New facility in Bulgaria

A new cost effective production plant in Sofia, Bulgaria is to be opened by LEM. 50 new jobs will be created in the first phase, and LEM's plans call for production from the Sofia facility to commence as soon as October 2013; The company has allocated an initial investment of CHF 2 million, (€1.6million) to establish the site and bring it to the point of delivering its first products.

LEM has already identified the property it will lease for the operation, and will occupy floor space of 4,500 square meters with its production plant. Additionally, the company has plans in place that call for the new Sofia site to be the focus for a major part of its future growth. This represents a continuation of a long-term strategy that LEM initiated in 2004. Under this plan, LEM will increasingly relocate volume production to plants in countries that combine a lower cost base together with an appropriate location – such as Bulgaria. Opening LEM Bulgaria increases production capacity close to LEM's European customer base, while geographically diversifying the company's attractive cost manufacturing base.

François Gabella, CEO of LEM, comments: “The opening of the new production plant in Bulgaria will be a major milestone for LEM’s development. With the new plant we will increase our competitiveness while significantly growing our presence in the European economy.”

In LEM's forward planning, activities at its facilities in Geneva, Switzerland and Machida, Japan, will be re-focussed; its Swiss operations will see continued investment both in R&D activities and in marketing, and will concentrate on developing products combining high complexity and high precision, for markets worldwide. In line with the approach of serving regional markets with local resources, LEM's Machida facility will concentrate on the Japanese market.