UNIVERSAL SUCCESS
ZMM Bulgaria is one of the largest manufacturers of universal and CNC lathes in Europe and is part of the IHB group, one of Europe’s big industrial conglomerates. Philip Yorke spoke to Emilian Abadjiev, the company’s CEO and executive director of IHB, about its continuous investment in new technology and the growing export markets for its state-of-the-art lathes.
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MM Bulgaria was founded in 2001 as a subsidiary of Industrial Holding Bulgaria, which is one of the largest industrial groups in Bulgaria. ZMM Bulgaria was established to preserve and build upon development and manufacture of universal and CNC lathes. Since its formation, the company has successfully strengthened its international position and is at the forefront of machine lathe technology. To date ZMM Bulgaria has manufactured more than 115,000 lathes and over 500,000 electric motors, in addition to more than 210 hydro generators. The ZMM Bulgaria group of engineering companies includes ZMM Sliven AD, which was founded in 1971 and produces all the machines featured in the company’s extensive product portfolio. IHB Metal Castings is the company owned foundry which is casting the beds for the
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lathes, gearboxes and other components. It works as well for third party customers in Bulgaria, Italy, Germany and other European countries. ZMM Zagora AD is a sister company that was founded in 1970 and specialises in the design and manufacture of assemblies and parts for metal cutting and general machinery products (gears, shafts and others). The other key company in the group is IHB AD Electric, which was founded in 1950 and designs, manufactures and installs all types of electrical equipment, including high-voltage motors and vertical hydro generators.
Diverse range ZMM Bulgaria’s company’s dedication to innovation, product development and investment in new technology are all oriented to providing its customers with the optimal performance and robust reliability for which the company has become famous. As a major European player ZMM sells its products in more than 80 countries worldwide and its machines are customised to meet the requirements and standards that exist in its diverse global markets. As a result, the company’s product portfolio includes a wide range of universal lathes, oil country lathes and CNC lathes with diameters of treatment of up to 1410mm and distance between the centres of up to 10 metres (this means that the machine is longer than 13 metres). These lathes offer the optimal combination of quality, reliability and value-for-money. The technical advantages of ZMM’s universal lathes are well-known and all include a heavy, monolithic, highly ribbed and rigid bed casting made of strong grey cast iron which reduces vibrations during use. It also offers wide, double prismatic, induction hardened and precisely
