Exporting from Samsun, the strategic port city of the Black Sea, to four continents, Yaşar Group is shooting for the sky with its new factory investment. The company, which is a global player in the production of pre-cleaning, drying, processing and packaging machines in the field of paddy, rice, hazelnuts, nuts and grains, is experiencing the excitement of opening up to new markets with the facility it has built in Samsun with a cost of 200 million TRY.

The company, which has established turnkey facilities with an annual capacity of 300 tons/hour in its factory in Terme, Samsun, will increase this to 750 tons/hour with the new production facility it has built with its own resources. Thanks to its new facility with an increased capacity and service quality, Yaşar Group, which supplies machinery to more than 65 countries, aims to increase this number to 100 by increasing its production capacity by 200 percent.

Seyit Ahmet Polatcan, General Manager of Yaşar Makina Metal Sanayi ve Ticaret Şirketi, within the structure of Yaşar Group, who gave information to Miller magazine about their new investments, stated that the vital importance of the grain and food processing industry was been better understood with the pandemic process and that they decided to increase their production capacity because they could not respond to the demands. Noting that they compete with German and Japanese companies in the sector, Polatcan said, “We want to increase our market share by increasing our production capacity and have a greater say in the sector globally.”

Seyit Ahmet Polatcan, General Manager of Yaşar Makina Metal Sanayi ve Ticaret Şirketi, answered our questions as follows:

Mr. Polatcan, first of all, could you briefly tell us about your company and its activities?

We operate in 6 different sectors such as construction, food, renewable energy, fuel oil, tourism and foreign trade. However, our main field of activity is machinery manufacturing. Yaşar Makine, which started its activities in the manufacturing sector in 1969 with the entrepreneurial service policy it has adopted, currently produces paddy and rice processing machines, hazelnut processing machines, on-vehicle equipment, grain handling, grain drying machines, parboiling and boiler systems, and color sorters in its production facilities established on a 60.000 m2 closed area and 90.000 m2 open area. We offer turnkey solutions to our customers along with the design, manufacturing, construction and assembly stages.

The robust body structure of the machines we produce, the serial operation and the variety of machines with the advanced technology with many different technical features have made us one of the leading companies in the sector. By following the technology, we produce new generation machines and offer them to the world market. We export 70% of our production. Our company, which has been constantly renewing itself since its establishment, today sends machinery to more than 65 countries, primarily Asian, European, Latin American, Middle Eastern, and African countries. 

You have made a sizable investment in Samsun. What drove you on to make such a huge investment decision?

We saw that we had difficulty in responding to the demands in our factory located in Terme, Samsun. As a company that can see new possibilities and chances with a focus on growth, we have decided to increase our field capacity by 100 percent and our production capacity by 200 percent. 

Could you tell us about your new facility?

We will use automatic workbenches integrated with robotic systems in the facility with a closed area of 30 thousand square meters, which we built with our own resources, and we will make our production line faster with belt-type systems. Since we preferred to grow step by step, we could not have fully designed the existing facility in Terme. The new facility, on the other hand, is based entirely on exports and is being established with an automation system. Thus, we will be able to produce more with the current employment. In other words, while we are producing 500 machines per month with 300 people and we will double this production volume with the same employment capacity. Thus, we want to increase our market share in the world and simultaneously our quality standard. Our company, which competes with German and Japanese companies in its sector, has outdistanced its competitors with its production quality. We want to have a greater say in the sector globally by increasing our production capacity. 

What goals did you set for yourself in the sector in conjunction with this state-of-the-art facility?

We aim to increase the number of countries we export to from 65 to 100 in the first 5 years. We export an average of 15 million dollars per year. In the next 5 years, we aim to increase this figure to 50 million dollars. 

Yaşar Makina is known as a company that attaches importance to R&D studies and makes investments in this field. Could you tell us about your vision and work in R&D?

We allocate a remarkable portion of our budget to R&D studies. Before we launch our machinery, lifetime tests and quality controls are carried out. The quality of the product to be processed is tested and standard or special processes based on the product are created to ensure that the final product can be processed in the most efficient way. We launch our products to the market by minimizing the risk of error after the tests we carry out within our own factory for one year. In this context, we have established a rice factory in İpsala, Edirne to conduct the performance, capacity, efficiency and durability tests of the machines in the actual product flow process. 

Can you tell us about your prospering projects that make you proud lately?

Most recently, we have delivered a turnkey paddy and rice processing plant with a capacity of 20 tons/hour in Gönen, Balıkesir. As in the other plants we have commissioned, the satisfaction of our customers with this facility makes us feel the right pride.

What are the features that differentiate you from your competitors in the market? 

We do not have a competitor as a manufacturer in the sector in Turkey. One of the companies operating in this sector puts the mark “Made in Turkey” on the products it imports from China. Another is a company that buys products from abroad and markets them in Turkey. Therefore, we have no competitors.

Which countries/regions do you regard as a potential new market for your company?

Considering the rapid increase in demand for food with population and the rise of the middle class, we consider Southeast Asia and South Asia regions as potential markets. In this context, I can list countries such as Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. 

Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited a turnkey rice mill plant installed by Yaşar Makina in Uzbekistan.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your industry? What kind of change do you observe in the sector?

The pandemic revealed the vital importance of agricultural production, grain industry, and food processing industry. Demand for grain processing machines, paddy and rice processing machines that we produce has increased. During the pandemic, we witnessed that import-dependent countries started to stock grains to secure their food security and tried to diversify their food suppliers. While our sector continues to gain more importance and expand; food safety, sustainability, and digitalization stand out as the subjects that the sector focuses on.