Doğu Akbaba
Yapaş Chain and Cast Industry Mechanical Engineer, M.B.A.
If you make an evaluation of your sector and Turkey in general… How was 2019 for your company?
It is not possible to feel that there was a contraction in our country as in the world in 2019. The decrease in cement production, which has been going on for the last two years, has also reduced the need for spare parts and made investments more cautious. In order to balance the falling domestic demand, we increased our share in export markets and exported to 30 countries. As a result of the increased trust in domestic production in our country, it is also a happy development for our company to reach the highest figure of the last 5 years in the production of turnkey equipment (Chain Elevators, Steel Belt and Chain Conveyors) that enable us to take part in investment projects.
Unfortunately, the loss of 2 valuable doyens in our sector has saddened us deeply. On this occasion, I commemorate our founder Yaşar Özgüleç with respect.
What are the investments you made within your company and other developments like new products, launches, etc. for this year?
We continued our perspective on continuous improvement of the equipment used in production in 2019 and continued our investments from the drop hammer forging machine to the press brake machine, from the bearing press to the lama bending, from the new plasma cutting machine to the NDT devices.
We transformed the self-cooled chain drive and cooling bunker chain drive R&D projects that we brought to the final stage into commercial offer and presented them to 2 cement plants. We expect these new studies to contribute to our economy.
Within the scope of digitalization, to follow the growing capacity and production amount in a healthier and timely manner; we started the “SAP” ERP project for the organization of stock, sales and purchasing processes.
How is your expectation from 2020 in general? What will be your goals and overall strategies for this year?
We welcome 2020 with hope. In addition to our belief and support for our country, we will continue to diversify our production items that will reduce imports.
In general, we are experiencing a period in which our long-standing efforts in the localization of bulk material handling equipment have yielded fruit in the direction of branding. We will continue our work to increase the awareness of YAPAŞ brand both in Turkey and in the world.
Our presence in the supplier lists of the world’s leading cement groups highlights us in the markets we enter with these references. For this reason, we expect growth in 2020.
When you look at the sector, what developments are waiting for us this year?
In our meetings with sector representatives, we think that the companies that can maintain their place with a stable production and sales expectation can reach their growth targets in the upcoming years.