Schneider Electric wins Master Business Award for technological leadership

Schneider Electric received the Master Business Award in the “Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Digital Transformation” category. The award was accepted by Kalina Petkova, Global Communications Leader for Bulgaria, Albania, North Macedonia, and Kosovo, and presented by Georgi Zhelyazkov, Editor-in-Chief of the business media outlet Economic.bg.

The Master Business Awards is an initiative of Economic.bg that each month honors companies that do not merely follow changes in their sector but actively participate in shaping new trends.

At Schneider Electric, this leadership is evident at the intersection of electrification, automation, and digitalization – technologies through which the company works to achieve higher productivity, more efficient energy use, and a lower carbon footprint.

I am extremely pleased that this month, with the Master Business Awards, we are honoring a company for which innovation is not merely a technological possibility but translates into real solutions for a more productive, energy-efficient, and sustainable business in Bulgaria,” commented Georgi Zhelyazkov, editor-in-chief of Economic.bg.

From a Smart Factory to Carbon-Neutral Production

At the heart of Schneider Electric’s operations in Bulgaria is the “smart” factory near Plovdiv – the company’s first certified Smart Factory in Eastern Europe. The facility serves as both a manufacturing center and a demonstration environment for Industry 4.0 technologies, featuring industrial and building automation, digital process control, artificial intelligence for machine control, and augmented reality maintenance solutions.

In recent years, the factory’s transformation has increasingly focused on energy efficiency and decarbonization. By 2025, the facility will achieve carbon neutrality in its operations. Key solutions include the use of 100% green electricity, real-time digital monitoring and management of energy consumption, and the implementation of a geothermal heating and cooling system, which eliminates the need for natural gas.

The technology also has a tangible economic impact. According to Schneider Electric, the measures implemented result in approximately 200 MWh of annual electricity savings and a 12.6% improvement in energy efficiency, while the potential reduction in emissions exceeds 2,000 metric tons of CO2 per year.

The Plovdiv facility also serves another purpose – to demonstrate what digital transformation looks like beyond presentations and concepts. Through its Innovation Hub, Schneider Electric opens its production environment to customers, partners, schoolchildren, college students, and young professionals, who can see energy management, automation, and digitalization solutions in action.

In this way, the factory becomes not just a production site, but a kind of laboratory for modern industry – an environment where the effects of connecting machines and systems, using real-time data, and intelligent energy management can be observed in practice.

Efficiency as a Competitive Advantage

It is precisely the combination of these areas that forms the basis of the “Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Digital Transformation” award. In Schneider Electric’s approach, digitalization is not an end in itself, but a tool for measurement, analysis, and optimization, and sustainability is not limited solely to reducing emissions – it must also deliver measurable results for business productivity and competitiveness.

The Plovdiv factory is a local example of this philosophy: from automated production management and digital maintenance to geothermal energy and real-time consumption management. In 2026, the company’s carbon neutrality project also won first place in the INNOVISION IN SUSTAINABILITY category at the INNOVISION AWARDS, in recognition of its practical combination of decarbonization and economic results.

Translated with DeepL.