gained in working for international companies, LJ Prashanth brings with him dual skills which will be extremely valuable to us.”
Prior to joining Lectra, L.J. Prashanth was head of global marketing at Infinite Computer Solutions, providers of IT solutions and services, in Bangalore. He also held several management positions at TCG Ivega, Deutsche Software, Verifone India and Wipro Finance. With an MBA and a mechanical engineering degree, LJ Prashanth has more than 13 years of experience in international high-tech companies.
”My mission is to increase our growth potential, to develop sales, and to position Lectra as leader in cutting and CAD/CAM systems for the apparel, footwear and fashion accessory industries as well as the automotive and industrial fabrics markets. We already have a good installed base for our automated cutting systems, but we also want to develop sales of software,” explained L.J. Prashanth.
Lectra inaugurated its new subsidiary on June, 24 and has its office in Bangalore, "the high-tech capital of India."
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