AQ Plastronic, Levtera Kirilova: Our 55-year journey has been marked by relentless pursuit of excellence

Levtera Kirilova, Managing Director, AQ Plastronic, for South-East European Industrial Market

AQ Plastronic celebrates three anniversaries this year – 55 years since the company was established in 1969, 10 years of being a part of AQ Group AB Sweden and the 30th anniversary of AQ Group AB, founded in 1994. What are the milestones in the company’s history that you are most proud of? What were the biggest challenges that you faced along the way?

AQ Group´s 30-year anniversary is a significant milestone, and the group has achieved remarkable growth and success over those years. As the Managing Director of AQ Plastronic, the only EMS provider within the group, I am particularly proud of the acquisition of Carat Electronics AD (now AQ Plastronic) by AQ group in 2014. This acquisition strengthened our engineering and manufacturing expertise, allowing us to offer a more comprehensive suite of services to our clients.

Being part of AQ group exposed AQ Plastronic to bigger markets with global industrial customers and led us to achieve significant growth over the past 10 years, to expand our customer base as well as to invest in new technologies and processes. Working for highly demanding industrial customers is a challenge and an opportunity as it forces us to continuously strive for improvements and innovations.

One of the biggest challenges we faced during those years was the integration of complex customer requirements into our own culture, processes and systems. We overcame this challenge applying AQ core values for entrepreneurial approach, effective communication, cross-functional collaboration, and a strong focus on organizational alignment.

Overall, AQ Plastronic’s 55-year journey has been marked by a relentless focus on total quality and operational excellence. These milestones have been instrumental in transforming the company into a leading global contract manufacturer providing EMS services and complete box build solutions for low-volume high-mix products.

How have your processes changed over these past decades? How did you manage to adapt to the ever-changing trends in the EMS field in order to maintain your level of competitiveness?

Over the past five decades, our processes and technologies have undergone a continuous transformation driven by innovation, investment, digitalization and a relentless focus on total quality.

In 1969 the factory was established as an electronic memory drives plant under the umbrella of DSO IZOT as one of the leading manufacturers of storage devices built into the memory of the first electronic computer machines produced in Bulgaria. In the mid-80s due to the increase of telecommunication station requirements our factory started design, development and production of various products for telecommunication devices and systems. During the 90s and the beginning of 2000, Carat Electronics, the predecessor of AQ Plastronic, began design and development of the first digital cash registers and electricity meters and was awarded first prize for "Innovative enterprise 2007" in a contest organized by the World Bank and the Ministry of Economy, for its own design of digital electricity meters. After the acquisition by AQ Group our factory started collaboration with several global industrial customers in the field of electrical, automotive and construction businesses.

Over the span of the past 55 years AQ Plastronic and its predecessors have been noted for innovation and quality and that has strengthened the collaboration with our loyal customers and fueled the company’s growth.

Unwavering commitment to continuous improvement has been a key driver of our success. We have consistently sought out new ways to optimize our processes, from implementing a world-leading ERP management system to developing proprietary software for real-time supply chain visibility and manufacturing process digitalization.

A strong customer-focused culture has been at the heart of our strategy. We have worked tirelessly to ensure that every aspect of our operations, from product design to delivery, meets the highest standards of excellence. In everything we do on-site we strive to add value for our customers and meet their expectations. This has allowed us to maintain our competitiveness and forge deep, trusted partnerships with leading global brands.

Looking ahead, we remain dedicated to innovation and adapting to the evolving needs of the EMS industry. We are continually investing to further enhance our capabilities and competencies and deliver even greater value to our customers.

What lies in the future for AQ Plastronic? What are the company’s main priorities for short-term development?

First and foremost, is keeping our strong customer focus and strive for year-over-year double digit growth and diversification of our customer base. IATF certification of AQ Plastronic is one of the top priorities for the near future. This internationally recognized standard for quality management systems ensures we deliver consistent, high-quality products and services and will help us approach new customers.

Investing in our people is another key focus. We will continue to provide comprehensive training and development opportunities to our talented workforce and foster a culture of excellence. Equipping our teams with the latest tools and technologies is also crucial, so we constantly invest in new equipment and implement the latest solutions which enhance our capabilities and productivity. Strengthening our collaboration with the oncoming generation is securing the future of AQ Plastronic; therefore we consistently invest in training and internship in all business fields with strong focus on engineering competencies. We are constantly looking for young, dynamic and talented students and professionals.

Enhancing our ESG policy is pivotal for AQ Group and AQ Plastronic in particular as we have a strong commitment – from CO₂ reduction to contribution to the local communities and governance. Being part of a leading industrial manufacturing group and working for global demanding customers, we feel responsible driving ESG initiatives to secure a bright future for the next generations.

And finally, we operate in fast-paced environment which requires constant investment in new technologies to keep us competitive. Our focus is still on investing in new technologies to further enhance our technical capabilities, automation and digitalization of our processes that will allow AQ Plastronic to meet to the constantly increasing requirements of our customers and add value to all steps of the manufacturing process.

www.aqgroup.com