Omron Electronics, Bojan Stojanovic: Ongoing industrial development creates huge market potential in Southeast Europe
• Automation & Robotics • Interview • South-East European INDUSTRIAL Мarket - issue 2/2024 • 29.05.2024

Bojan Stojanovic, Account Manager Distribution Southeast Europe, Omron Electronics, for South-East European Industrial Market
You’ve recently taken your current position as Account Manager Distribution South East Europe at Omron Electronics. Tell us more about your career path.
During the last 15 years, I worked in large foreign corporations where I gained knowledge and skills which I would like to make the best possible use of to position the Omron brand in Southeast Europe. I see the greatest potential for growth in the markets of Serbia and especially Bulgaria, where we have Gemamex as a strong partner at our side. I have the benefit of knowing the mentality, problems and potential of the Southeast European market which is the key to better support Omron’s partners in their further growth.
RELATED ARTICLES
One stop shop for industrial automation
More than 2000 exhibitors expected at Light + Building 2024
Industry 4.0 development in Serbia
Opportunities for adopting robotic applications in Romania
Record breaking number of registrations for BUMATECH
IFAM, INTRONIKA and ROBOTICS present innovations in the field of industrial automation
5th edition of Warsaw Industry Week to take place in November
What are the perspectives for success on the market in the region?
The potential of the markets in Southeast Europe, and especially in Bulgaria, is very high due to the large industrial development in the last few years, which is also of course accompanied by the implementation of automation and robotics. In the coming years, the manufacturing industry will face a number of challenges – not only economically, but also from a social perspective: the globalization of markets, changing consumer needs, carbon neutrality targets, digitalization and other advances in production technology, the declining birth rate and ageing population, the changing values of factory workers – to name but a few. To keep pace with these changes and cater to social needs essential to sustainable development, the manufacturing site must overcome these issues. For that, they need to implement sustainable automation solutions that can co-exist with the global environment and deliver high worker satisfaction while also driving the advanced evolution of manufacturing. At Omron, we created a concept by synergizing and advancing three approaches to innovation in automation: Integrated (advanced control), Intelligent, and Interactive (advanced human-machine collaboration) technologies. That is our i-Automation! concept for manufacturing innovation. For this, we have a lot of help from our distributors, such as the company Gemamex, which itself strives to introduce all their partners to all the benefits of automation and robotics in production processes.
What are the latest products in Omron’s portfolio that you expect would attract the attention of Bulgarian manufacturers?
Omron as a company invests a lot in the development of new products from year to year. Currently, as a company, our focus is on developing products that enable robotization and automation of certain production cycles. Here I would single out our cobots, delta robots and mobile robots for which there is a great deal of interest. However, in addition to that, we as a company invest in the development of classic products that are part of an automation system. Among those products, I would like to highlight our new frequency regulator M1, which is one of the best in its class in terms of quality and price. Also, by the end of the year, we expect more new products that will be of great interest to our distributors and, of course, to end customers. Of course, our distributors and Gemamex regularly receive reports and news about the release of new products from our company and forward them to their partners. All buyers of Omron products will have the opportunity to get acquainted with our new products and to improve their technical knowledge at trainings in the new Automation Technology Center (ATC) in Stuttgart, which will be the largest of its kind in Europe and whose official opening we expect in the last quarter of this year.
What are Omron’s distinctive advantages among its competitors in the Southeast Europe region?
Healthy competition is important for every company, because healthy competition forces every company to be even better in all business segments. Of course, we follow what the competition is doing, but we primarily focus on ourselves and our plans. Personally, when I talk with a customer, I always focus on our strengths compared to our competitors. Perhaps our greatest advantage is the flexibility and roundness of the automation process, which combines robotization, automation and our unique Sysmac Studio software. Another thing that Omron products are known for is Japanese quality, innovation and ease of use. Those three features are always distinguished by our customers who have been using Omron products in their solutions for many years and that is why they remain loyal to us.