The Bulgarian market is an interesting frontier for the Vimodrone company
Low life cycle cost, reliability and low maintenance costs are the winning features
Bulgaria is proving to be an interesting market for Mattei’s rotary vane technology.
The Vimodrone-based company collaborates with LD GmbH, a distributor that has overseen the Bulgarian market for over 25 years thanks to a structured organization that has 45 employees.
Gencho Zdravkov, Commercial Director of LD GmbH, introduces us to the dynamics of the Bulgarian market: “Bulgaria, located in Eastern Europe, has been a member of the EU since 01.01.2007. We have a GDP of 80 billion dollars, with a population of 6.8 million. To understand what this means, let's make a simple comparison: Denmark has 5.8 million people and a GDP of 389 billion dollars, a GDP five times larger than ours, with 1 million fewer inhabitants. Our GDP per capita is 12 200 USD, one of the lowest among European countries, and according to our estimates, our industrial market is 60 times smaller than Germany”.
The economic situation is complicated by a further detail: “For a long time the price of electricity in Bulgaria was 0.04 EUR/kWh, with 6,000 MW of installed capacity (nuclear, coal and water) and loads peaking at 5,000 MW” Zdravkov informs us. “This might seem like an advantage, but for us, it was not. With such low electricity prices, convincing Bulgarian customers to purchase a highly efficient compressor at a higher price than the competition was a big challenge! This is why it was important to train our sales team effectively to convince customers to buy Mattei, focusing on reliability, low maintenance costs and also energy efficiency, demonstrating with data that the initial investment is amply repaid during the years of operation, both in terms of lower costs and greater number of operating hours".
The RVX i series, in particular, has had an excellent response. “Since the RVX i models were presented, in the last two years, we have sold six machines in different industrial sectors, from foundries to the lumber industry, from automotive to hydraulic valves”, says Zdravkov. “I think this is just the beginning of a great success story where the best technology meets a good team who work with passion to give customers more energy efficient, reliable and low maintenance cost machines”.
Here are the details of the machines that have been distributed: it is important to note that they have often replaced less efficient compressors and that the heat recovery module is one of the most requested versions, an interesting figure in light of a non-prohibitive energy cost.
1. RVX 90i R, together with a MAXIMA 75, in the leading Bulgarian foundry, replaced 2 110 kW and one 132 kW Atlas compressors. The machines are running 24/7/365 and the customer uses the heat recovery option to heat the water in the 10m3 boilers, replacing the use of natural gas.
2. RVX 90i R, again with a MAXIMA 75, in the leading hot forging company in Bulgaria, replaced 4 90 kW and one 55 kW HAFI compressors.
3. RVX 55i R, with a MAXIMA 30, at the largest furniture manufacturer in Bulgaria. Again, the customer uses the heat recovery option for the boilers.
4. RVX 75i PLUS at a leading supplier of automotive components, for the construction of water pumps for electric vehicles. It replaced a 55 kW Kaeser machine.
5. RVX 90i R with a MAXIMA 75 at a leading manufacturer of hydraulic valves (the machines will be commissioned in April)
6. RVX 90i at the largest and leading manufacturer of thermoformed packaging.
Vane Magazine n. 22, March 2023
