In a bid to enhance its service to customers in Eastern Europe, the German plastic component molder Inotech Kunstofftechnik GmbH is constructing a new plant at Kostinbrod, Bulgaria.
Inotech, based in Nabburg near the German-Czech border, intends to lay foundations for the new facility in the industrial area north west of the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, later this year. The plant will be equipped with injection molding machines from 300 to 1,500 metric tons of clamping force, as well as painting, printing and laser marking facilities.
Inotech group manufactures a range of plastic parts for the household appliance, automotive and telecoms sectors. In 1993, it launched a subsidiary plant at Tachov in the Czech Republic and has served customers in Slovakia and Romania for several years.
But as it entered markets further east, Inotech has faced the prospect of rising transport costs and ever more distant supply lines.
So, last year, the company initiated talks with a long-term partner over the project to form the new Bulgarian operation Inotech BG. Inotech already cooperates with the Kostinbrod-based Bulgarian molder POPP EOOD which has 11 injection molding machines of up to 250 metric tons.
In November 2013, Inotech's owner and chief executive Josef Gleixner signed a partnership deal to establish the new plant in Bulgaria.
The firm's latest project is part of a strategy of expanding eastwards to serve fresh markets, particularly in the new European Union states and Turkey. To do this, Inotech aims to set up more local production units.
POPP company was founded in 2001 as an offshoot of Germany's Reitz Group of Nad Berneck. Following the collapse of Reitz in 2009, the molder was acquired by the management in Bulgaria and is now owned by its long time employees.