BULGARIAN FURNITURE CLUSTER Wisdom alone cannot cure the
Bulgarian furniture industry,
but the Team work can!…
Mrs. Genoveva Christova
President
Why in cluster?
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How to stay
competitive in
increasing
competition?
How to keep pace
with Europe?
How to be noticed
when coming from a
small country?
NGOs
FURNITURE
MANUFACTURERS
UNIVERSITIES
DESIGN
STUDIOS
Why in cluster?
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COMPETITIVENESS
SPECIALIZATION – COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGES
INTERNATIONALISATION/ EXPORT
OPTIMISATION + SYNERGY : common purchase
of materials, common supply, etc
EFFICIENCY
MORE BUSINESS!
Who are we?
Bulgarian Furniture Cluster is a
nationally based business
organization, established in 2009.
There are 31 members of the cluster divided in following groups:

22 SMEs furniture manufacturers from the whole supply chain
 5 design studios,
 2 NGOs – Association of Bulgarian Designers + CHERGA
 2 educational institutions - ISIA Florence + TU
that have decided to join their resources, capabilities and potential with the
purpose to increase their competitiveness at foreign markets!
Who are we?
Where are we?
What are we doing?
International
Trade
Education
Trainings
FAB LAB
Coordination
Design
Improvement
Quick Win
Projects
Coordination
How we are doing?
Leadership (Ambitious + Energetic)
 Cluster Coordination
 3 sub-groups: ( markets & logistics,
innovation & product development,
technology & processes)
 Sharing information and resources
 Equal treatment of each member (neutrality)
 Mutual trust!
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Quick Win
Projects
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How we are doing?
OP Competitiveness – Clusters grant scheme
Individual Grants for each member: technical
modernization; ISO 9001, ERP systems, etc
CBC Projects: BFC + SFC
ESF (BFC + Exemplas/UK) – skills assessment
/ gaps analysis
International
Trade
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Main cluster activity
Joint orders – LIGNA GROUP Ltd
Joint Marketing Activities - Fair participation, like:
 The
Sleep Event London 2010 & 2011
 Milano Design Week 2011 (via Tortona)
 imm Cologne 2011
 HI Design Valencia 2013
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Trade missions (b2b) – Holzcluster Austria; The
Chair Triangle in Italy
Sleep event in London 2011 - 2012
Economic data 2012
• Aggregate turnover of about 25 mln. Euros (5.2
mln Euros directly from cluster orders)
• 4 SMEs above 50% from their turnover
• Aggregate employment of 2753 people
• Economic growth of 14% in the years of crisis
( as per the result in 2012)
RESULTS: 2006 - 2012
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5 685 hotel rooms in Europe
Preferred supplier for 2 Hotel Groups in
Germany
RESULTS: 2006 - 2012
2300 CITROEN showrooms in France
700 finished within the first 6 months of 2012
RESULTS: 2006 - 2012
Dining sets for 12 Home Furniture Stores in Finland
Education
Trainings
Cluster activity
Joint master degree in Design (ISIA
Florence + NBU Sofia); graduate
placements
 ESF (BFC + Exemplas/UK) – skills
assessment / gaps analysis
 OP Competitiveness ( BFC + University of
Leicester, UK) – middle management,
supervision, process management
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Design
Improvement
Cluster activity
Design workshops – Black Sea 2010 &
2011 – 8 new products for cluster members
 Creation of identity – critical success factor
for the future of our business!!!
 CHANGES collection in London and Milano
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Design workshop – Black Sea 2011
FAB LAB
Cluster activity
Cooperation with Sofia Tech Park
 Fab Lab (fabrication laboratory) is a smallscale workshop offering digital fabrication (
3D Printing)
 Innovation & Design
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Conclusions!
The myth of Balkans’ individualism or business
development via direct competition!
 The competitive advantage + smart specialization
of each company in the group!
 Strategic approach and new way of thinking
 Branding and identity
 Being noticeable beyond your own borders!
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Thank you very much for your attention!
Let’s get clustering!