"Our company, which went to a new restructuring as Avelice Elevator in 2021, turned its route to more export-oriented work in line with this restructuring. In this direction, we have worked to strengthen our export activities in other potential markets, especially in West Asian countries such as Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Georgia." Zafer Aydın, Owner and General Manager of Avelice Elevator Company, said that having their factory in Iğdır provides them with some advantages, especially for Asian countries. Zafer Aydın said that because of the activities they carried out by using the advantage of location and keeping the price-quality policies at the optimum level, they achieved an export above their target in 2021 in terms of their newly restructured exports.

Hello Mr. Zafer. Could you tell us about your export activities in 2021? What are your 2022 export projections?
Hello. We can say that 2021 is our first year in terms of export-oriented work, as our company continued its activities mostly in the local market before 2021. However, the potential we saw in this first year and the advantage and willingness of our company to meet this potential gave us very positive messages for 2022. As Avelice Elevator, we think that we will reach many more countries and customers in 2022. The effects of the pandemic all over the world, of course, have negatively affected all companies for the last 2 years. Although these effects still continue, the relaxation of some restrictions, albeit mandatory, will increase our possibility of reaching new markets for 2022. The fact that the exchange rate fluctuation in the last quarter of 2021 and the price instability caused by it seems to be on a course in the first quarter of this year is another reason for us to look at 2022 positively.

What have you determined for the sustainable export policy of 2022?
We are raising our targets for 2022 even more with the new sales team we have created and the investment and staff structuring we have made on the factory side. Reaching new customers in countries such as Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Georgia where we are currently working is among our primary goals.
In addition, our work for the UKR-SEPRO document, which is required for Ukraine, is at the final stage. We are waiting for the final version of the document to be given and approved. Avelice Elevator-Ukraine branch, which we opened in partnership with a local investor in Ukraine, is currently in operation and our communication with potential customers continues. It is an important goal for us to evaluate the potential in Ukraine after our document becomes official.

In addition, the Russian market is another important market for us. We continue to work on the necessary infrastructure for Russia as well. We think that Russia is an important market both for us as a company and for our country, and we care about the market.

Besides, of course, Africa is a very big market and we, as Avelice Elevator, continue to carry out our activities to take our place in this market. Our studies continue by communicating with potential companies in North and Central Africa.

What kind of work are you doing to increase your market share?
Domestic and international fairs are important for us to increase our market share. By 2022, it will be important for us to participate in the fairs that will be held related to our industry. As a result of these fairs, we plan to increase the recognition of our company and reach more customers. In addition, we believe that the work of our new sales staff will provide us with great support to increase our market share. Our team, which continues to work in our new sales office that we opened in Istanbul, has accelerated its work since the end of 2021 in this direction.

We believe that one-to-one visits to companies will also contribute to our efforts to increase our market share. It will be an effective activity for us to show the companies that we are with them by making country visits and to convey the fact that we will give them the necessary support face to face. We started these works as of the end of 2021 and we plan to continue to increase in 2022.

Our new website and new catalog works are among our efforts to increase our market share. Our new website and catalog, prepared in all languages required for foreign customers, will enable companies to access the information they want in an easy and understandable way.

We think that our new sales center, which we have put into operation in Istanbul, will also provide convenience in reaching our domestic and international customers. As you know, Istanbul is a trade center and taking our place here will provide a great advantage for both us and the companies we serve and will provide.

Could you tell us about your current investments and R & D studies?
In our factory located in Iğdır, our machine park, which is required for production, is currently working in full capacity. In our factory, which has a complete production facility with 1 punching machine, 2 cutting and 2 bending machines, 1 automatic punto machine and an oven paint facility, we plan to increase our high-quality product production with the laser cutting machine that will be added to our track in the first quarter of 2022. With the machinery we have available, our product development efforts continue uninterruptedly. Our technical staff continues to work on product development to offer innovative, technology-oriented products to our customers.

In addition, we have a factory area expansion project for 2022. In line with this purpose, we are planning to increase our capacity further by increasing our closed production area.

How do you differentiate your organization in the industry as a company?
As Avelice Elevator, our primary goal is to introduce quality products to our customers at affordable prices. Therefore, we work at full capacity with the support of our suppliers and our own technological infrastructure.

We also think that after-sales support is very important in our industry. Our goal is to make a difference in this field and to provide the fastest and most accurate support our customers may need after assembly and/or installation. This matters to us.

We have learned that there are some negative thoughts about after-sales support in our industry, especially that they cannot get the support they can get from foreign companies from domestic companies. We ensure all kinds of support to avoid this negative situation for our customers.

What can you list as the main developments-events that you consider important for the elevator industry in 2021 and that affect our industry?
Obviously, the impacts of the pandemic negatively affected our country in 2021, as it did the whole world. We think that especially local markets are more affected. Therefore, most companies have focused on export markets. This both increased the competition in exports and unfortunately caused a decrease in the quality of the service and product provided.

In addition, the exchange rate fluctuation and price instability in our country in the last quarter of 2021 can also be considered as another negative factor.

However, under these conditions, the increase in material procurement, delivery time and transportation costs, especially from the Far East, had a relatively positive impact on the market, enabling us to reach and serve more customers than expected.

What is the most important problem you have experienced in terms of exporting in our industry and what is your suggestion for a solution to this problem?
From the aspect of our country, one of our most important problems in terms of exports is the economic fluctuations and the planning problem created by these fluctuations. Long-term plans that need to be made for manufacturers like us, unfortunately, are very difficult in environments with such fluctuations. In this respect, it is our desire, like every manufacturer, to produce in an economic environment where fluctuations are experienced at a minimum level. For this, it is very important for us to increase the support given to the manufacturers, the necessary tax exemptions, and such supportive policies.

On a industryal basis, we believe that it is important to ensure that competition is held in a fairer environment. As Avelice Elevator, we are a company that exports "Package Elevator" systems in particular. In this respect, we are in the position of both a manufacturer and a supplier. We bring together component manufacturers such as machinery, motors, rails, and control panels with our customers, assembly companies, through package elevator sales. In this sense, it will be beneficial in terms of market development that component manufacturers provide more support to manufacturer-supplier companies like us.

In addition, I think it is very important for the industry that companies that invest in high technology like us in the market are considered in a more privileged position by both our government and our suppliers compared to companies that do more trading or do not have an infrastructure.

How is your competition with imported products, especially Far East origin products, in the domestic and export markets?
Products of Far East origin have always been and will continue to be products that have to be competitive for our industry. Although there are some problems in product quality, the Far East industry, which is developing in this field, has a great advantage in terms of reasonable price advantage and product diversity.

In cases where the global actors of our industry work in the Far East production center, the fact that the companies can use this advantage to market their products more easily provide an advantageous environment for them.

The fact that production and investment costs remain high compared to Far East companies and negatively affect competition can be considered as another negative factor.

However, both the recent increase in the product and especially the freight costs, and the extended deadlines due to the pandemic provide our country with an advantage in terms of competition. It can be considered as another advantage in our location advantage to African and Eastern European countries.