RAIS opened a new manufacturing facility in Bulgaria

On May 17 2018 RAIS, a leading manufacturer of CNC machine tools and metalworking equipment, opened its new manufacturing facility on the territory of Pazardzhik. The plant occupies a total area of 3800 square meters in a new industrial area, in close proximity to the company’s current production facility. Two workshops, a showroom and an administrative building were set up with training and staff qualification halls with a total value of BGN 8,6 million.

The event was attended by Lachezar Borisov, the Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Economy, Stefan Mirev, District Governor of Pazardzhik, Todor Popov, Mayor of Pazardjik Municipality, His Excellency Masato Vatanabe, Ambassador of Japan in Bulgaria, Dr. Yoshiharu Inaba, President and CEO of FANUC Corporation, Japan, Klaus Ponweiser, Head of the Machine Tool Systems Division for Austria and Southeastern Europe in Siemens AG, Austria, Orlin Alexandrov, Chief Financial Officer of Siemens, as well as dozens of partners, colleagues and friends of the company.

The ceremony started with a symbolic surprise by the hosts - a performance by the Chudesia (Pazardzhik) dance ensemble laureates of several national and international music competitions. After the emotional opening Eng. Nishan Bazdigyan, manager of RAIS, welcomed the participants and reviewed the company’s achievements.

This new investment was the result of a great demand for the machines we produce,” he announced. “For the past two years we have tripled our production, which has forced us to move the entire assembly of machine tools in the new facility and to expand the manufacturing of small parts for metal-cutting machines. Machining of housing parts and production of work area shields remain in the old plant”, added Eng. Bazdigyan.

In the new manufacturing facility, we have significantly improved the technology of organizing the installation with Internet of Things applications. In the production of small details, we have introduced two robotic control systems while continuing to invest. In addition, new software has been deployed to monitor production at all stages. I can confidently say that these are practices from the so-popular Industry 4.0. At present, 40 job openings have been revealed, with the possibility to reach 100 until the end of the year, however they have a very high degree of automation.

For me, today’s event is very significant,” said Deputy Minister Borisov. “All the European leaders gather in Sofia and talk about the development of the Western Balkans, and what a stronger proof for that development than witnessing a new, modern investment like this.

Ambassador Watanabe noted the really good long-standing relationship of RAIS with a number of Japanese companies, and expressed the willingness of the embassy to work for their future growth. The other official guests also congratulated RAIS, and in particular Mr. Bazdigyan, for the achievement, and expressed their hope to visit again in the near future and celebrate a new expansion.

I am convinced the industrial manufacturing in Bulgaria, as well as RAIS as its representative, have an exceptional future, and I promise that FANUC Europe and FANUC Corporation will intensify their support for RAIS and all our clients in Bulgaria,” said the President and Chief Executive Officer of FANUC Corporation, Japan, Dr. Yoshiharu Inaba, who arrived in Bulgaria exclusively for the opening of the new manufacturing facility.

We have been through many difficulties together with FANUC Corporation and Siemens, but we are very glad that thanks to them we were able to learn all the innovations in machine building,” said Eng. Bazdigyan, and invited the Mr. Inaba and Mr. Ponweiser to plant trees together in the yard of the new factory as a sign of good partnership.

The ceremony continued with ribbon cutting, followed by a tour of the new manufacturing facility. Within the factory, Eng. Artin Bazdigyan made a demonstration of the Mt-link-i machine status monitoring software, which can analyze various performance indicators such as workload, productivity, downtime, etc.

The event was concluded with an official cocktail in one of the halls of the new enterprise.