Interview with Ahmet Kaya, Founder and General Manager of Onur Makina

  We had an enjoyable conversation with Ahmet Kaya, Founder and General Manager. Kaya provided information about the company's founding process and vision.

Could you briefly tell our readers about yourself, your education and professional background?

I am 31 years old and a graduate of Şişli Anadolu Vocational High School, Electronics Department. After my studies, I interned at a company working in electrostatic powder coating machines and subsequently began working there. I was admitted to Bahçeşehir University and enrolled, but chose business and commerce over formal education and continued working at the company. Until 2005, I worked directly in production, moved into technical service, and subsequently provided spare parts service in the field, finally becoming the Anatolian side regional manager in 2006. I then completed my military service. After that, I worked at the same company for a while longer. Subsequently, I founded Onur Makina and continued my professional career. I am married with two children, a son and a daughter. I arrive at work at 8 a.m. and adjust the scope of technical service and spare parts until 10 a.m. From 10 a.m. to noon, I document production work and sales orders, then go out to the field. After my vehicles return from technical service, I personally inspect them. I never skip this, though of course there are exceptions; I also engage in social activities, political work, and activities in associations and foundations under NGO frameworks. In our region of Kağıthane, where I have lived since birth, we are active in social initiatives. We have Şirintepe Sports Club, where I serve as Vice President. We are raising children with 12 categories and are happy about it. Beyond this, 15,000 people from Gümüşhane live in Kağıthane, and I also participate in association management activities there.

Could you provide information about Onur Makina's founding process and the stages it has gone through to reach today?

I founded Onur Makina in 2006 with a technical service kit as my personal venture. At that time, being the regional manager, I had around 80 companies in my region and approximately the same number of customers on the European side with whom I was in contact. Working alone day and night in the field, I provided technical service and managed my business. A year later, we hired our first employee. Subsequently, starting with technical service, we moved into spare parts sales. However, we took very careful steps in this area. We did not source spare parts from elsewhere; we made arrangements with a mold maker, had molds created, produced through injection molding, and sold the products we manufactured. We did not take the easy route; we took risks. We managed to carry out our production with credit and loans from family members. In this way, we currently have at least fifteen spare parts molds. We entered the field through spare parts mold production and spare parts sales and achieved significant profits. We reinvested these profits into our capital and began acquiring distributorships in 2009. We quickly entered the field by taking on distributorships for two domestic brands and a sub-distributorship for machines from Germany. During this process, we also began increasing our employee count. We hired another employee; I handled sales, one colleague performed technical service, another colleague oversaw production. After 2010, we expanded into Anatolia; personally, I traveled from Samsun to Rize and began granting distributorships for spare parts and repair services. From Samsun through Tokat, Çorum, Merzifon, Amasya, Sivas, and Kayseri, I made monthly visits throughout Anatolia, conducting product sales and providing service.

"Companies in Anatolia lack technical service; they are far removed from powder coating machines"

They were satisfied with visits from an expert. Because, for example, their factory's machine was not working and they could not paint panels, and I provided this technical service to all of them, solving their problems and making them happy. Entering 2012, we hired another employee and transferred this region to that colleague. Between 2012 and 2014, providing these services, we managed to make the name Onur Makina and my personal name known in the Turkish market. While doing this, we also professionalized through our websites. In addition to our company website, we also established elektrostatikmarket.com. Through this site, users can easily find and purchase any product and spare parts. Through all these efforts, we proved ourselves in the field both in technical service and in product and spare parts sales. We can source all types of materials for both domestic and foreign products. In 2014, following all this work ethic, we were fortunate to acquire shares of the machine company we represented. It was a company with three partners; they witnessed our financial capacity and the transaction took place. However, by financial capacity, I do not mean very large sums, but rather our reinvestment of earnings into our own business. In this way, I purchased 30% of the company's shares. Again, by 2016, having previously purchased 30% of the company, I purchased an additional 20%, giving me signature authority. And of course, while doing this, with considerable support from Artkim Group, we participated in a trade fair, took our place at the 2015 PaintExpo fair. We secured space at the fair comparable to companies much older than us in a broad area. The reason I mention this is to emphasize that we made these decisions without fear and with conviction. For example, the company we purchased, despite being a 16-year-old firm, had never participated in a fair before or advertised in any magazine. We did these things because we are professionalizing. We delegated accounting to a consulting firm, increased our employee count to 7, with 2 colleagues in production and 3 colleagues in technical service, all of whom were provided with vehicles. Our other company is called Elars Elektronik, where 7 people also work. Between our two companies with a combined 17 people, we accomplish considerable work with a small workforce.

What sectors does Onur Makina primarily serve and what types of products does it provide? Could you provide information about Onur Makina's products, brands and services?

We divide our products and services into two categories: Powder Coating Machines and Wet Coating Machines. However, in the Wet Coating Machines field, we only manufacture coating booths. This line is relatively more difficult and challenging. But in the powder coating field, particularly in Istanbul, we are one of the leading companies in the market; we cannot keep up with demand. When my vehicle arrives here in the morning, the technical service list and maintenance and repair list come before him and he goes out to the field. When we send a team for marketing and sales, we don't have a team behind them to provide technical service. We have to perform marketing and sales with our technical service team as well. Unfortunately, we experience difficulties in training new employees in the sector. The younger generation is somewhat more comfort-oriented, preferring to work in a shopping mall rather than in industry. Because of this, we are not entering large-scale operations for now. We only perform spare parts manufacturing, sales, and technical service for electrostatic powder coating machines, in the powder coating field. We have Mikron and Statek brands. We have obtained trademark registrations for these brands; we pay attention to them while professionalizing, using our own registered brand. We use the brand name on the equipment and the trademark patent on spare parts.

What kind of work do you do in the areas of innovation and R&D as Onur Makina?

We are in our 10th year in the sector, and during this time we have always acted with tomorrow in mind. However, we are so busy that we have currently only engaged in R&D activities focused on improving our existing products. For example, how our products could last longer and how far we could extend their lifespan. We do this by examining feedback from our customers and finding solutions. In addition, we source our raw materials from overseas geographies such as Russia, Iran, and the Netherlands. When we experience difficulties in this supply process, we perform the necessary technical work to prevent negative impacts on our products. We have not needed much grant or support so far because we carry out our production within our own organization. We have also not been able to follow these opportunities due to our work intensity somewhat. But now, with our professionalization process, we have made arrangements with a consulting firm to handle these matters on our behalf. For example, we just brought a colleague onto our team, and the government pays his social health insurance for one year and pays us TRY 1,300 monthly at TRY 50 per day. By bringing this colleague into our organization, we strengthened production. At the same time, we will get 50% of our catalog costs reimbursed from KOSGEB, and in 2017 we will participate in the fair organized by Artkim Group, covering 30% of our expenses. Step by step, we have started using these opportunities as well.

Could you tell us about your domestic and international sales activities? Which regions in Turkey and abroad do you primarily sell what types of products to?

We have 12 distributors in Turkey, with our distributors' concentrated region being Ankara. We have our brands, Mikron and Statek, and can also produce with the producer company's label at their request. We have distributorships in Ankara, Izmir, Antep, Kayseri, Konya, Adana, and throughout every region of Anatolia. Internationally, we particularly have distributors in Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Romania, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran in Tehran, and Iraq in Erbil. Unfortunately, our door to Syria has closed, and we very much hope to open it, as there is a serious market there. The market size in this region has also grown; as you know, this geography has experienced significant destruction. Our sales to Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia all used to go through Syria. We had significant sales to this region, which was a great profit for us as manufacturers, and we must also account for the spare parts sales from this. We hope to open this door again.

Could you provide information about Onur Makina's approach to occupational health and safety?

We take occupational safety very seriously. With respect to our employees, we absolutely initiate social insurance procedures starting with hiring. When our vehicles go out to the field, we monitor them through vehicle tracking. While tracking vehicles, we both maintain self-control over our employees and actually maintain control over our employee's safety. We also perform monitoring through cameras at our company, securing our occupational safety through this control. After that, an occupational safety company monitors us; the safety of our machines and whether our working colleagues fully comply with safety procedures are all monitored. Our work falls in the low-risk category; we could only say a drill and a compressor. When we go to factories in the field, we fully comply with their safety measures. We are a 10-year-old company and have not had a single accident thus far.

Could we learn your thoughts on Turkey's industrial paints, coatings and surface treatment sectors? What do you think are Turkey's advantages and disadvantages in these sectors?

We are doing well in the field in Turkey, but we have dependence on abroad in terms of chemicals and raw materials. Turkish people are hardworking; we love to work and we love to sell. For example, if you search the internet for industrial paints, coatings, surface treatment in Anatolia, you will see many companies selling. I could also sell, but I did not take the easy route; I turned to manufacturing, wondering what I can add to our country. Look, in China 1.5 billion people are employed; as we manufacture here, we provide employment in our country and eliminate our dependence on abroad. Our country and our people have the capacity to do this.

What criteria are prioritized when developing Onur Makina's investment plans? Does Onur Makina have investment plans for the coming periods, and if so, what are they?

My brother also works at our company, as does my cousin. We are like a family business, but once inside the door, everyone is conscious of their task responsibility. I arrive at my work early in the morning, we ensure all our colleagues work with the same consciousness, and we instill responsibility in them. We follow our work and record everything in writing. I personally track all processes through 3 separate schedules for production, technical service, and sales. In this context, I evaluate the separate potential of all three areas. By acquiring our other partner's 30% share, by mid-2017 we will have completed the unity of two companies. Our plan after 2017 is to merge the two companies and acquire a factory area with a dominant technical service dimension. We plan to perform manufacturing, sales, and technical service all under one roof in approximately 1,000 square meters of space that has both manufacturing and technical service. Because our employee count is sufficient, our production volume is sufficient. After expanding our space, we aim to increase our international distributorships from 12 to 20, expand our domestic capacity, and by participating in the PaintExpo fair that Artkim Group will organize in 2017, undertake larger projects and continue our path strongly by bringing new products to market.