After a long period of internal resturcturing, GITEC Grosse, which has been operating as a successful player of the sector in the field of jacquard weaving for 130 years, said “hello” to the Turkish market in 2011 again. The company, which put an end to its relationships with its representatives after this restructuring, continues its operations in Turkey through Regional Sales Manager Tuncar Çelikbaş. Due to the problems related to the exhibition area and calendar, the company did not brought any machine to ITM 2012, where it entered intensive dialogues with its visitors. At the booth of the company, as Textil Dunyasi, we made an interview with Roberta Boscoli, Sales Director of the company and Tuncar Çelikbaş, Regional Sales Manager. The officials made important evaluations about GITEC GROSSE and ITM.
We Maintain the German Quality in China
Tuncar Çelikbaş, the company’s Sales Manager in Turkey, emphasized that the company gained a different structure after it was acquired by the China based Hisun Group in 2005 and with their planned actions, they overcame the crisis process in 2008.
Reminding that GITEC GROSSE was reorganized in 2009, Çelikbaş continued by saying; “As GITEC GROSSE Internationale Technologie GmbH, based in Ulm, Germany, we focused firstly on the R&D activities and international sales and services. We moved standard machinery production to China and started production by applying the German quality management systems in the production facility in Zhoushan province of China. Besides as GITEC, with the important key equipments supplied from Germany, we guarantee the quality of the final product of the assembly in Zhoushan.”
Çelikbaş stated that they always keep the production area in China under control. “In order to ensure the same quality we’ve achieved in Germany, in the region, our engineers, technicians and other staff in Germany provide electronics and software support,” said Çelikbaş and added that they are still producing the key parts for all machines in Europe. “We established a strong business. We manufacture the machinery parts in Germany and in Europe and then we perform the purchases. Then we send the products to China, where we are only engaged in the assembly of the machines. The electronic cards that play a key role especially in the machines are manufactured in Germany. The machines bear the German quality no matter where they are. The reason we perform production in China is to decrease the costs. However while doing this, we do not intend to sacrifice quality,” said
Çelikbaş emphasized that GITEC Grosse gives importance to quality in machinery production and in this regard, it takes the customer’s demands into account. Çelikbaş stated that they take firm steps in this direction. “We operate in a sector, where there is a very intense competition. However, we aim to decrease the costs without sacrificing the German quality. The primaty thing is preserving the quality. On the other hand, we make decisions after evaluating the customers’ requests during visitations and fairs. We carry out R&D activities for production and expand machinery range appropriate to the production portfolio,” said Çelikbaş.
Unished Attracted Great Interest at ITMA
Roberta Boscoli, Sales Director at GITEC GROSSE Internationale Technologie GmbH, answered our questions and stated that they made a great start at ITMA Barcelona. Boscoli underlined that after the organization, during which the company received great interest, it went through a restructuring. “With a new and quality structure, we continue to present our products to the market,” said Boscoli. Despite the crisis, Bascoli emphasized that despite the crisis, they experienced a successful period at ITMA and despite the adversities, they continue their successful studies.”
Tuncar Çelikbaş, Regional Manager of the company, shared the opinions of Bascoli about the fact that at ITMA Barcelona they received interest more than they had expected. Çelikbaş added that they received positive feedbacks from almost all markets. Çelikbaş stated that especially the jacquard weaving machine UniShed2, that stands out in the air bags used in automotive, attracted great attention. Çelik said that the machine which has been continuously improved since 2007, offers more efficiency compared especially with the conventional jacquard machines. Çelikbaş emphasized that UniShed2 is a very high quality machine technically and that the machine offers a unique weaving with 8192 hooks.
We Aim to Be the Greatest in China
Çelikbaş stated that their interest in the Turkish market increases day by day. “We’ve recently been conducting a research on air-bag weaving in Turkey and we continue to research whether there is need in the market. In addition to Turkey, air-bag is manufactured in the countries such as Sweden and France, from which we receive orders mostly.”
Çelikbaş stated that they aim to manufacture 100-150 units of machines and become the biggest air-bag manufacturer in China. Çelikbaş continued by saying; “With the production it performs, it shows that it aims to become one of the biggest manufacturers in the region. However our target is to become the greatest. We believe that when we ensure cost balance, we are going to reach our goal. The production performed in a watery environment decreases the costs. For that reason, the money spent for the investment does not create problem for a decline is ensured in the costs.”
Çelikbaş emphasized that in addition to Turkey, they make researches in many other regions and that there is an intense competition especially in America. Stating that they make investments in order to meet this high demand, Çelikbaş said; “In this regard, we also continue our activiries in Sweden and France. Since the product is used in the automotive sector, it needs some certifications, which we try to take. When we solve such problems, we will begin the sales.”
Consumers’ Demands Change
Çelikbaş stated that the trends and qualities in jacquard weaving technologies change. “Turkey, which is one of the developing countries in the textile sector, continues its growth by going through the changes Europe had experienced. The country turns towards the fancy products and moves away from basic products. The continuity and the quality of the production performed in the country is also very important. In this regard, quotas applied to China is a very successful strategy. The studies carried out liven up the domestic market and by this way, the chance to give more lively answers to the external markets increases, which increases the competitive power too. Because you can not compete in a region where there is no production. You can not gain anything by exporting an imported product after processing it,” said Çelikbaş.
Çelikbaş remarked that the government in Turkey supports the textile manufacturers. “The incentives provided, make a noticeable contribution,” said Çelikbaş who likened a country that makes no investment to a dead person. Çelikbaş argued that the incentives provided for the sector liven up the country and the sector. “In this regard, we attach great importance to the Turkish market, which continues its growth rapidly. We want to be directly engaged in the market at the first place. We put an end to our relationships with our former representatives. Grosse is going to deal with its customers directly by itself, not through its representatives. The installation and after sales services are provided actively by Mayteks Tekstil, which is our service supplier in Turkey,” said Çelikbaş.
The Timing Problem at ITM Decreased the Participation Rate
Tuncar Çelikbaş shared his opinions about ITM 2012 and stated that the timing of the event, which coincided with April 23rd, which is a public holiday, was a big fault. Çelikbaş stated that due to the limited time given for the fair and for the installations, lots of companies participated at the fair without their machines.
Çelikbaş emphasized that they made positive interviews with the visitors from the countries, which had not participated at ITMA. Çelikbaş finished by saying; “We experienced efficient interviews but we could not exhibit machines. We wanted to bring EJP-4 Jacquard machine. However the timing problems could not be overcome. 4 days for the whole fair and 3 days for setting up and dismantling the big machines are really insufficient. Of course such problems occur in the other fairs but if you want to organize a good organization, there should not be these kind of problems. We are going to participate at ITMA Asia, for we will be given a longer period of time and for the organization has a wider effect. In addition we will participate at INDIA ITMA in India and we will bring our machines to the both fairs. Unfortunately in Turkey, we could not have the chance to do so.”
