LEM, a company specialized in the measurement and control of electrical parameters, plans to invest CHF 2 M to establish a new low-cost production plant in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The company expects to start production in October 2013 and hire 50 employees in an initial phase.

The goal of LEM Bulgaria is to "diversify LEM's low-cost production and increase production capacity close to its European customers," according to a press release.

The new plant, which will be established in a leased property in Sofia, occupies 4'500 square meters of floor space.

The new site is to absorb a major part of LEM's future growth. As a continuation of a strategy initiated in 2004, LEM will continue to relocate production lines from the plants in Machida, Japan and Geneva, Switzerland to low-cost countries.

"The opening of the new production plant in Bulgaria will be a major milestone for LEM's development. With the new plant we will not only increase competitiveness but we will also considerably reduce foreign exchange risk for the group," LEM CEO Francois Gabella has commented.

LEM has approximately 1'200 employees worldwide and production plants in Beijing (China), Geneva (Switzerland) and Machida (Japan).