Mr. Serdar, how was the export performance of Kırıker Metal in 2023, did you reach your export targets? Can you share your 2024 expectations or targets?

We can say that it has become really difficult to export these days when the balances in the world are changing. One day, there is a war somewhere and an economic crisis somewhere. As Kırıker Metal, it gives us a special happiness to contribute to our economy by exporting on behalf of our country in these difficult days. As I mentioned above, 2023 was a year of ups and downs. However, despite everything, we think that our export performance is good. In this period, we can say that there have been changes in market shares and the proportion of European countries in our total exports has increased. In 2024, we aim to continue with the same targets by increasing our market share in Europe and adding 2 or 3 countries that we have never worked with before to our export path. This year, if the markets remain stable, we aim to increase our exports by 5-10 percent.

In your export activities in 2023, did you feel the need to make special adaptations to the needs of the target markets in the technical specifications or packaging of your products? If yes, what were these adaptations and for which markets?

It is necessary to say that each market has its own habits, standards and interpretations. Therefore, of course, there are new requests in the markets we enter. In European countries, especially in old-built cities, there is a lot of demand for special dimensions in revision processes. It is not possible to sell with standard sizes. Another example is the adaptation we made in plug contacts and fire doors for the Russian market.

How much do you invest in your company's R&D and innovation activities to ensure differentiation and competitive advantage in global markets? What are the tangible effects of these investments on the product development process and your export performance?

We are in a period of increased competition as the flow of money in global markets slows down, and in this period, production costs have become really scary for manufacturers in the sector. We, as Kırıker Metal, have invested around 1 million dalar in our machinery and R&D in the last year in order to control and reduce costs in this period. Within the scope of these investments, we made improvements in various departments with 2 bending machines and 1 CNC machine. These investments are both aimed at increasing capacity and improvements in energy and labor savings. With these investments, we can say that they have a positive impact on export performance due to cost efficiency. In addition, we can say that the innovations made by our R&D unit and new investments have increased product diversity.

We are now in a position to manufacture elevator doors in larger sizes. With the "Lean Production" project we are currently conducting with the incentive of the European Investment Bank, we are making touches in the processes in order to increase efficiency at some points in production. Of course, we also support these with the investment in machinery and equipment needed.

How do investments in green technologies affect the competitiveness of your products in the European market?

Climate change and the slowing down of global warming, which affects all life on earth and whose effects we have been feeling more and more recently, has become an essential situation for all humanity. We plan our investments accordingly, taking into account this agreement signed by our government and of which we are a partner. In our recent investments, we prefer energy efficient machines with less carbon emissions and choose the filters in production accordingly. We also have plans to invest in solar energy and replace our service vehicles with electric vehicles.

Frankly speaking, we can say that there is no situation in the market that affects us with the green consensus, but we make our preparations as if it will affect us. As a company, we are aware that pursuing green policies is extremely important for our future and leaving a livable world for our children.

How did the fluctuations in global supply chain management and difficulties in procurement processes affect your company's production and export operations? What are the strategies you have implemented against these challenges?

Recent fluctuations can create payment problems. Because closed sea routes or the closure of the payment channels of the country you trade with brings many problems. We try to overcome this with the export supports and credits provided by our government.

Finally, what is your company's vision for the next 10 years in the elevator industry? What are the key strategies you have identified to achieve this vision?

As Kırıker Metal, we want to achieve sustainable growth in the next 10 years. We will move towards becoming the door supplier of the sector as we are now. At this point, we want to increase our door variety by improving our R&D and offer different solutions for different problems. Another goal is to produce better quality and safer products by developing our production technologies such as robotization - artificial intelligence.