Maktel Makine ve Tel Sanayi A.Ş. Deputy Chairman of the Board Selman Dündar:
As Türkiye’s largest spring manufacturer in its field, MAKTEL continues its high-quality production with over 35 years of experience and expertise. Selman Dündar, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Maktel Makine ve Tel Sanayi A.Ş., stated that 50% of the springs they produce are supplied to the white goods sector and provided information about their operations:
“Recognizing the large-scale spring manufacturing in Türkiye, Maktel’s founders built the first spring machine and began production in 1971 with the establishment of the company.
In 1972, production started at our Kartal facilities, but as these became insufficient, we moved to our current facility in 1990, increasing our production capacity. Since 2004, we have consolidated all our departments at our current facilities in Büyükbakkalköy. With 35 years of experience, Maktel continues to produce springs. With our machine park and expert team, we manufacture the highest quality springs. We meet all kinds of demands in the spring sector, continuously strengthening our technology while obtaining ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications, becoming a company that produces at the highest quality in our field. 50% of the springs we produce are used in the white goods sector, with our largest customers being Vestel and Arçelik. While we sell the majority of our springs in the domestic market, we also have a small amount of exports.
Our spring wire exports account for 3% of our total turnover, but we aim to increase this to 10%. In 2006, we processed 1,200 tons of wire raw material. While 90% of our raw materials were sourced from abroad until recently, thanks to Çelik Halat’s advancements in this area, we have started sourcing raw materials domestically as well. As of today, our raw material imports have decreased by up to 59%. So far, we have participated in around 15 international fairs to boost our exports, including in countries such as Germany, Italy, Egypt, Iran, Portugal, and France.
By strengthening our infrastructure and achieving the required thickness standards, we obtained the necessary certifications and began initiatives to prevent environmental harm. Since we also work with the automotive sector, we comply with all requirements of TS 16949. Our environmental efforts quickly bore fruit, and we received the ‘SME Environmental Award’ organized by ISO within the year.
We ensure the recycling of our waste oils. Recognizing the need to use diesel minimally in production, we consulted with our suppliers and switched to using oil in our production processes. We sent the oils we use to TÜBİTAK for testing, ensuring they are of first-category quality. We have achieved recycling of all oils as much as possible. These measures have led to significant savings in many areas. We are also working with our suppliers and plan to start environmental training programs for them this year. As MAKTEL, we are an environmentally conscious company. There are few companies as sensitive to the environment as we are. Our request from the authorities is to conduct more frequent inspections to increase the number of environmentally responsible companies like ours.
Maktel is a leader in the spring sector. Most companies in the market today have either been founded by or employ people who have worked at Maktel. Our biggest challenge is competing with small-scale firms, often run by just a few people, that operate informally. As long as the state does not address unregistered businesses, it is impossible to prevent the unfair competition created by such informal production.
As Maktel, we aim to increase our capacity. However, due to zoning issues, we sometimes face challenges in expanding. We operate in a 3.5-acre enclosed area within a 20-acre plot. We are unable to build additional facilities on our own land. Even establishing a treatment facility was challenging, and we were only able to do so after convincing authorities of its necessity for the environment. We hope such issues are resolved promptly by the relevant institutions.
Maktel’s target for 2007 is to achieve 10% growth. Barring any economic downturn, we believe we will achieve this growth this year. Our ultimate goal is to continue contributing to our country’s economy by increasing our machine park and production capacity, maintaining our position in the domestic market, and boosting our exports to significant levels.”
