Electronic component production is one of the most dynamic sectors of the Slovenian manufacturing industry.
For sure, the sector is not huge. 320 companies with around 6,000 employees annually create around 1.2 billion euros of sales and generate 360 million euros of value added. Yet it is one of the branches with the fastest growing exports. The exports of the electro and electronics industry grew by 44 percent between the years 2020 and 2023 and by a whopping 400 percent since the year 2000.
The companies present at this year’s Electronica fair in Munich share some typical characteristics with the Slovenian electronic components industry. A crucial element is high flexibility with a strong emphasis on R&D, which is capable of close cooperation with the customer. Most of these enterprises are SMEs producing small series of highly specialized products and can develop prototypes in a very short time.
The printed circuit boards (PCB) producer Elgoline cooperates with the Institute Josef Stefan, the most important national scientific institution. Its highly specialized boards, for example, are used in projects at the Large Hadron Collider. The largest PCB manufacturer in Slovenia is Intectiv, specialized in complex high-density interconnect and multilayered flexible boards. Like the others, the company has its own laboratory capable of developing and prototyping boards following the specific needs of its most demanding customers. Electronic manufacturing services solutions providers like L Tek or Proplace offer similar characteristics: high flexibility and strong emphasis on R&D.
Intectiv started developing PCBs back in 1973 when the company was a part of large industrial and technological conglomerate Iskra. Iskra (meaning “spark”), headquartered in Kranj, north of Ljubljana, was arguably the most advanced tech company in ex-Yugoslavia and an early pioneer in computer development. Several important Slovenian tech companies originated from the socialist giant, from ICT tech developer Kontron Slovenija to smart energy solutions provider Iskraemeco – and many more. The successor of the core company and owner of the brand Iskra is now a family business with companies in five countries and some 1,650 employees. Only this January, Iskra acquired majority stakes in two companies in Croatia. The enterprise still offers a wide range of products and solutions, including components like capacitors, switchgears, or antenna systems, measuring instruments, cables, solutions for smart grids and e-mobility.
Among the exhibitors at the world’s largest electronic show in Munich this November are also Hyb, Eltas, Elma TT, Pladent and Red Pitaya. Elma TT is specialized in dry type transformers, chokes, and wound components. Pladent offers plastic materials. Hyb is a high-tech company developing specialized hybrid boards, temperature and force sensors. Eltas makes custom membrane keyboards for highly demanding industrial use. Another Slovenian exhibitor, Red Pitaya, produces awarded versatile measurement devices used also in NASA's Mars project.
Companies not present at this year’s Electronica produce, for example, top notch measurement devices, used in the aerospace industry and particle accelerators, telecommunication systems and components, and laser electronics.