Outlining an industrial renaissance in Bulgaria
Two new plants in Trakia Economic Zone and an engineering centre in Sofia unveiled
Link to article: Europost.eu
The world’s experience in software solutions applied in management and streamlining of production processes was presented at an international technological conference held last weekend in the town of Hisarya. Organised by Haycad Infotech and Dassault Systemes in association with Automotive Cluster Bulgaria, the forum attracted over 70 representatives of some of the leading Bulgarian and foreign companies.
The attendees were introduced to tried-and-tested solutions with proven high efficiency that have been realised by the French company Dassault Systemes, the second-largest software company in Europe, through thousands of projects with world leaders in their respective industries. Eli Boichis, Philippe Minez and Adriano Garella of the French concern unveiled innovative approaches and software applications facilitating business transformation geared towards manufacturing.
The practical application of its 3DExperience software in the development and prototyping of an unmanned cargo aircraft was presented by Dronamics Ltd. The same CATIA multi-platform software developed by Dassault Systemes was used by a team of Rousse University students led by Simeon Iliev, PhD to design the prototype of an electric car. The vehicle, which won second place for design at the prestigious international competition Shell Eco-marathon 2019, was transported from Rousse to Hisarya especially for the conference.
The forum also showcased the Bulgarian innovation of L–CLASS Ltd in the field of managing the engineering process – from technology to machine. Yosif Levi, managing director, shared that his company has attracted foreign clients as well.
In October Trakia Economic Zone will see the launch of new high-tech production capacity by two of the conference participants. Krasen Krastev, head of the Bulgarian affiliate of the German group Mecalit, announced that a joint die and stamp plant will be opened together with the Chinese concern VEM. The Dassault Systemes software solutions are part of this company’s success story too. The opening of the new Mercedes headlights plant of Odelo Bulgaria is also mere days away. The Turkish holding also created an R & D centre in Sofia this summer. Dr. Sercan Boduroglu, who is in charge of the centre, gave a presentation on how research operations and manufacturing processes work hand in hand in the environment of a complete operational software compatibility based on solutions provided by Dassault Systemes.
Architect Ljubomir Stanislavov, CEO of Automotive Cluster Bulgaria, announced the official opening of an engineering centre of the German group Bosch in Sofia. The figures provided by his presentation are indicative of the extremely fast growth of the automotive industry in Bulgaria. In 2012 a total of 30 companies recorded €500m in combined turnover, or 1% of the GDP, and employed 9,000 people. Today, the automotive industry has reached a combined turnover of €5.5bn, 65,000 people employed by over 250 companies and more than a 10% share of the GDP. This represents a growth of nearly 10 times in a span of seven years.
