High wire Elsan Elektrik

high wirE Quality and reliability are the cornerstones of Elsan Elektrik’s success over more than three decades. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to director Osman Ozgur Gul to learn more.

AS the flagship company of Turkey’s Bereket Enerji Grup Holding (BEG), Elsan Elektrik has grown steadily and successfully since it was founded in 1980. The last eight years in particular have seen intensive investment, solidifying Elsan’s market leading position in its core business of aluminium wires, both in its domestic Turkish market and across Europe. Elsan is also enjoying considerable growth in North America and Canada, with its well-deserved reputation for quality wires allowing for strong growth.

Director Osman Ozgur Gul spoke to Industry Europe to explain more about how Elsan Elektrik has grown strategically over the past 37 years. “Our market share has gradually grown over the years. Our main aim has always been to produce high quality material for our A+ customers. As a solid, stable company, we have always focused on ensuring that our customers receive the best product; we offer significant assurance with our aluminium wires. All our customers know that Elsan aluminium wires are high quality materials that will support their business and perform to their high expectations.” meeting expectations

Today, Elsan’s production capacity has reached 50,000MT and it has a turnover of USD 100 million, which represents three per cent of BEG’s turnover. Elsan employs around 350 people across its three facilities, which together makes Elsan one of Europe’s biggest wire manufacturers. Mr Gul continued, “We produce high quality standard wires that are designed and developed to meet the highest expectations of our customers. We do not generally offer customised products so it means that we can be fully committed to manufacturing the precise aluminium wires that are generally required across the industries of our customers.”

It is this high quality, standard product approach that characterises the continuous success of Elsan. Mr Gul explained, “This is why our R&D department is focused on the product, the aluminium wires. It’s not about innovation, but rather it’s about processing, about improving, about getting the best result for our customers. Increasing quality and productivity is always the direction we are heading in; it’s why customers choose us again and again.”

In fact, Mr Gul told Industry Europe that the company refers to its customers as ‘partners’, highlighting its mutually-beneficial long-term relationships. He continued, “Our sector is not easy to break into and it is certainly not easy to gain, satisfy and keep long-term customers. That is very much why we refer to our customers as partners; we rely on their honesty with us in order to guarantee that we produce the exact aluminium wires that their productivity depends on. It takes time and dedication to create these long-term relationships. We now supply partners in over 30 countries worldwide and we’re proud to say that working with Elsan is very appealing for customers; we try to make it easy to work with us. Our products are reliable, high quality and exactly what our customers need.” Good locations

The three Elsan Elektrik facilities are based in Europe, with the two main plants located in Denizli in Turkey and the third in Hagen, Germany, following its acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in Heermann GmbH, which Mr Gul described as ‘a deeply rooted company with more than 115 years of experience in the magnet wire industry’ – a clearly complementary strategic acquisition.

The product portfolio at Elsan Elektrik includes enamelled round and flat copper wires, enamelled round aluminium wires, paper tape-covered wires and litz wires. Both the copper and aluminium products vary from super-fine to thick sizes and diameters. The most popular sectors for the use of these products are electrical motors, transformers and white goods, with Elsan working with many of the leading names in these industries.

Mr Gul noted that the ongoing investment and focus on quality means that Elsan’s success is set to continue into its next chapter. He concluded, “Some of our suppliers and partners have been with us since the very start of our operation and we have strong bonds with our partners both new and established. We look forward to seeing our company stay on top of the market through growth, reliability and providing high quality products that helps our partners’ productivity. In terms of sales capacity, we aim to grow by around 10 per cent year on year for the next three years, with the majority of this growth being organic. Our large investments over the previous years are certainly coming to fruition now and we will also still be making some investments. As a company that has long enjoyed being at the top of our market, we are certainly expecting to continue being the leading player in the aluminium and copper wire industry, particularly as we will continue with our passion for moving up, growing, planning...we don’t expect to stand still!” n