A Tale of Success...

 

Ferkan Yedek Parça ve Makine San. Tic. A.Ş. was incorporated in 1985 by Ünal Özkan in Bursa in a workshop with an area of 435 m². And since the year it was incorporated it has been manufacturing moulded rubber parts. The manufacturing which began with a workshop and a few individuals now continues on an indoor are of 15.000 m² with 120 employees.

It is stated that 70% of its manufacturing is exported to Brazil, Japan, Germany, France, Sourth Africa, Malaysia, Iran and Spain. Furthermore it is underlined that it is the sole supplier of Bosch Brake Systems in Turkey and in a position of one of the 7 global rubber suppliers in the world.  

 

Luck Goes to Those Who are Prepared…

 

Ünal Özkan, the founder and Chairman of Board of Directors of Ferkan A.Ş. started to work in Machine Chemistry Industry Institution in Ankara in 1959 when he was 16 years old as milling cutter operator. He worked in daytime and in the evenings he studied at th Department of High Technician and Mechanical Engineering. In 1975 he left Machine Chemistry Industry Institution as Chief Engineer of Scrutiny and Planning and after working as Engineering Branch Manager for 10 years in a private corporation, he incorporated Ferkan A.Ş. Ünal Özkan who says that luck goes to those who are prepared wanted that his children would select chemical engineering and mechanical engineering which are critical fields in rubber manufacturing as professions and oriented them since elementary school years for making preferences in this direction. Ünal Özkan who states that this desire became a reality with the efforts of his children further says that he feels very happy to continue his business life which he started from the point of “absolute zero” together with his children.

 

We Responded the Increasing Customer Expectations with Advanced Technology…

 

Ünal Özkan states “In order to respond the increasing customer expectations of our date they target at manufacturing rubber part at global quality using the most advanced technology in their field”. The company received IATF 16949 and ISO 14001 certificates for the purpose of exhibiting that he has a global quality threshold.

 

We have Made R & D Laboratory Investment of Totally 850.000 Euros as of 2009…

 

Ferkan which produces sealing components, connection hoses, folding hood, grommet and mechanic felts, targets at increasing the investment it made for R & D Laboratory which was 850.000 Euros to 1 million Euros with the measurement tools it shall add in 2010. Ünal Özkan who states that Ferkan had two brother companies namely Polikan Engineering and Valfkan further states that Polikan provided engineering and R & D support for other companies and that Valfkan manufactured industrial butterfly valves for installation sector.

 

If You Cannot Control What You Do, You cannot Decide What to Do

 

Ünal Özkan who states that the company is one of the first companies that decreased the proportion of PAH, the carcinogen substance in the rubber to zero further expresses that they always considered the philosophy of “if you cannot control what you do, you cannot decide what to do” in R & D approach and therefore they performed all sorts of mechanical and thermal analyses of rubber parts in the R & D Laboratory within their own organization. It is state that the significance paid by the company to R & D was registered with the rewards received as well. In the 2008 Competition of Successful SMEs organized by Istanbul Chamber of Commerce R & D and Technology Reward went to Ferkan. Furthermore it was granted Nationalization Award by Arçelik Dishwasher since the pump sealing felt it made for Arçelik prevented importing from Germany.

 

It was not the Amount which was Significant for us but Being Approved…

 

Ünal Özkan expresses that their purpose to apply for this support with regard to the project of “Developing Low Friction Powder Rubber for Steering Rods and Steering Knuckles and Standardization of Manufacturing” of the company supported by TTGV was not taking the project completely with lower costs. He underlines that being approved by academicians from universities who are specialized in their fields in the project assessment period was a big source of proud and emphasizes that owing to the projects supported by TÜBİ- TAK and TTGV a certain discipline dominated in the company in the project monitoring period. He adds that owing to those supports R & D culture in the company improved.

 

Supports Provided by TÜBİTAK and TTGV Positively Contributes to R & D Development of Turkey…

 

Ünal Özkan who stated that they performed many R & D projects supported by TÜBİTAK and TTGV summarizes the benefits of those supports as follows: “Those supports provided by TÜBİTAK and TTGV played rather significant roles in R & D development of Turkey. Establishing R & D department in an enterprise, allocating source for R & D and sustain those units require a particular effort and investment. The supports provided by TÜBİTAK and TTGV for research, technological development and innovation activities of industrial corporations  was very useful for R & D structuring of Turkey and in the institutionalization of  R & D. I consider that those incitements are efficient and effective in terms of creating mental capital by Turkey as well. Basic values including innovative thought, having new technologies and efficiency in manufacturing are the real decisions of an enterprise and significant trumps in competition which is much more important that direct sales.”

 

Successful Crisis Management

 

Although the shrinkage in the automotive sector coming with the economic crisis influenced other companies, this influenced Ferkan A.Ş. less compared to the overall sector. The company which used its own equity capital in its investments overcame the shrinkage in the markets through a successful crisis management. It started a construction of 8500 m² in 2009 in addition to the existing building. Ünal Özkan says that crises included opportunities as well and explains the significance of evaluating them as follows; “Turkey overcame many crises before this global crisis. This indicates the fact that we are more experienced in crisis management compared to other countries of the world. When the business is intense, the management and employees have myopia of business administration. The crisis period is an opportunity for us to assess them. In the first 2 quarters of 2009 the sector has hard strokes. From 2009 the sector enlivened and accelerated upwards. This progress shall continue in the near future as well. The information from the main automotive sector indicate that the data of 2008 shall be achieved in 2012.” Ferkan A.Ş. which has grown with a speed of approximately 20% every year since its incorporation targets at increasing this speed of growth, creating employment and contributing to the national economy through new  projects.

Source: TTGV Success Tales, 2011