KÜÇÜK GROUP
Hello, Mr. Devrim. Primarily, I would like to congratulate you with respect to your new production plant. Could you tell us about the process that brought out the requirement to move your production plant to a new location as a company?
Hello. Thank you. As Küçük Group, we have been continuing our commercial activities for more than 20 years. We left behind our 10 years in the elevator equipment production sector. We are renewing ourselves through innovation and R&D endeavors in our product, plant, service, marketing, and organizational structure in line with the ever-changing technology and global requirements. The change and increase in human needs in the face of developing technology has also shown itself in the elevator sector, an indispensable tool in human life.
Therefore, we aimed to exceed our own know-how limits with the globalizing world and technological developments.
We moved our activities to our new factory building with an area of 25,000 square meters in Konya 3rd Organized Industrial Zone in March 2021 to develop new products that will keep up with the times, to invest in new machines and to modernize our existing machines and to expand our machine park, and most importantly, to increase our export volume, which makes the biggest contribution to the country's economy.
We continued our change process by renewing our company logo in June to crown our 10th year in the elevator industry, where we have transferred our experience and knowledge to catch the spirit of the time.
Could you tell us about your new production plant and new machine park?
Our plant is in Konya 3rd Organized Industrial Zone and is established on an area of 25,000 square meters. Our production line is divided into five main lines under the Elitpro brand as cable, machining, balance chain, elevator doors and photocell production. We made investments focused on increasing capacity and efficiency in our machinery. In this context, we increased our cable production line from 8 to 12, and the number of industrial robots from 2 to 4 with the purchase of spotting and welding robots. In addition to these, we increased the number of existing coding machines, guillotine shears, eccentric presses, uncoilers and molds by making additional purchases.
Has your employment increased with your new plant?
Our new production plant has an area of 25,000 square meters. We have achieved a significant expansion in our production line with the technology and machinery investments we have made. On the production side, we work with a staff of engineers in 5 different branches, including electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, industrial engineer, mechanical engineer, and quality control engineer. In addition, by employing technicians under this team, we increase the number of employees of our engineer team to 10 people. Within the scope of new markets, we have provided a total of 30 additional employment for domestic and international sales and administrative staff. At a time when the pandemic process is still ongoing, our total number of personnel, including the blue collar, has exceeded 200 people.
What could you say about your production capacity?
Our production line has turned into a modern integrated plant through the completion of the investment process. The machinery park investments and the employment of blue- and white-collar personnel contributed to the increase in our production capacity. Positive results obtained from visits to foreign target markets and the expansion of our domestic sales network have led to an increase in the demand for products and in this way, to meet the incoming demands, a double shift system was implemented. In terms of quantity, our production capacity in certain product groups has increased by 1 to 4.
How did you revise your export targets?
Export is one of our main targets and has an important place in our next 5-year activity projection. We have introduced our products produced in our factory to more than 40 countries, especially to the Middle East countries, European countries, Balkan countries, and Turkic Republics, without compromising the quality concept. We aim to deepen our relations with both our existing and new customers, establishing long-term relationships and making trade sustainable. Our company, aiming to add new countries and customers to its portfolio, has received the EAC certificate for the Russian Region and has started to take the necessary steps to enter new markets. Our aim is to bring our export volume, which is 25% in turnover, to 50%, and we are planning our investments accordingly.
Are you planning a change in your product groups and services that you offer to the sector through your new investment?
Our main product range consists of cable, hydraulic buffer, rope bottle, balance chain, elevator automatic door and photocell under the Elitpro brand. We test our products under the supervision of a quality control engineer in our laboratory, where state-of-the-art testing machines are used. Our R&D department works on the process of increasing the quality of existing products and incorporating new products into the production line. However, we do not plan to launch new products on the production line in 2021. In the coming years, we plan to build one of the few test towers in Turkey and to include different product groups in our production line with an additional building investment of 15,000 square meters. We determine our investment planning in this direction and prepare it for product variety and quality improvement.
Considering your new investment, what are your goals, plans and expectations in 2021 and in the next 5 years?
As Küçük Group, we are one of the dominoes of the sector with the innovative approaches it brings to the sector, keeping up with the change, giving importance to innovation and R&D studies and planning its investments accordingly. We follow the policy of continuously contributing to the country's economy by producing without compromising the quality, sales, and after-sales support policy. In 2020, we increased our turnover by 100 percent and our export volume by 120 percent compared to the previous year. In the next 5 years, we aim to increase the share of exports in turnover above 50 percent and to be among Turkey's top 500 industrial enterprises. We continue to move forward by renewing ourselves on this path without deviating from our aim.