Ataç Makine, one of the leading manufacturers of the textile laboratory machines in Turkey, manufactures machines, laboratory machines and equipment for the sectors of textile and chemistry. Having made a distinguished name for itself with its projects and investments that have been made since its establishment, Ataç Makine is an outstanding brand of the Turkish textile machinery sector as it is open to the world with its agencies throughout the world. Birol Ataç, one of the founders of Ataç Makine which is always a step ahead with its innovative products designed for the textile sector, answered the questions of Textile World Magazine Group
KTM 2014 is Held at the Heart of the Textile
Birol Ataç said that they did not participate in any other fairs apart from Kahramanmaraş Textile Machinery Fair KTM 2014 this year and felt great pleasure in taking part in KTM 2014. Stating that holding such a fair is a belated decision both for Kahramanmaraş and region; Ataç said that KTM 2014 would meet a huge deficiency. Ataç added that they preferred KTM 2014 since Kahramanmaraş is located at the centre of the textile sector and is close to the enterprises of the textile factories in the region.
He added that they, as Ataç Makine, would exhibit the patented Ecological Jigger Finishing Machine that they developed in the scope of San-Tez project together with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Onur Balcı from Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University as well as the laboratory machines produced at KTM 2014. Stating that they would introduce the machines in practice, Ataç emphasized that KTM 2015 is of great importance.
We noticed the deficiency
Ataç said that they headed towards this field as they had noticed a huge deficiency in the field of textile laboratory machines in Turkey. Expressing that they started to manufacture the textile laboratory machines they saw in their visits to foreign countries in Turkey in order to cover this deficiency, Ataç added that the textile laboratory works which were previously carried out under primitive conditions are now being conducted at an advanced level with their machines.
Stating that their first textile laboratory machine is the 5-10 gr sample machine also known as shrinking machine, Ataç said that their production stood out in the market immediately. Adding that “In the first years of the establishment, we were making contract manufacturing for an Italian firm. They would then add high profits and sell the products back to Turkey.”, Ataç expressed that: “We were also providing the delivery services of these products. In this way, we found the opportunity of knowing ourselves and after the firms recognized the quality of our products, we started to make production under our own brand. The milestone is ITMA Fair held in Paris in 1999 for us. We started to open to foreign countries after that fair. Foreign manufacturers saw the quality of our products and were taken aback at how we manage to produce such a product in Turkey. They were thinking that it was impossible to produce it in Turkey. We eliminated this understanding and sold lots of machines to Turkish and foreign textile manufacturers at ITMA.”
We Cannot Promote Ourselves
Stating that biggest problem of the machinery manufacturers in Turkey is the lack of promotion, Ataç expressed that they have attached importance to promotion since their establishment and participated in the fairs. Adding that: “For instance, we are in Kahramanmaraş as the fair held there is very important. We work with many firms in Kahramanmaraş and the surrounding region. Owing to KTM 2014, we hope that we will increase our business volume in that region to even higher levels.”, Ataç emphasized that participation of Turkish machinery manufacturers in such fairs is greatly important.
Our Difference Relies on R&D
Stating that they attach great important to R&D in addition to the promotion works and fairs, Ataç expressed that they set a target to implement 2-3 projects every year at the establishment. Stating that they made cooperation with various universities to implement the projects, Ataç said that: “We are working with the textile and mechanical engineering departments of Marmara, Uludağ, ITU and Sütçü İmam Universities. In particular, we carried out important projects with Sütçü İmam University.”
Attributing the progress of Ataç Makine to its production and R&D understanding, Ataç stated that they have about 50 employees, 20 of whom are engineers and technicians. He also added that they have a business understanding dominated by communication and interaction in their production facility covering an area of 5000 square meters unlike their rivals in the market. “Thanks to the automation and communication we have in the machinery production, the first and the last machines are the same. We have flexibility between the departments and we can envisage a probable problem beforehand and intervene in when necessary. In this way, we minimised the error rate.”, Ataç added that: “We are not afraid of making mistakes as we take lessons from our mistakes.”
‘You Get Nowhere If You Do Not Improve Yourself’
Stating that they have about 150 machines used in the textile and chemistry laboratories in their product range, Ataç added that they manufacture machines used in nonwoven, technical textiles and R&D works. Ataç reported that they have been working on a machine which will minimise the environment pollution, provide a vast amount of energy saving and is able to perform numerous works in a limited time for 2 years.
Stating that they obtained patents of their products both at global and local level since they make production based on R&D, Ataç said that they have great targets for the future. Ataç added that: “We want to serve the sector by manufacturing developed products. Technology is changing and renewing constantly. When you cannot keep up with this, you cannot keep up with the market. For instance, there are huge differences between the machines produced ten years ago and produced now. Everything has changed in ten years. Thus, we need to follow technology very closely. If you cannot improve yourself, you get nowhere.”
Ecological Jigger
Ataç talked about the Ecological Jigger that they will exhibit at KTM 2014 as such: “We developed Ecological Jigger within the scope of a project carried out in our firm. Ecological Jigger is able to perform many processes at its own with the help of the software specially prepared for ozone application, UV applicator and ultrasonic systems. Making sustainable environment-friendly production with the recent importance it gained, Ecological Jigger will be the pioneer of the sustainable finishing processes with its features of minimum energy consumption and waste production.” and continued his remarks:
“Also promoting the use of preliminary finishing processes developed through enzymes, Ecological Jigger stands out as it is able to work on standard knitted and woven fabrics even at lower temperatures and make production in the innovative indigo dyeing processes. Actually, the most innovative aspect of Ecological Jigger is that it has a system to combine the preliminary finishing processes and dyeing processes.”
They See Us as a Solution Partner
Stating that they see no one as rival, Ataç added that the name of their firm reminds the laboratory machinery to everybody. He concluded by saying: “Factories directly reach us when they need machinery. This is because of the fact that they see us as their solution partners. In 2013, we exported 40 % of our total production.” Reporting that they export products mainly to Bangladesh, Vietnam, Peru, Honduras, Syria, Poland and Germany and the Far Eastern countries, in particular, Ataç added that have agencies in Germany, Bangladesh, Egypt, Peru, the USA and Italy and plan to open one in China.
