Mr Shurling has been with the company for 20 years.

In his most recent position as senior account director, he managed the accounts of customers such as Boeing, Seton Leather and Autoliv.

The company has also appointed Jerry Inman as vice president of Marketing for North America. Based in New York City he is now responsible for directing marketing operations in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Lectra has 1,500 employees worldwide and its 2005 revenues totalled $260 million.