Participating in the Intertextile Shanghai Garment and Fabric Fair held on 21-24 October in Shanghai, Aker Tekstil has become prominent with its recent high-value-added products.
Erdal Karabel, the Chairman of the Executive Board of Aker Tekstil which comes to the fore with its annual plush fabric production capacity of five million meters and wide product range among Turkish and international plush and moufflon manufacturers, made information explanations to Textile World Magazine Group at Intertextile Shanghai Garment and Fabric Fair.
The foundations of the establishment of Aker Tekstil which manufactures fabrics having different characteristics to be used as garment, imitation fur, coat, liner, collar, moufflon, toy, dye rolls, filters and various accessories in different sectors and markets by processing acrylic, polyester, woollen and cotton raw materials and the blends of these were laid, according to what Erdal Karabel told, in 1995 when Ahmet Mutafoğlu, a businessman from Gaziantep, showed the fabric samples that he brought from the USA and proposed a partnership to manufacture them in Turkey.
Stating that there were only two firms manufacturing the sample fabrics that Mutafoğlu brought in Turkey at that period, Karabel expressed that they started making production with seven knitting machines. Afterwards, they went to Italy to examine the factories with the aim of improving their business and when they returned, they had bought knitting machines of American Mayer brand in addition to carding, cutting and finishing machines with an investment amounting to $ 3.5 million in order to establish a complete production line. Karabel became the head of the company after Ahmet Mutafoğlu withdrew from the partnership.
There are 50 circular knitting machines in the machinery line of Aker Tekstil. Stating that Aker Tekstil which manufactures high quality knitted fabric with its computer system equipped with the latest technologies and wide machinery line offers a wide range of products and models to its clients, Karabel added that plain, jacquard, curly and snow-tops fabrics can be manufactured at all models, colours, patterns and weights in the integrated plants of Aker Tekstil
Stating that they have a monthly yarn production capacity of 450 tons, Karabel emphasized that the name of the brand is already known in many countries although they don’t export to foreign countries under the name of “Kartopu”. “We make production for the most important brands of the market. We have a target of being known with our brand of “Kartopu” throughout the world in a 10 years’ period. We want to turn into a brand instead of making contract manufacturing. After making the necessary feasibility studies, we will launch our own name to the whole world.”
Currently, they meet 30 % of the need of the domestic market. Aker Tekstil exports to 42 countries in total, important ones of which include the USA, Germany, England, Japan, France, Norway, Denmark, Korea and Australia.
“Client Requires Innovation”
Stating that enterprises should certainly pay importance to R&D to switch to high-value-added production which the sector needs, Karabel added that: “Clients constantly want innovation. Everything has changed when compared to the world of 10 years ago. There is no validity of the arrangements that are made to save the day. Enterprises need innovative ideas. You can no more earn money by manufacturing low quality fabrics. Production was limited in the past but now it increased. You need to open to foreign countries; the time is the time for manufacturing high-added-value goods and marketing them.” Reporting that the demands of domestic market now focus on high-added-value products, Karabel added that the companies not keeping up with this demand will have to withdraw from the sector.
New Investments
Stating that he chases new thrusts in order to raise the success bar of his company to even higher levels by achieving a growth rate of 15 % every year, Karabel said that machinery investments can be shaped according to the internal and external demands of the market. Expressing that they entered in the carpet yarn sector on a trial basis but the cord carpet yarns that they manufactured were scarce in comparison to the woven carpets, Karabel added that they are planning to increase their investments in this field in the forthcoming periods.
Reporting that an important part of their investment items includes renewing the machinery lines, Karabel said that: “The old machines are replaced with the new ones which have higher production capacities. We especially prefer the machines that are not found in Turkey.” Stating that they allocate 30 % of their turnover to such revisions, Karabel added that: “We target at establishing a bigger and more modern plant in this way.”
Expressing that they are planning to open a plant in a foreign country in order to overcome 15 % customs duty and quota problem applied in the USA, Karabel reported that: “We had a plan of making investment in Ethiopia. The current President of Ethiopia, who was the ambassador of Ethiopia in Turkey previously, greatly supported us in terms of investment. However, we postponed this project for a while due to the events breaking out in Tunisia, Syria and Egypt, cost factors and raw material supply problems. We may take this project in our agenda once again in the forthcoming periods depending on the condition of the market.”
“We Prefer High-Value-Added Products”
Stating that they considered the times defined as crisis by everyone as opportunity to keep up with the advancements, Karabel said that: “We now prefer manufacturing high-value-added products instead of making a huge amount of production.” Reporting that the turnover of the group reached 255 million Turkish Liras in 2012 and the turnover envisaged for 2013 is around 300 million Turkish Liras, Karabel added that their target for 2014 is to achieve a growth rate of at least 10-20 %.
