ARKA Smart Parcel Lockers opened its doors to the Brașov community for the first time as part of Noaptea Companiilor, a national Romanian event where companies welcome visitors into their facilities after working hours. The initiative aims to connect local businesses with the community, offer transparency, and showcase the people and technologies behind everyday products and services.
For ARKA, it was a special opportunity to share our story with the community in the very week we celebrated our 18th anniversary. Participating in this event meant opening the doors to the world of last-mile technology and showing how parcel lockers made in Brașov support networks across Europe and North America.
The event also featured a special visit from Daniel Buzdugan, a well-known Romanian media personality and ambassador for this year’s Noaptea Companiilor event. His presence brought additional energy to the evening and highlighted the importance of local companies opening their doors to the community. He toured every participating factory in Brașov, including ARKA, engaging with both visitors and our team.
A Look Behind the Scenes
Throughout the event, ARKA’s production managers guided visitors through the factory, offering an inside look at how our lockers are built. Guests walked through the fabrication and assembly areas, saw the metalworking and automation lines in action, and followed the journey of a locker from individual components to a finished product. For many, it was the first time seeing such a process up close, and several expressed surprise that lockers used by FAN Courier, myflexbox, Penguin Pickup, and Austrian Post are produced locally in Brașov.
Our software team also hosted a dedicated presentation, offering visitors a glimpse into the digital side of ARKA’s technology. They introduced the main areas of work within the department, explained how the team collaborates to support our locker networks, and provided an overview of the software environment that accompanies our hardware products. For many participants, it was a rare opportunity to understand how the people “behind the screens” contribute to the reliability and functionality of ARKA lockers.
A central topic of the event was ARKA’s culture and the career opportunities within the company. Long-standing employees who have advanced professionally over the years spoke openly with visitors about their experiences. They shared stories about growth, teamwork, training, and what it means to be part of a Romanian company that has expanded internationally. These discussions helped visitors understand the people-focused values that drive ARKA every day.
Hands-On Interaction with our Lockers
Another important moment during the visit was the presentation held by Alexandru Diaconu, Head of Industrial Automation, who shared the evolution of ARKA lockers over the years. He introduced visitors to the first prototypes developed in our factory and showed how the designs and electronics gradually progressed into the current models, including the autonomous Lumen locker. His presentation helped guests understand how continuous technical development and practical experience have contributed to shaping each generation of lockers.
Visitors then had the opportunity to interact directly with our technology through the Unlock a Prize experience. Guests were invited to scan a QR code, interact with the locker, and receive a surprise gift . This simple and fun activity quickly became one of the evening’s highlights, offering guests a hands-on understanding of how intuitive and user-friendly our lockers are.
Celebrating 18 Years of ARKA
The evening held extra significance, as it also marked 18 years of uninterrupted activity at ARKA. Together with colleagues and visitors, we marked the moment with cake, prosecco, and relaxed conversations about how far the company has come since its early days in industrial automation.
What started in 2007 as a small team focused on automation has grown into a technology partner for courier and postal networks across Europe and North America. Looking back over these 18 years, the common thread has always been the same: curiosity, innovation, and the drive to build better technology with each new project.
But beyond the technology, the evening highlighted something even more important: the people behind ARKA. Colleagues who joined the company many years ago and grew with us. New generations of engineers and technicians who continue to push our products forward. Software developers, automation experts, production teams, all sharing a bit of their world with visitors who were curious to understand what stands behind a locker they might see every day in their city.
That combination of history, innovation, community, and human connection is what made the night truly meaningful. Noaptea Companiilor wasn’t just about showing machines or processes. It was about showing our identity - a Romanian technology company that has evolved and adapted for 18 years, carrying forward the legacy of what has been built here in Brașov and looking ahead to everything still to come.
