Boyçelik wires itself tight on success and greatness

Ranked 222nd on Turkey’s Top 500 Industrial Establishments, Boyçelik, an affiliated company of Erciyes Anadolu Holding, is the leading raw material supplier of Europe and rest of the world mainly for the mattress and furniture manufacturers.

Boyçelik has been manufacturing and exporting steel wire, spring system and tubes mainly to the mattress and furniture industry. It has a worldwide reputation thanks to its commitment to innovation and quality both in manufacturing and services. We asked, the guides and principles which carried the brand to an internationally acknowledged success and top of the list in Turkey to Feridun Tosun, Export Manager of Boyçelik.

You were ranked 222nd on the list of “Turkey’s Top 500 Industrial Enterprises” that Istanbul Chamber of Commerce announced according to the 2019 survey. What are your main building stones that bring your company to this position and what are your principles?

Feridun Tosun Export Manager of Boyçelik

Boyçelik has been doing its facilities since 2006. When we established this company, our mission was firstly to be one of the main manufacturer companies in the world. In this respect, we started to build up all required technological possibilities such as; machines, R&D and of course the best employees as well.

How do you evaluate the position in your sector? Do you have bigger goals? What are your goals and plans in the short, medium and long terms?

Boyçelik is one of the most outstanding investments of Erciyes Anadolu Holding, an industrial leader in Turkey and all over the world. It is the raw materials supplier of Europe’s largest mattress and furniture manufacturers. Our main sector is firstly mattress industry. We manufacture steel wire, spring system and tubes mainly to this sector. Mattress industry had seemed to be a part of the furniture industry for a long time but it is not true anymore. The mattress industry is definitely a different sector than the furni-

ture industry. If you look at the USA or Europe than you easily can see this difference. Until a few years ago, the bedding industry would be thought as a part of the furniture industry but this idea almost changed here in Turkey as well. When we see this industry, we can see there are a lot of new companies who started to manufacture mattresses separately than the furniture industry. The importance of mattress is increasing day by day. It is very important to have a comfortable mattress for sleeping quality. People started to care more about their health than previous time. We plan mostly long term to reach our targets. Our main target is to be a very well-known company in the world. So, we give priority to our brand. We export more than 80 countries today and would like to reach to all countries in long term. This is our main goal.

2020 was a year of extraordinary developments in the global economy. What strategy did you follow in this negative times? How were you affected by this period and how did you manage the crisis? Our target for 2020 was to grow up around %20 and we were doing great business till the end of March before pandemic occurred. When Covid-19 started to show itself all around the world and here in Turkey

as well, we have seen a big panic in this sector. Many of factories shut down temporarily and some of them even closed completely; many of customers’ orders were canceled or reduced. It was not easy to manage this situation because no one knew what was going to be next. But we already knew it and made a short-term plan with our teams to manage production, customer demands, financial risks, etc. We did those all things within a correct way and finally succeeded this situation. We are now in a wonderful situation and doing great job with our teams. What would you recommend to companies operating in your field to be successful internationally? First of all I can easily say that firms should not make short plans if they want to make investment for internationally and they should not worry about it. They should just be patient and just do it and manage all their required things with a correct time, and place than they are going to see success soon.

How do you evaluate the position of your brand in the global market? What do you owe to your success in export? If your company is thinking globally than the most important thing is the brand but it is not easy to be a well know brand in the world. There are lots of things which you have to do. Firstly, you are going to believe this idea from top management to the lowest employee than you can be successful. Boyçelik is very open and global company and we all know brand is very important and we do all the necessary things to be one of the main brand in this industry.

Polifelt launches second felt production line

Polifelt, been in Politeks, one of the largest suppliers of raw materials of felt manufacturers in Turkey for 20 years, announced it will open the second felt production line in December.

Polifelt General Manager Murat Cengiz, said that when the first felt line, assumed as the first one in Turkey according to the quality and the capacity, begin to produce, the second felt line of which building was decided, will produce on December, declared that their aim is to open 4 felt lines and to be among the best ones.

As the new player of the sector, can we first get information about Polifelt Company? Polifelt entered the non-woven sector in 2020 by the founders of Politeks Fiber Company with its experienced team of experts and all domestic production machines. The current monthly production capacity is 600 tons per month, and it plans to start the second production line at the end of December and reach a monthly capacity of 1200 tons with 2 production lines in 2021. 70 personnel are employed in our company; this number will exceed 100 at the beginning of the year. Politeks fiber has been the largest supplier of raw materials producers felt in Turkey for 20 years.

We know that felt is a very old product; can you talk about the history of felt? Felt has been used as a spring protector especially in the

furniture industry in our country for about 40 years. It is also widely consumed in the automobile and white goods sector. It has been used as an insulation product in the construction sector in recent years.

“It is only one in Turkey in terms of quality and capacity”

We know that you also produce domestic machines for felt production. You will also add a new line. Can you give detailed information on this subject? Buying machines to be used in felt production from abroad requires a lot of budget. In addition, our preference is for the domestic machine, as the supply period is long. With the decision taken by Politeks fiber partners, we decided to make the felt line completely local with engineers and team who have served in the sector for a long time. It was decided to make the first felt line in Kayseri. 6 months as a period ending manufacturing and assembly have its production and assembly have been finished in 6 months and began to produce, and also is the only one in Turkey in terms of both quality and capacity are considered only in Turkey. We decided to produce the second felt line when the first felt line was put into production. Production has started with engineers and their team, in our factory and 60 % of it is completed. We are planning to start production in December. In addition, our goal is to establish 4 felt lines (2400 tons / month) and become the leading company, leading the sector.

Murat Cengiz Polifelt General Manager

The usage areas of the felt are very wide. Which are your target markets? We operate in markets such as furniture, beds and sofas. After achieving the capacity and suc-

cess we target in this market, we aim to be a strong and reliable supplier in automotive and white goods markets. It will give us happiness to hear the Polifelt brand in the following years.

If felt is also considered as a recyclable product, it prevents substitute products, can this be seen as an economic support for the sector, and should the use of products be increased? It forms a very good market in this sector as the felt is produced from recycling, textile waste, carpet waste and similar products. This provides employment in the sector, and the best part is that it prevents pollution of the environment. Since it is environmentally friendly, the use of felt consumption should be increased.

How many types of felt do you have to produce, will you have innovation products in the future? We will have innovation products; we began to study on this topic. Our currently felt products are;

• Soft felt • Hard felt • Ultra hard felt • Felt with interlining • White felt • Felt under carpet • Nonflammable felt

As the names behind the Polifelt brand, where do you position the future of your company? The Polifelt brand will be

among the best in the industry in the future. Our main goals are to reach more capacity, to become a better quality and reliable brand, to provide more employment, and to provide foreign currency inflow to our country by exporting to more countries.

“We ship felt to about 30 countries”

You work for domestic and foreign markets, what is the rate in this? To which countries do you mainly ship your products in foreign markets? We have a current capacity of 600 tons. We are sending approximately 45 % of this figure abroad the rest is sent as pressed to many cities in Turkey. In the foreign markets, we mainly export felt to major European countries such as Romania, Czechoslovakia, Poland, England, Ireland, Bulgaria and Macedonia. We ship certain amounts of felt to approximately 30 countries. Our goal is to give more focus to abroad in the future.

Where do you see the future of the mattress industry and what should the industry do for a rising momentum?

As the world population increases, the mattress industry is increasing day by day in line with the supply and demand ratio. This situation increases the consumption of felt in our industry. As a company, we find the future of the mattress industry very positive. As sector our firm’s principle will be always • Reliable supplier • Expert staff • Timely supply.

Heimtextil presents the 2021/2022 trends

With the overarching theme “Nothing New, Everything New”, Heimtextil launches the motto of the trend season 21/22 and provides an outlook on the design topics for the international trade fair for home and contract textiles, taking place from 12 to 15 January 2021 in Frankfurt am Main.

Together with the Heimtextil Trend Council, the management established a trend forecast for the coming season and presented it live via an online conference on 1 September 2020 from Frankfurt am Main. Trend Council members Anja Bisgaard Gaede from SPOTT trends & business, Anne Marie Commandeur from stiljinstituut amsterdam and Kate Franklin and Caroline Till from London studio FranklinTill shared their insights into the future of the industry and created a vision for the trend theme “Nothing New, Everything New”. The subsequent design topics are already brought to life in the trend book, which is available now. In terms of trends, this season’s highlight is the comprehensive presentation offering during Heimtextil in Hall 3.0. For the first time in Heimtextil’s history, SPOTT trends & business from Denmark directs all trend activities.

“Nothing New, Everything New” For many years, the lifestyle industry has asked “what is new this season?” Newness and cultural erosion are core drivers of lifestyle products, and the foundation of this began in the 20th century when shopping shifted from necessity-driven to pleasure-driven, and consumer products were no longer made to last a lifetime. Now is the time for a new perception of new itself, as both consumers and the industry are beginning to change existing systems and ways of working in different ways. Welcome to “Nothing New, Everything New”.

Crisis as a driver of innovation The first two decades of this millennium brought several challenges for industry and trade – above all, the current coronavirus pandemic. But crises are also drivers of innovations. In the textile industry, digitalisation and sustainability are currently omnipresent innovation topics. The coronavirus pandemic ensures that both topics are becoming even more important in the home textile industry. Heimtextil Trends 21/22 provide an overview of the status quo of those developments. In addition, visitors of the Trend Space can look forward to a presentation of the new colours, materials and designs. Four areas showcase the collective trends: “Repurpose”, “Rewild”, “Reinforce” and “Revive”.

New materials on a sustainable basis After its premiere in January 2020, the Future Material Library returns to Heimtextil in 2021, with FranklinTill presenting a new curated collection of exciting material innovations from around the world. The Future Materials Library celebrates experimental approaches, new materials and revolutionary thinkers who are creating a blueprint for a new model of production.

Sustainably designed Trend Space Designed by Danish space design studio MODUS A/S together with SPOTT trends & business, the 2021 Trend Space embodies the overarching theme with its commitment to the Heimtextil Material Manifesto in repurposing materials during build. The task is to produce as little waste as possible, to use recyclable materials and thus keep the ecological footprint as low as possible.

Health and safety precautions Overall, the Trend Space design adheres to vigilant health and safety considerations. Attendees will have full ability to maintain a safe distance from others, with the option of attending trend tours and lectures that meets the official COVID-19 regulations from authorities.

Heimtextil Trends 2021/2022 Overview

Repurpose Repurpose is not a passing trend. Rather, it is a way of changing the product development narrative within the textiles industry, shifting from creating original textiles to curating existing textiles to form new visual expressions. Unlike the traditional design process which starts with an idea, Repurpose starts with considering what can be made from existing fabrics. From creation to curation, it gives existing textiles a new purpose and cherishes what’s already made.

Rewild Rewilding is the act of returning nature back to its original wild state, yet the trend Rewild goes beyond returning to nature. It is not about making nature authentic, but rather understanding nature’s genuine wisdom. In the urban and postmodern world, generations have largely lost connection to the surrounding ecology. This has significant influence on how individuals use and understand the ecosystem they live in. From authentic to genuine, Rewild means rediscovering nature’s resources and applying these in a modern context, delivering on sustainable or even regenerative solutions. The visual and textile expressions of the Rewild trend

focus on directions like nature’s lab, Indigenous, wild and basic living.

Reinforce Resilient expression and Brutalist architecture are key elements in the Reinforce trend. To reinforce is to make something stronger. Longevity is a key influence on colours, materials and design. Reinforce has a simple and bold Scandinavian mood with a resilient, honest and minimalistic look. From short-lived to longevity, Reinforce is about visual and compositional longevity within textiles and materials. It draws inspiration from how Scandinavian design merges design durability with pared back functionality. This approach, proven over time, adds heavy and enduring materials to create visual resilience.

Revive

Reflecting youthful activism within our present perspective, attitude and behaviour toward our world of “stuff”, Revive is an exploration of creativity. With a focus on achieving greater emotional satisfaction through the process of creating rather than on the result, no rules apply to the mending, processing, learning and experimenting in Revive. From result to process, Revive is to feel, sense and reconnect with human skills. It revives and honors the intangible state of flow that occurs while creating as opposed to focusing on the final object. Once a household practice, the act of repairing is now seen as creative method. The Revive trend subsequently focuses on process, modern mending and experimentation.

An innovative R&D technology product from Aksa Akrilik: Aksa Akrilik launches its textile product with permanent antimicrobial effect

Aksa Akrilik, the world’s largest acrylic fiber producer, has added yet another line to its innovative efforts. Developed in the R&D center after extensive research, the product “Everfresh” will bring a breath of fresh air to the industry. Aksa Akrilik General Manager Cengiz Taş stated that the textile products used in many different fields will stand out with their innovative features, and emphasized that there is no example in the world matching the features and cost-effectiveness of this product. Aksa Akrilik’s textile product “Everfresh” offers a solution to consumers’ hygiene expectations with its permanent antimicrobial properties and stands out by being environment-friendly and contains no harmful chemicals to human health. Thanks to the zinc ion technology and by being trapped inside the product during its production, Everfresh provides strong antimicrobial effects, and prevents harmful bacteria, mold and fungi formation. The fact that zinc ion technology, the active ingredient that gives Everfresh its antimicrobial effect, is contained in the fiber, ensures that the antimicrobial feature is permanent, while not causing damage to the skin during or after use. On the other hand, it is stated that the antimicrobial properties introduced using silver in similar products are more costly, and they have harmful effects on human health and nature.

In addition to the mask that has become compulsory due to the coronavirus pandemic, Everfresh can also be used in clothes such as thermal underwear, socks, jeans, shirts, baby products and active

Cengiz Taş General Manager of Aksa Akrilik

clothing. It is also possible to use in home textile products such as hand-knitted products, pillows and quilt covers, bedding, carpets, blankets and towels.

Permanent antimicrobial property With its thermal insulation, vapor permeability, air permeability and quick drying properties, Everfresh stands out with its resistance to wear and aging and offers endless washing durability for all products. Even after dozens of washing, the product does not lose its strong antimicrobial properties.

No bad odor on clothes With its antimicrobial properties, Everfresh technology prevents the bacteria that cause bad odor from arising in clothes. Keeping socks, underwear, thermal underwear, daily clothes and performance products dry, Everfresh eliminates bad odors and makes users feel cleaner and fresher for much longer. Everfresh reduces the need for frequent washing in clothes and supports the use of less water and energy while also extending the product life.

“Will set an example to the world” Aksa Akrilik General Manager Cengiz Taş stated that Everfresh has a wide range of usage advantages thanks to its antimicrobial properties, and added that there is no product similar to this new R&D product, which was introduced to the global textile industry, thanks to its usefulness, special features and cost-effectiveness. Taş stated that silver is used in other products with similar features to Everfresh, which results in a higher cost and that the effects of these products on human health and nature were known. Taş underlined that Everfresh’s zinc ion technology not only reduced costs but also made a product suitable for health. Taş said, “Everfresh is one of the newest members of the Aksa Akrilik family. We aim to change the user habits with the convenience we offer consumers with Everfresh. With its antimicrobial properties, we offer solutions for increased hygiene due to the pandemic. We developed a pioneering product that created its own market as a result of the meticulous efforts of our experienced R&D team. A first with the technology used in its production, Everfresh is getting very positive feedbacks from the industry. We believe that the demand from the market for Everfresh, offering users a comfortable and hygienic experience, will further increase in the coming days.”

Ümit Makina didn’t walk, but ran…

With our belief that any crisis can be turned into an opportunity, the need for an emotional perspective is indisputable in this period when realism has peaked in order to manage the process correctly. Together with Covid-19, we dedicated our priority to working in a safe and healthy way in order to turn our face to power. In this sense, the measures we took at the beginning of the pandemic process, ensured that the production continuity could be maintained for a long time, and that our shipments could arrive on time without interruption. At such times, it is necessary to bring your emotional perception to the forefront as well as professional and a little academic thinking. The reason for this is to ensure that the stones stuck on your feet do not drop you while you are traveling, and to be able to stay balanced in all directions. Covid-19 was the unpleasant surprise of 2020, unfortunately. Despite the shock caused by Covid-19 in all directions, Ümit Makina continued to walk with faith. During the period when the borders

were closed, our orders were delivered to our customers on time. Only our technicians had to wait for the flights to open. The biggest problem for us was the accumulation in the installation of our machines. The biggest factor to be able to cause the production rate to drop was incidents within the factory. We have seen the benefit of taking this precaution as soon as the pandemic begins. We made an emergency action plan for the pandemic like the earthquake.

Ümit Makina is a big family with its employees. Each staff member is a part of this family with their spouses, children, mothers and fathers. The pandemic reminded us once again how important it is to feel this way. The importance of the health of every member of your family in terms of controlling the process has emerged even more. At this point, we delivered the regular staff Covid-19 action plan made in the factory to the families. The fact that the safe chain against Covid-19 is so strong, the tests performed at routine intervals ensured that the disease could not enter our institution for a long time and could be kept under control with a limited number of people in the future. And production continued uninterrupted. Ümit Makina did not walk but ran.

In our foreign relations, it is very possible to understand the feedback of the importance of giving the message that we are here, we are by your side, making them feel that we are accessible as usual, with the rising graphic in our sales. In such a period, you can provide a great reliability and continuity energy to be able to sell and call sales as export. It is another aspect of working

through the period in a health way to work from home. At least, it was right method to make sales operations from the house instead of the office to continue customer relations and in order to increase the performances of the motivations of our workers. With these radical measures, we,

Ümit Makina, took, today are proud to contribute to the rising graph of exports in Turkey.

In this period when fairs, oneto-one meetings and customer visits are interrupted, it is more important than ever to

say that we are here. It was necessary to answer the question of why Ümit Makina is in relation to this subject, again and again, insistently. A bed manufacturer is the person who controls the quality of human life by shaping sleep quality. Getting people ready for the day from sleep in the best way is the mattress manufacturer’s endless pursuit of comfort and perfection. The goals of providing the most comfortable and productive sleep allow the architect to build houses, the scientist to continue to explore

knowledge, and the doctor to continue saving lives. And such a noble purpose requires the most ideal machine; the machines that will not leave you in the middle of an important production period; the machines to produce the most comfortable mattresses, the machines to tightly wrap the beds leaving the factory to reach their new homes.

However, with these quality machines, a reliable and sensitive, long-term service can be provided. The machine supplier should always be a trust and safety provider ready to send technical support teams, regardless of which country the mattress manufacturer is located in. As being in the global market means adapting to all time zones, the supplier must be ready for phone calls and emails 24/7. In the fear and panic of Covid, we asked, answered and brought forward the questions which will make the companies feel safe for the companies that postpone investment. After purchasing your machines, will you be able to contact your machine supplier at any time despite Covid? Will you be able to receive quality controls and services of the machine you will purchase despite Covid? In the event of a breakdown, will the supplier’s top representatives be just a phone call away despite Covid? Will you be able to encounter the same technician regardless of how much time has passed by establishing a personal relationship with all health guarantees despite Covid? Despite Covid, Ümit Makina will always be with you. That was the message. Ümit Makina defines the quality in the mattress machinery sector. With our decades of experience and machines in 95 different countries, we proudly represent the best production and support that the industry can offer. We are honored to be part of any mattress manufacturer’s pursuit of the most comfortable sleep and will always continue to redefine mattress manufacturers’ expectations of the industry’s best. For the 2021 growth target of Ümit Makina, we continue to walk without losing our belief that we can reach our right and left by looking forward and working without seeing the negativities. Remember, even though it’s hard to believe, at some point, normality will begin and our industry will undergo change. Be ready for change when it is finished, Ümit Makina will always be online and ready for change in order to be able to move forward together as the sector comes alive.