Yeşim Textile, which produces 50 tons of knitting, 60 tons of dyeing, 100 thousand meters of printing and 150 thousand ready-made garments and 100 thousand of home textiles daily, draws attention with the importance it places on social compliance and sustainability studies. Yeşim Textile CEO Şenol Şankaya said, "First, we have fulfilled the social compliance conditions within our body by acting with human philosophy."
Can you tell us about your history and areas of production?
Yeşim Textile, which started production in 1983, is currently serving world brands with its manufacturing capability in ready-to-wear and home textiles disciplines, within 325 thousand square meters of total inner space and an open area of 181 thousand square meters and a close area of 144 thousand square meters of the whole facility in Bursa with more than four thousand ready personnel.
The daily production capacity of our company is 50 tons of knitting, 60 tons of dyeing, 100 thousand meters of printing and 150 thousand ready-made garments and 100 thousand of home textiles. We are acknowledged as one of the few integrated facilities that can carry out all processes from yarn to finished product under the same roof in the garment industry within the world context. On the other hand, we are also taken our place among the largest firms with the parameters of job creation and women workforce.
Can you talk about activities of Yeşim Textile?
As the strategic partner of world brands in the field of ready-made clothing and home textiles, we export 90 percent of our total production. We manufacture for companies such as Nike in ready-to-wear and Matheis - Schlafgut in home textile. We released a growth figure in 2019 by 10 percent, with a turnover of $ 385 million and with an export value of $ 350 million.
Our company, which aligns itself according to customer expectations and the changing conditions in the world, has undertaken many different works that are the first in its field. In all of these works, we have fulfilled the social compliance requirements within our body by acting with human philosophy. In this way, we have made a difference in our works with sustainability principle, especially for our employees, for the environment and for the society.
In 2006, the United Nations Global Compact (UN Global Compact) signed by our company as the first ready-to-wear garment company in Turkey; we promised to comply with international rules and regulations applied on human rights, labor standards and the environment. Since that year, we report our works on social responsibility and social compliance in detail every year and share them on both national and international platforms. In addition, in 2015, we voluntarily signed the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs), which were created jointly by UN Women and UN Global Compact, units of the United Nations also involved in the Global Compact Turkey Board adding to the activities carried out in its’ active fields with the overall efforts focusing on woman in Turkey.
Which countries do you export to?
We export to countries such as America, Germany, England, Holland, Spain, France, Italy, Russia and Japan.
For which brands do you produce?
As I mentioned above, besides brands such as Nike in ready-to-wear and Matheis - Schlafgut in home textiles; Under Armor, Zara, Pull & Bear, Bershka, Esprit, Tommy Hilfiger, Tommy Jeans, Lacoste, Polo Ralph Lauren, Calzedonia, Guess, Mudo, Aldi, Horizonte and Tchibo.
What does Yeşim's sustainability approach cover?
As a company, we attach great importance to social compliance and sustainability efforts. We have SA 8000: 2014 certificate, one of the most prestigious awards in the world in terms of social compliance, since 2005. This certification has given to us in Turkey and we have a distinction place amongst others to have this level of achievement in advance. apparel company in Turkey in the area are carrying the distinction of being the first company Yeşim, therefore, has also declared its’ commitment at the highest level that it is the social responsibility policy that coincides with the Social Compliance Standards SA 8000: 2014. In 2015, one of the most necessary commitments of sustainable manufacturing activities in Turkey OEKO-TEX STEP (Sustainable Textile Production) we are carrying our title as the first company awarded with the certificate and we accomplished maintain of this award also in 2019.
Sustainability is one of the primary topics of Yeşim Textile. We were chosen as the pilot company who was subject to evaluation with a single social compliance audit by implementing world brands into the research and a firm assessing supplier companies with an application of joint model and as a consequence, we have become the company put into assessment first Yeşim has also played an important role in the management of this joint audit organization called SLCP.
We have been releasing reporting our efforts in social compliance and sustainability areas for many years. In 2019, we published our 11th report on our social compliance and responsibility works, which we carried out within the scope of the Global Compact, on the website of the United Nations and shared with the public. In the report, which was published bilingually in English and Turkish, we incorporated our efforts in line with the international principles on legislations and social responsibility conduct in the fields of human rights, labor standards, environment and anti-corruption. Since the formation in 2014, we have been present in the Global Compact Turkey Regulatory Body. By taking part in all of these efforts, we will continue to lead the topic of sustainability as we have achieved in the past.
With its environmentally sustainable sustainable activities, energy-friendly projects, waste reduction and recycling efforts, Yeşim Textile has adopted the principle of not harming nature at every stage of its production. Since the first day of our foundation, we have also placed greater emphasis on our social responsibilities.
We aimed to be an exemplifier of our employees, customers, sub-contractors and suppliers by manufacturing in line with the “Green Factory” approach and to raise awareness of the society in this regard. We have succeeded in integrating the environmental studies we have been conducting for many years into the company's business processes. With the projects we implemented in this process, we have taken extremely valuable steps towards water and energy savings and towards sustainability support. Our company, which started its own treatment plant in 2000, is among the first examples in its field with its water treatment capacity of 7 thousand tons per day and with its structure at international standards. Our wastewater is controlled online by Bursa Metropolitan Municipality 24 hours a day.
You have stopped production for a while. What did you in the time being?
As Yeşim Textile, we are aware of the sensitivity experienced in the axis of coronavirus epidemic and we take the appropriate steps for any significant notification from the officials and take necessary measures. We have stopped all of our manufacturing and all of our operations temporarily amongst 30 March and 20 April. As of April 20, we re-started our operations again. Before taking a short break, we have implemented preventive measures in many areas and we continue to assess and review these measures in line with the written announcements issued by our state.
“We Maximize Health Precautions”
At this stage, we have increased the health measures throughout the company to the highest level. We increased our budget by 51 percent by making serious revisions to the occupational health and safety budget. We also updated the annual budget allocated to our health and personnel directorate. As Yeşim Textile, we are a company that produces with the understanding of 'People First'. The establishment of a system of sustainability practices within the company dates back to 25 years. Our company has made all of its sustainability, environmental, social compliance and occupational health and safety studies systematically and auditable with KPIs, Key Performance Indicators..
In other words, thanks to the infrastructure we have an action have taken only in the axis of re-evaluating ourselves with the new measures we have implemented during the epidemic process. In this sense, I can say that we did not have difficulty in conforming to the relevant pandemic process.
You started to manufacture masks. You have reported that these masks are washable. How did you overcome the hygiene issue?
By launching an anti-viral and anti-bacterial mask project from a knitted fabric developed using organic cotton and lycra, we launched two products with a tight and flexible structure. As you said, our masks are sustainable because of their reusability up to 50 washings and our products are effective against bacteria and virus up to 99.94 percent. One of the most important features of the masks we have developed with the collaboration of Health Guard, which has 25 years of experience in biotechnology and related products, is to stop the virus as soon as it interacts with the body.
After the antibacterial treatment applied to the fabric, there is no need for another treatment for the necessary hygiene conditions. This method because is surely the main purpose of the applied chemical. In addition, our products are manufactured as protective equipment and no further treatment is required as they are not classified in medical products. The proof of this is that the fabrics comply with the test standards that enable them to obtain the necessary approvals.
You are a member of the Better Cotton Initiative. What do you do?
Among the certificates we have and global memberships are BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) membership. We follow all our activities in Yeşim with the understanding of “being human-oriented”, by applying them to a systematic structure that is applicable to international standards and open to development, and with performance criteria. Our work on this subject; Global Compact, OEKO-TEX STeP, Oekotex Standard 100, ISO 50001, ISO 14001, SanforKnit, Organic GOTS, OCS and Rcycle GRS and RCS qualifications and Bluesign, Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), ZDHC Wastewater Gateway, ZDHC Chemistry Gateway - Cleanchain , Higg Index membership directs.
Can you tell us about your activities and goals?
As a member of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) in 2012, we had the chance to demonstrate our environmental awareness. It has always been our mission to take a leading role in the industry with our environmentally friendly production and environmentally friendly approaches. Within the framework of the strategic partnership agreement, we are purchasing yarns manufactured by our partners, which we have been cooperating with for many years, which are produced under environmentally friendly conditions, compatible with sustainability standards and manufactured under the BCI certificate. Also, we are able to produce with Organic and Recyle yarns within the scope of sustainability. While responding to the demands of our customers within the framework of the strategic cooperation we have achieved, we aim to make use of yarns produced from cotton in accordance with the Better Cotton certificate more and to direct our customers in this regard.
What are your 2020 goals financially?
With the global crisis, especially in Europe, which is the biggest market of our textile and ready-to-wear industry, almost all of the sectors except food, health and logistics have stopped. Due to the closure of national and global chain stores, the production capacities of the textile and apparel industry also decreased.
The textile and apparel industry plays a major role in the rapid recovery of the post-epidemic economy. Even if the size of the virus is to be decreased in the coming period, its effects on the economic will revive. Although we try to be prepared for these effects, it is possible to say that we are at least 30 percent below our growth rates, turnover and export targets. In the last quarter of the year, a significant leap may be brought to the agenda depending on foreign demand, but time will show.
“We Can Talk About a Small Movement”
At this point, we can say that there is a movement starting from Europe. As long as national and global chain stores do not return to the pre-pandemic period, it seems a little difficult for us to reach full capacity. Our capacity will remain low until mid-summer. However, we had a very positive start in 2020 and set important growth targets by the end of the year.
We anticipate that the first half of the year will pass with an average 30 percent decrease in exports. I predict that we will complete 2020 with a 30 percent band turnover and loss of exports, compared to the previous year, with the relative activity that may occur in the rest of the year.
