The economic challenges and growing competition in the world are making Bulgarian enterprises increasingly innovative. This is shown by the results of the “Factory of the Year” competition, which “Capital” organizes for the third consecutive year in partnership with Plovdiv Municipality. While large companies can define the profile of entire regions, small and medium-sized enterprises are the ones that give diversity to the economy and help it to be more flexible and competitive. Therefore, “Capital” decided to honor participants from both groups, with the first winner in the “Small and Medium-sized Enterprises” category being the Sofia-based fire alarm system manufacturer “Teletek Electronics”. The large company with a prize this year is the Devin soda plant “Solvay Sodi”.
The applications showed that automation and robotization are already the norm in the Bulgarian industry, more and more companies are relying on digital technologies, and the internal training of people is becoming mandatory. All this makes production more efficient and promises that business in the country will continue to develop. That is why the award for the most innovative project this year goes to all participants.
The competition is organized in partnership with the Municipality of Plovdiv and Trakia Tech as a continuation of the “Industry 4.0” initiative. This year, a total of 20 companies participated in it, with those from the mechanical engineering sector prevailing. More candidates were from Southern Bulgaria, and a quarter were from Sofia. 7 companies reached the final with the most points from the first stage assessment, which, in addition to the two winners, also included Plovdiv’s BTL Industries, Ruse’s WITTE Automotive, Blagoevgrad’s Decibel, and Sofia’s Melexis and Festo Production. The final selection was made by a 5-member jury.
In the previous two editions of the competition, the Botevgrad sensor manufacturer Sensata Technologies Bulgaria (2024) and the smart factory of Schneider Electric Bulgaria in Plovdiv (2023) were awarded as factories of the year. The most innovative projects were the projects of WITTE Automotive (2024) and the Plovdiv plant of Sensata Technologies (2023).
Source: Capital
