Lean manufacturing delivers success

NÜVE, one of Turkey's leading organizations in laboratory and sterilization technology manufacturing, continues to boost its performance through digital transformation, continuous improvement and lean manufacturing principles in its production processes. One of the world's major laboratory and sterilization equipment manufacturers, NÜVE supplies products that can be safely used in Turkey and many countries worldwide. We spoke with NÜVE Board Chairman and General Manager Beril İzgin and Board Member and Deputy General Manager Mizyal Hergül about their recent activities and "lean manufacturing" approaches.

NÜVE is an established company that has been operating in the sector for many years. Could you provide information about NÜVE's development from its founding to the present day?

Mizyal Hergül: Our company was founded in 1968. In those days, our company's primary activities were plumbing and construction work, and the import and sale of all types of materials, raw materials and spare parts used in these operations. As demand from the market increased in the following years, our company began manufacturing simple electrical distribution panels, thereby gaining its first production experience in this way. We started manufacturing laboratory equipment in 1976 in a rented workshop in Ankara's Siteler district. In 1979, the foundations of our factory, which is still operating on Esenboğa Road, were laid. Our move to the factory took place in 1981. From 1981 onwards, our company continued production in its own facility, in a healthier environment and with more modern machinery. Our first product range consisted of dry air sterilizers, water baths and centrifuges. We carried out our first export in 1982. From the late 1980s onwards, we began genuinely marketing our products abroad. Beril İzgin: Currently, we manufacture 69 models of equipment under 16 different product groups. We were the first manufacturer in our country of ultra-low freezers and vaccine cabinets, which came to the fore during the pandemic period, and we have been manufacturing these equipment since 2010. Microbiological safety cabinets, sterilizers, incubators, centrifuges, water baths and climatic test chambers are our other prominent equipment. We export to over 100 countries. With our production and exports, we have won numerous awards and received many incentives for projects we have undertaken for our country. Domestically, we serve all of Turkey through 26 dealers distributed across the country. We take justified pride in being a company that has continuously reinvented itself since its founding, always aimed higher, and produced many firsts in its field in Turkey. [caption id="attachment_160787" align="aligncenter"] From left to right: Mizyal Hergül, Beril İzgin[/caption]

We know that NÜVE operates particularly in the laboratory and sterilization equipment fields. In which industries are these equipment especially used, and what types of solutions do you provide as NÜVE with which products?

Mizyal Hergül: Our company is one of the country's leading organizations in laboratory and sterilization technology manufacturing. Our products were designed and developed for use in many different areas. Clinical laboratories, medical research, biotechnology, agricultural research laboratories, veterinary science, food, beverage and dairy products industry, chemicals, automotive, defense, aviation, ceramics, water and pharmaceutical industry are the sectors where NÜVE products are heavily used. With our broad product range, we can offer as a single supplier all basic laboratory equipment needed in a laboratory. At the same time, with our widespread dealer and service network across the country and world, we are always by our customers' side. Beril İzgin: Our initial motivation was that most of the equipment used in laboratories at that time was being sourced from abroad. Over the past two years, with great effort, we have set up production lines and begun manufacturing our products in series using an assembly line system. With the pandemic, we have contributed to localization efforts, which became important for all countries, to reducing our dependence on exports abroad, to the promotion of Turkish products and Turkey globally, to economically closing the current account deficit, to youth education through programs and internship opportunities we offer to students, and to the country's economy through the employment we have created.

Concepts such as digitalization and Industry 4.0 have now become indispensable components of industry. Recently, NÜVE won an important award with the project it developed. Could you provide information about this award and your project? Apart from this project, what types of innovations and R&D activities does NÜVE undertake?

Beril İzgin: On 27 January 2024, at an awards ceremony held under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Technology at Gebze Technology Valley, 74 projects selected across 12 categories competed among 595 applications. Our company earned the second-place award in the "Medium-Sized Enterprises" category. With our project on "achieving complete process transformation using lean manufacturing techniques," we achieved significant performance improvements in digital transformation, continuous improvement and lean manufacturing practices in our production. Mizyal Hergül: In the complete transformation carried out in our factory, we implemented lean manufacturing techniques. Under this scope, we reduced product costs, achieved productivity increases by boosting production units per person, shortened product transition times to enable faster delivery of our equipment to customers, made it possible with flexible production systems to meet customers' demands for different models in shorter timeframes, and increased quality product manufacturing by establishing on-site quality systems. As a result of all these, our company's competitiveness in domestic and foreign markets has increased, and alongside this, the automation infrastructure we use in the factory has also been enhanced, making significant progress in production technology. With improvements made as part of the project, a more manageable system was created. The conveyor system, specially designed for the factory's needs and installed in the assembly section, made it possible to fully integrate the other production departments. With improvements made in internal logistics systems and supply chain processes, adaptation of assembly lines was achieved. With communication and monitoring systems of high technology level installed on the assembly lines, intelligent tracking systems were created. Beril İzgin: In recent years, we have invested significantly in information technologies during the functional revision process of our equipment, and we continue to do so. We have made the necessary investments in both physical space and human resources to expand our R&D department. We have also completed the installation of a new R&D laboratory and climatic testing room that will enable us to conduct a 360° evaluation of our equipment.

Could you provide information about NÜVE's strategies for the future? What types of investments are you planning to make in the near and long term? What criteria do you prioritize when making these plans?

Mizyal Hergül: Production, human resources and sustainability investments are our non-negotiables. Education of future generations is one of the most important issues for us. Previously, we created an education platform within our organization called "NÜVErsite-Nuversity" and organized educational programs related to our field both at relevant university departments and technical high schools. We have also brought the training delivered through this platform online. Under the platform, we are creating a more comprehensive curriculum for both our dealers and young colleagues studying at university. In this way, we plan to increase the number of trainings we provide and reach more stakeholders through this channel. At the same time, we have set the "UN Sustainable Development Goals" as our reference. We have integrated sustainability into our company's objectives to both ensure the continuity of our company and to fulfill our responsibility in order to leave a better world for future generations. Beril İzgin: Exports have always held great importance in our current and future plans. We currently reach 110 countries in the world. It is a great joy for us to increase the number of countries we export to and reach the corners of the world where we have not previously operated with our equipment. During the past year, we initiated and successfully completed registration work, which is a prerequisite for market entry in different countries where we have not previously had a presence. We are making solid progress towards becoming a more global company by participating in different trade fairs for different sectors. Manufacturing a product to world standards in Turkey is very costly. The insufficient development of the supply industry in our country, our dependence on foreign countries for raw materials, recent global difficulties and delays in raw material and intermediate product supply, and expensive financing are the biggest problems for manufacturers. In such an environment, as a company that attaches great importance to quality, we will continue to invest on the one hand in the materials and production technologies we use in manufacturing, on the other hand in the tools, apparatus and test equipment that need to be used during the period from input control to final control, on the other hand in trained personnel, and on the other hand in compliance with "Occupational and Worker Health Safety and Environmental" regulations. Who is Mizyal Hergül? Mizyal Hergül was born in Ankara and graduated from TED Ankara College. After studying Civil Engineering at METU, he completed a master's degree in Soil Mechanics in the same department. He also holds an MBA degree from METU. After working in the construction sector for 10 years, in 2004 he took on various positions in the company group. Since 2014, he has been working as Board Member and Deputy General Manager of NÜVE A.Ş. Who is Beril İzgin? Beril İzgin was born in Ankara and graduated from TED Ankara College. After completing her university education at Ankara University Faculty of Pharmacy, she obtained an MBA from Bilkent University Faculty of Business Administration. Following her master's education, she began working at NÜVE, the family business. Throughout her 23-year career, she has served in various positions at the factory. Since 2014, she has been serving as Board Chairman and General Manager of NÜVE A.Ş. Interview: B. Serhat Cengiz