Hassan Group takes the lead among the most important players of the Turkish nonwoven sector. The group managed by the 2nd and 3rd generations and by professional staffs, includes 13 companies operating in the fields of nonwoven textiles, technical films, home textiles, construction, insurance and trading. Operating on an area of 130 thousand sqm, Hassan Group opens 2012 with two new investments. Having enterered the hygiene sector with Telasis in 1995 by manufacturing nonwoven surfaces for diapers and wet wipes, Hassan GROUP increases its significance in the nonwoven sector with each passing day.
In spite of the crisis, Hassan Group which has a broad range of nonwoven products for various sectors including automotive, white goods, cleaning cloths, diapers, disposable products, shoes, clothing, bedding industry and artificial leather and many more, displayed a successful graph until 2011 by continuing its growth strategy, started in the pre-crisis period. Hakan Şişman, Deputy General Manager-Board Member at MERKAS, made evaluations about the sector and reminded that a large number of investments were made in the nonwoven sector during 2000s.
Competition Conditions will be Harder in 2012
Hakan Şişman emphasized that decisions for new investments are taken especially at ITMA Barcelona, and even in some other exhibitions which are not focused on machinery sector and these investments, focused on the current structure of the sector, will make the competitive conditions harder. Şişman stated that the mission to support investments in the innovative fields falls to the government. “We think that in Turkey, people should carry on the path with the incentives provided according to the nature of the work rather than the geographical location,” said Şişman.
Stating that in this field, the products imported by Turkey can be supported in order of importance to make their production attractive, Şişman conrinued his words by saying; “By this way, the agglomeration of investments in various sectors in Turkey including the textile and so the nonwovens, can be spread to other fields and the economy can be provided with new blood.” Şişman made evaluations about the developments within the global markets, in which Turkey operates as a supplier and he remarked that due to the knife-edge balances in the Middle East and the fragile state of the European economy, it is harder to make medium and long term market forecasts. Hakan Şişman ended up by saying; “2012 seems to be rich in political turmois and economic movements.”
PELSAN, MERKAS and AKSIS Increased the Sectoral Strength
Hassan Group, which has investments in various sectors, institutionalized its initiatives within the sector in the second half of 1980s and enhanced its facility investments in the second half of 2000s. The group, which established Pelsan Textile Products in 2006 the brand Breatech. The manufacturing process of textile backsheets, produced by laminating different nonwovens with multi-colured, breathable and non-breathable polyethylene films with register prints, began with this brand. Today, Hassan Group – with Pelsan - has one of the largest-capacity facilities of Europe and the Middle East. With its yearly capacity of 840 million sqm, Pelsan manufactured diapers, sanitery pads and backsheets for medical sectors. Pelsan has also expanded its product range by producing technical films for the construction sector.
Hassan Group, which strengthens its position in the hygiene sector, took its third step towards growth by producing ADL (Acquisition distribution layer) under the brand HYGENIUS. The product is considered to be an important technical material which increases the performance of the diapers, sanitary pads and adult incontinence products by keeping the liquid movements under controll. ADL is produced in the facilities of Merkas, a company of the group, with an annual capacity of 7 thosand tons. These products manufactured high loft type under the brand Hygenius using airthrough bonding technique, have features meeting the international quality standards. In addition to the airthrough bonded products, Merkas offers nonwoven products to the medical, clothing and fitler industries with its chemical bonded products.
Another innovation Hassan Group made in 2011 was the establishing Aksis, which was founded in order to meet the group’s need for spunbond and to serve the hygiene, medical, furniture and insulation sector. The company has a line with a capacity of approximately 5 thousand tons. This spunbond line, feeds the breathable/ non-breathable film lines of Pelsan, another company of the group. It is stated that projects are carried out for a second line in Aksis, which has increased its sectoral power.
Strong Supply in the Sector from 8 Companies
Şiteks, Hassan, Haspaş, Catsis, Telasis, Pelsan, Aksis, Merkas, the companies of Hassan Group, which exports its nonwoven products to the strong markets in Turkey and across the world, have specialized in the field of nonwovens. Hassan Group, which has a strong position both in the domestic and foreign markets with its nonwoven products, perform exports to more than 60 countries in 5 continents. The exports in this field are performed by Teksis, Teksis Foreign Trade and Şiteks Foreign Trade companies. The head offices of the companies are located in İstanbul and the sales and marketing offices are located in the European Free Trade Zone and in Moscow, Russia.
Şiteks, established in 1980, produces felts in desired size and thickness between 200 gsm up to 3000 gsm. In addition to the original raw materials the company also uses textile wastes as raw materials and demonstrates its responsibility for the environment. The products of Şiteks are widely used in the supply chain of the Turkish automotive and beds and white goods industrialists
Hassan Textile Company, which takes its name from the Group, was established in 1985. The company manufactures needle punched and patterned felts by using original synthetic fibers. The company’s facility, which produces needle punched felts of different size, thickness and hardness between 35 gsm and 2000 g/sqm, gains various features to the product such as oil and water repellency and fireproofing. With the production of semi-finished materials used in textile, footwear, artificial leather, medical and other industries, Hassan Textile has an important market share.
Haspaş, which offers products to the sectors of clothing and technical textiles, started its operations in 1987. The company that produces stitch bonded nonwovens between 18 gsm up to 300 gsm is also one of the first manufacturers of the quilting sector. With numerous patterns, fibers, felts and sponges, The company processes quilts for upholstery and beds with computer-based machines. Haspaş also serves the hotel and home textiles industry with its products of G&G and Lilamor brands.
Strong Investments of 90s; Catsis and Telasis
Catsis and Telasis, established by Hassan Group during 90s and started operating in 1995, performs production for the industrial and clothing sector. Catsis, which manufactures various types of carpets using the sound insulators made of felt, shapes the felts at various weights and nonwoven carpets and interlinings through hot and cold presses. With its anti-vibration felts used in vehicle plates, the company receives great demand especially in the automotive industry.
Telasis, which manufactures the nonwoven products especially used in the hygiene, clothing and wet wipes sectors, is regarded as one of the world’s largest investments. The company that manufactures products between 10 gsm and 130 gsm, performs production using chemical additives as well as soft touch interlinings produced with the thermo bonding technique.
Pelsan, which is Turkey’s first company to produce breathable polyethylene film using rotogravure printing system, was established in 2006. The company performs production between 11 gsm and 100 gsm. These films which are under the brand name Breatech are laminated on various nonwoven surfaces, produced by Hassan Group. The company’s infinite variety of products are offered to many sectors especially baby diaper, hygiene, medical and insulation.
Aksis and Merkas, New Investments Despite the Crisis
In 2010, Hassan Group, which maintains and strengthens its assertive position within the nonwoven sector with new investments, established two important facilities that are Aksis and Merkas. Aksis, which has a closed area of 10 thousand sqm in Saray, Tekirdağ, produces spunbond used in almost every fields including furniture, home textiles, medical and automotive. Thanks to the advanced technology and polypropylene raw materials used in the production, spunbond interlinings, which are highly recyclable, do not harm human health. Aksis produces the spunbond interlinings, used especially in diabers and sensitive medical products, between 10 gsm and 150 gsm.
Merkas, which is the latest investment of Hassan Group, performs production using sythetic fiber which are both synthetic and biodegradable fibers also. Creating a tissue between 15 gsm and 120 gsm, the company produces nonwoven products using the airthrough bonding technique. This special nonwoven called ADL (Acquisition Distribution Layer) under the brand name HYGENIUS, transfers the liquid in diapers, sanitary napkins and adult incontinence products to super absorbent and the cellulose material in the lower layer and also acts as a barrier by preventing the liquid to reach the upper surface. The company that produces semi-finished products for the fields of clothing and filtering, also has chemically bonded nonwoven products.
A Deep Rooted History of About 85
The establishment of Hassan Group dates back to 1928, when Hasan Şişman, Founder of the group, came to İstanbul. Hasan Şişman, who began his career as an apprentice of a quilt maker in Sultanhamam, İstanbul, opened his own quilt workshop in 1933. In 1949, Şişman produced the first cotton padding of Turkey and so he took the first step in establishing Hassan Group. During those times, wadding production was not being carried out through mechanical power in Turkey and so manual labor was used in production. This structure, established by Hasan Şişman and developed to a family company under the name of Şişman Brothers, founded its first factory building in 1964. The company produced the first bed pad in 1969 and the automotive uphostery in 1971, with the support of Fiat.
The first step towards institutionalization was taken in 1980 with Şiteks A.Ş., which carried the production process to the factories. The management process changed as the brothers of Hasan Şişman left the company in 1991 to establish their own company. After Hasan Şişman passed away in 1996, his 5 sons took part in the management and the stepped up pace of investment and marketing processes.
