ESCATEC Bulgaria Accelerating Growth After Successful First Year

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A successful first year by ESCATEC’s business unit in Bulgaria is validating the global EMS provider’s strategy to ‘nearshore’ more production capacity in the European Union (EU). Based on the response received by EBG (ESCATEC Bulgaria) over the past year, ESCATEC’s EU-based customers appreciate having that option.

Established in June 2023 as ESCATEC’s ninth production facility and located in Plovdiv (the second largest city in Bulgaria), EBG has already onboarded three new customers while simultaneously expanding its capabilities.

With the accumulated expertise and financial strength of the ESCATEC Group behind it, the pace of expansion at EBG is expected to accelerate further in its second year with several other customers already in the pipeline for onboarding. ESCATEC is also looking at transferring some projects to EBG from its other business units in Asia and Europe.

As noted by CEO Charles-Alexandre Albin, ESCATEC sees EBG as an important driver of future business growth and has repeatedly signalled its commitment to expand capacity and capabilities in Bulgaria as its customer list grows. 

“We have a reputation for going the extra mile for our customers, some of whom have been with us for decades, and it is the same at EBG,” confirmed Albin, adding that EBG could well become the Group’s main production facility in the EU for plastic moulding and electronics assembly. He cites Bulgaria’s EU membership, US-China trade tensions, and Plovdiv’s strategic attributes (such as its large industrial base, skilled workforce, and modern transport links to the wider European market) as other factors supporting EBG’s growth. 

EBG Plant Manager Ruslan Tenchev summarises its first year as being “very busy and very rapid growth backed by a multi-year CAPEX plan”.

Capacity expansion initiatives that were implemented include basing domain experts from other ESCATEC business units in EBG and the launch of a new cloud-based ERP system in July that links EBG to the rest of ESCATEC’s production network. The new ERP system was a major step forward for EBG as provides a high degree of scalability, functionality, security, traceability, with digital communication capability with customers and suppliers, and using industry best practises and workflows.

Equipment and machinery for selective soldering, wave soldering, and testing, have also been installed at EBG and are operational.

Other capabilities scheduled for upgrading soon include coating processes, laser marking, and X-ray scanning. Additionally, a significant investment scheduled for later this year is the installation of a second SMT line, which will majorly boost EBG’s production capacity. Plastic moulding capabilities meanwhile are on track to be upgraded in January 2025. Tenchev is also prioritising the recruitment and training of the necessary workforce to optimally operate the new equipment.

“We are already doing PCBA assembly, complete box builds, and plastic moulding,” states Tenchev, proudly noting that customers have been pleased with EBG’s quality and there have been no cases of product returns. “Our plan has always been to build confidence in customers that EBG will deliver and then to grow with the customers over time,” he explained.

Major OEM brands based in Europe and North America make up most of ESCATEC’s customer base. Headquartered in Penang Island, Malaysia, the Group is fully integrated with a production footprint spanning four facilities in Malaysia, two in Chomutov in the Czech Republic, one in Lutterworth in the United Kingdom, an advanced production facility in Heerbrugg, Switzerland, and EBG in Plovdiv. ESCATEC also has a Design & Development (D&D) Centre in Switzerland and strategic partnerships in Croatia and the United States.