Festo Bulgaria opened its new office in Gabrovo
On February 7, 2024, Festo Proizvodstvo EOOD held the official opening of its new office and adjacent laboratories in Gabrovo – thus becoming part of the international concern Festo, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2025.
This strategic measure will contribute to the construction of Festo’s largest technology hub outside Germany, and the team in the city, as part of the Technical Engineering Center, will be a charge and give a new impetus to the development of technologies and processes covering all industrial segments. It was an honor and a responsibility for Festo Production that this important moment was shared by the public in the form of local authorities, educational institutions, businesses, professional associations and colleagues from Germany and Bulgaria.
Dr. Wolfgang Sperling – Head of the Electrical Automation Department presented Festo in terms of Industry 4.0.
As a family-owned and financially independent company that thinks and acts responsibly for the sustainable development of the environment, economy and society. Corporate values, standards, high quality and customer-oriented innovation contribute to this. Festo will continue to be a reliable partner and innovator in the field of automation and technical education. According to him, “machines will become more and more intelligent, and people will adapt to new knowledge throughout their lives.” And thanks to digitization – from the product to the on-site consultation, together with the appropriate energy efficiency training – Festo will continue to support its customers worldwide, helping them on their way to CO2-neutral production.
Kalin Dobrev, manager of Festo in Bulgaria emphasizes on the current period of transformation from a manufacturing to a HI-Tech company. He made a concise historical overview of the development of Festo in Bulgaria, from the production of the first part with the Festo brand in Bulgaria in 1990, to the present moment, when the Bulgarian division has two production bases – one each in Sofia and Smolyan, and the Technical Engineering center already has 3 locations – two in Sofia and one in Gabrovo.
Kristiyan Dilov, head of the Technical Engineering Center in Bulgaria, focuses on the growth of the team both as collaborators and as new competencies – a wide range of technologies relevant to the industry. He also mentioned about the built vision for development, which includes product development – focus on constructive responsibility and technological roadmap of products and synergy with production, technological development – collaboration between separate technological lines, business processes, industrialization design and becoming a leading center for software, electronics and electric drives cooperation – on a global and local level – with Festo’s business lines, development network and engineering departments, as well as with educational institutions of secondary and higher education.
Krasimir Gichev, head of the team in Gabrovo, approached pragmatically, presenting the team and its activities in the field of industrial automation, such as the successful development of the company in Bulgaria, voting confidence in the team in Gabrovo. He noted the fact that in 2006, Festo created a department in Smolyan and 18 years later again trusted a location outside of Sofia. Technological competences are related to software development, hardware development, automated tests and a unit of experts. He summed up the competences, expertise and professionalism of the team like this: “The totality of manufactured devices loaded with software – supporting the digital transformation of the industry – reaching all the customers around the world who are satisfied with the final product.” He expressed gratitude to the entire academic area in Gabrovo, expressing the team’s respect and gratitude to Prof. Nenov, who managed to direct and inspire them back in 2001 to the field of servo drives. According to Mr. Gichev, together with the city and district administration and educational institutions, in order to regain the appearance of a preferred and elite place for training in engineering sciences. We will change the environment, implementing a number of initiatives that have added value for people, the community and nature. And since Festo is an engine, I believe that our example will be followed by other leading companies that will invest in Gabrovo to establish it as a regional high-tech center.
On behalf of the regional administration, Mrs. Maria Basheva gave a welcome, who expressed her gratitude that Gabrovo will be part of the company’s success. Security and freedom show your attitude towards people and an example of an employer brand.
Desislava Koleva from the “Projects and Economic Development” Department of the Municipality of Gabrovo gave a welcome address, in which a number of areas of cooperation were identified, including education and energy efficiency.
Prof. Iliya Zhelezaraov, rector of TU-Gabrovo, expressed “his admiration for the achievements in the field of industrial automation and wished for sustainable business projects, productive partnerships and the acquisition of high authority in the dynamically developing economic environment of Bulgaria and Europe”.
Tsvetelina Stoyanova, executive director of “Scientia” AD welcomes one of its first landlords to the technology center – a modern and competitive environment, which is a step towards the development of the economic and social situation in Gabrovo.
The new office is located on an area of 325 m2. in a modern business building in the city center which is the first class A investment in the city. In the modern office space, there are also two laboratories for functional and communication tests and for hardware development.
The investment amounts to over BGN 220,000. Already this year, it is planned to double the area, as well as increase the number of jobs. We are also expecting the opening of an Automation Laboratory at TU-Gabrovo soon, equipped with training facilities simulating the function of an automated production line, built entirely with Festo components, the value of which is over BGN 20,000
