Ahmet Gecikli
Sales & Marketing Director Ser Mekatronik
Will feature in ITM Istanbul 2022
Ser Mekatronik, founded in 2008, is specialised for providing mechanical and electrical/electronic services, automation system upgrading as well as part repairing and supplying spare parts to textile finishing machines. It also acts as an outsource solution partner to Has Group by means of assembling of machines and providing after sales service activities. It is followed by reconditioning of finishing machines of any brand. Ahmet Gecikli, Sales & Marketing Director of Mekatronik, spoke to Fibre2Fashion about the effects of the pandemic on the Turkish machinery industry, the advantages Ser Mekatronik has being a Turkish machinery company, and strategy to boost demand for its products.
Where does Turkey rank in the world with respect to textile machinery? What are the advantages of being a Turkish machinery company?
After Germany, Italy and China, Turkey stands at the 4th place in the world. We have high quality, latest technology products and take advantage of the Turkish textile industry.
How do you see the major trends that you witnessed during Covid-19 in the textile machinery sector pan out in 2021?
After Covid everybody was investing in knitting. All trends changed; people are wearing more casual cloths now.
With so many events being cancelled around the world due to the pandemic, how have these developments impacted the textile machinery sector? Could you elaborate both in terms of orders (since buyers were so adversely affected) as well as shipments (since supply chains were disrupted)?
Turkey and Uzbekistan are booming. As SER Mekatronik, we sold more than ever! The local market was our main market during this period. The orders from China moved to Turkey, Uzbekistan, Egypt and Kırgızistan is picking up…. Shipments affected us for Asia and Far East, cost of freight increased almost double. The delivery terms of European suppliers were affected due to Covid. 8-9 weeks delivery became 20-22 weeks.
Also the concept of nearshoring is picking up. How does it translate to textile machinery export/import?
For us, this is good. Ever since the pandemic happened, brands/retailers have been heavily hit and are likely to cut down on investments. India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Indonesian markets got affected. Rest is doing good.
What could be your strategy to boost aggregate demand for your machines going ahead?
We are investing and trying to extend our production plant. We are working full capacity and trying to keep our quality and delivery terms intact.
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
