The project launch meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Hasan Büyükdede, Rector of Ankara Social Sciences University Prof. Dr. Mehmet Barca, Secretary General of Ankara Development Agency Arif Şayık, Chairman of the Board of Directors of OSTİM Orhan Aydın, Secretary General of MAKFED Zühtü Bakır, Ankara Provincial Director of Industry and Technology Vehbi Konarılı, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Construction Machinery Distributors and Manufacturers Association (İMDER) Merih Özgen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Construction and Industrial Machinery Cluster (İŞİM) Halide Rasim, and numerous cluster member companies.
MAKFED General Secretary Zühtü Bakır provided information about the state of the machinery sector in the world and in Turkey. Bakır said, “There are 13,371 enterprises in the machinery sector in Turkey. It is predominantly composed of SMEs. In OSTİM, micro-scale businesses are doing successful work in the machinery sector.”
Bakır, noting that the productivity problem in the machine manufacturing sector can be seen in the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) data, said: “Since the Ankara business and construction machinery sector stood out in the Ankara Development Agency's study, we chose Ankara as the pilot city for the project.”
İŞİM Board Chairperson Halide Rasim emphasized the need to prevent unfair competition and use resources more efficiently, stating, "With the lean manufacturing training programs we have initiated, İŞİM aims to prioritize efficiency in the sector."
Merih Özgen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of İMDER (Turkish Machinery Manufacturers Association), emphasized the need to closely follow modern technology in machine production. Özgen stated: “We need to combine modern technology with our own production methods, prioritize branding, and expand into new markets. We need to pursue ways to utilize our existing capacity more efficiently.”
“Both cooperation and competition are possible”
OSTİM Board Chairman Orhan Aydın emphasized the importance of sectoral clustering efforts for competition and development. Aydın stated, “We wholeheartedly believe in clustering activities. We have seen in our own work, as well as in the work of the European Union, that clustering is an important tool for development. It can be both cooperation and competition; that is the philosophy of clustering. We wholeheartedly believe that competing in clusters, and the tradition of the Ahi brotherhood which has roots in our culture, is fruitful.”
Ankara Development Agency Secretary General Arif Şayık stated, “Ankara is one of the cities with the highest human capital. The university-industry collaboration ecosystem is concentrated around state support. When the support ends, it disintegrates. As an agency, we have tried to establish the ecosystem we believe in. We also provide our financial support towards the commercialization of projects.”
"Efficiency plays a critical role"
Ankara Social Sciences University Rector Prof. Dr. Mehmet Barca stated that productivity is always important for competition. Barca said, “Productivity is a timeless competitive tool that has lasted for 200 years. Productivity based on management skills plays a critical role. This project emphasizes collaborative learning and initiative. Partnership within competition and competition within partnership are important.”
Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Hasan Büyükdede stated, “Productivity has ultimately shifted to a methodology of ‘how many units can I produce with minimum human resources?’ Newly established production lines are now being built with productivity in mind. Older systems can be transformed to be more efficient.”
Following the opening speeches, industry representatives held a productivity workshop.
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