Bulgaria: you won PKIP Industry 4.0 funding — now specify the monitoring layer so the indicators hold
The call is closed and the money is allocated. For the 226 approved companies the question is no longer whether to apply, but how to buy so that the final report proves what the application promised.
What the programme is
ПКИП / PKIP is the Програма „Конкурентоспособност и иновации в предприятията" (Competitiveness and Innovation in Enterprises Programme), managed by the Ministry of Innovation and Growth. Procedure BG16RFPR001-1.008 „Въвеждане на технологии от областта на Индустрия 4.0 в предприятията" (introducing Industry 4.0 technologies in enterprises) was announced on 6 August 2025 and closed on 15 December 2025.
Who qualified and where things stand
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Applicants | SMEs |
| Grant per project | BGN 150,000–850,000 (€76,700–434,600) |
| Intensity | 15–50%, depending on aid regime, beneficiary category and project location |
| Projects recommended for funding | 226, for €52,288,656 of a €54,185,763 budget |
| Average approved grant | About €231,000 (calculated) |
| Contracts | Signing began in July 2026; 117 contracts for €28,324,274 by 1 September 2026 |
Source: Ministry of Innovation and Growth, procedure page for BG16RFPR001-1.008. Average calculated from the approved total.
For micro and small firms, the separate procedure BG16RFPR001-1.012 „Дигитализация на предприятията" (Digitalisation of enterprises) paid BGN 5,000–50,000 at up to 70% for ERP, CRM and process optimisation. It closed on 26 September 2025 with 1,642 approved projects. A new Industry 4.0 call is not announced as of 22 September 2026.
Which monitoring and IIoT costs were eligible
The procedure funds machinery, equipment and facilities; software systems and applications; licences and digital technologies; consulting; and Industry 4.0 technologies including IoT, AI, big-data analytics, 3D printing and cyber-physical systems, plus cybersecurity. Evidence level: from the ministry's own procedure page. For a beneficiary, the question is narrower: which of these lines in your approved budget will capture the data your indicators depend on.
Specifying the monitoring layer: what to put in the technical specification
Follow the procurement rules set in your grant contract. Within them, these requirements make the difference between data you can report and data you cannot:
- Capture per machine, automatically. Running and stopped state from the controller or a sensor, with timestamps. Manual entry only for the reason of a stop.
- Good and rejected counts. Separately, per machine or per station. Total count alone cannot prove a scrap or output indicator.
- Reason codes you define. A fixed list of stop reasons agreed before go-live, entered at the machine.
- Export in an open format. CSV or similar, per event, with no vendor tool needed to read it. The final report and any later audit rely on it.
- Retention. Data kept at least for the whole project period plus the sustainability period in your contract.
- Coverage of existing machines. Include the machines being replaced or upgraded, so a "before" value exists.
- Acceptance test. At commissioning, compare system counts with a manual count on each machine for a full shift. Record the result.
- Energy, if an indicator needs it. Sub-meters on the lines in scope, linked to the same time base as the output data.
Local vendors, integrators, MES suppliers and TeepTrak can all meet a specification like this. Write it vendor-neutral. A specification that names a product narrows the competition and can create a procurement problem.
Worked example: the monitoring layer inside an approved project
An illustration. Assumptions: a food-processing SME with an approved project of BGN 600,000 eligible costs, mostly new equipment, plus a monitoring layer on 30 machines (existing and new) with integration to ERP. "Project budget" is generic; no vendor price is implied. The rate is shown at both ends of the 15–50% range.
| Line | BGN | EUR |
|---|---|---|
| Eligible project budget | 600,000 | 306,800 |
| of which monitoring layer (software, connectivity, integration, training) | 90,000 | 46,000 |
| Grant at 50% | 300,000 | 153,400 |
| Own contribution at 50% | 300,000 | 153,400 |
| Grant at 15% | 90,000 | 46,000 |
| Own contribution at 15% | 510,000 | 260,800 |
| Grant share of the monitoring layer at 50% | 45,000 | 23,000 |
Intensity range and grant limits from the ministry. EUR at BGN 1.95583, rounded to the nearest hundred.
The monitoring layer is a small share of the budget in this example, 15%. It is also the line that produces the evidence for the other 85%.
Indicators the final report will be checked against
Your contract sets the indicators. The ones below are typical for Industry 4.0 projects. Capture them the same way before and after.
| Indicator | Measurement method | Bulgarian context |
|---|---|---|
| Good output per planned hour | Automatic counts; same definition of planned time before and after | Manufacturing labour cost rose 27.5%, from €8.0 to €10.2/hour, in 2023–25 (Eurostat lc_lci_lev) |
| Unplanned downtime hours | Machine state and reason codes | Makes the effect of new equipment visible |
| Scrap rate | Separate reject counts | Food and beverages is Bulgaria's largest manufacturing sector by GVA (Eurostat nama_10_a64, 2023) |
| Energy per good unit | Sub-meter ÷ good output | Bulgaria's industrial price was €0.163/kWh in 2025-S2, below the EU's €0.192 (Eurostat nrg_pc_205): a weaker argument than elsewhere, still a valid indicator |
| Productivity per worker | Output and hours from the same system and payroll | Manufacturing GVA per employed person was €23.2k in 2025 vs €89.3k in the EU (calculated from Eurostat) |
Where final reports get weak
- The baseline in the application was estimated, and nobody measured the old machines before they were removed. Measure now, before delivery.
- The monitoring system goes live after the new equipment, so the first months of data are lost.
- Reject counts are not captured, so a scrap target cannot be proved.
- Data sits in a vendor portal with no export, and the subscription ends before the sustainability period does.
Programme picker, co-financing calculator with cost caps, and the baseline/target indicator table evaluators look for. Excel, no macros.
Disclosure: this site is published by TEEPTRAK SAS, which sells production-monitoring software. The specification above is written to be met by any competent vendor.
Questions
- Is PKIP Industry 4.0 still open?
- No. It closed on 15 December 2025. 226 projects were recommended for funding and contracts have been signed since July 2026.
- Was IoT or monitoring software eligible?
- Yes. The procedure lists IoT, AI, big-data analytics, cyber-physical systems, software systems, licences and consulting among eligible technologies.
- What co-financing rate applies?
- Between 15% and 50%, depending on the aid regime, beneficiary category and project location. Your contract states your rate.
- What should a beneficiary do now?
- Measure the current machines before new equipment arrives, and write a vendor-neutral specification that requires automatic capture, reject counts, reason codes, open export and data retention through the sustainability period.
Sources
- Ministry of Innovation and Growth — PKIP BG16RFPR001-1.008 Industry 4.0
- Ministry of Innovation and Growth — PKIP BG16RFPR001-1.012 Digitalisation
- Eurostat lc_lci_lev, hourly labour cost, manufacturing (2023–2025)
- Eurostat nrg_pc_205, electricity prices for non-household consumers (2025-S2)
- Eurostat nama_10_a10 and nama_10_a10_e, manufacturing GVA and employment (2025)
- Eurostat nama_10_a64, GVA by manufacturing sub-sector (2023)
- European Commission — Bulgaria and the euro (changeover 1 January 2026)
Published by TEEPTRAK SAS, which makes production-monitoring and OEE software, with an office in Bucharest (TEEPTRAK SRL). Figures are sourced on each page. Funding rules change: check the official call documents before you budget.