Laurent Darcy is the 47-year-old head of the Drives & Motors Services (DMS) department at SPIE Est, which offers mechanical engineering and drive system maintenance services to industrial customers based in eastern France. Darcy has expanded the department's activities to locations in Reims to the north and Le Creusot to the south. As department head, Darcy manages over 80 people and is responsible for implementing the company's strategic plan and diversifying its customer portfolio. Key challenges include maintaining proximity to industrial sites, sustaining specialized skills through recruitment, and adapting services to customers still using aging equipment in light of the long economic crisis in the region.

1. Laurent Darcy, aged 47, head of SPIE Est’s Drives & Motors Services (DMS) department,
offers his industrial customers a complete range of engineering and specialised maintenance
services in mechanical engineering and drive systems. He is based in Troyes, in eastern France,
but he has managed to expand his activity in Reims, in the north, and Le Creusot, in the south.
“Our skills are
complementary – that
makes us stronger!”
Tell us about your career at SPIE.
Laurent Darcy: I was hired as a Sales Manager by SPIE Est in 2013, as part of a specialised unit
dealing with maintaining and reconstructing drive systems used in industry and in tertiary
facilities. Then in 2017, I became head of the department, named Drives & Motors Services
(DMS).Today,Ioffermycustomersacomprehensiveofferingincludingelectricalandmechanical
engineering and drive systems, with a focus on energy performance.
What are your responsibilities?
L.D.: I am working on implementing the company’s strategic action plan, on deploying our
speciality more widely in eastern France, on diversifying our customer portfolio and on
anticipating their needs. And since last January, I have been responsible for all our mechanical
activity. All together, I manage more than 80 people!
What challenges are you facing in your current role?
L.D.: The first issue is proximity to industrial sites, because our specialities don’t travel well.
There is also a question of sustaining our skills, with a need to monitor the recruitment. In an
industrial basin that has suffered from the financial crisis over a long period, we also have to
be reactive so that we can offer services to customers who are still using aging production
equipment. And because of the challenge of digitalisation, we are now equipping our operators
with tablets so that they can better communicate with their customers in real time.
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