cover story
Family business
Continuity and other positive attributes associated with a long-established , multigenerational family businesses such as SMS TORK are very helpful in building customer trust . But there is at least one other great advantage of being a familyrun company , as Mr . Kaya explains and illustrates . “ We can make decisions very fast ! If a customer is looking for a partner to design and manufacture a new product , we as a family can immediately assess the feasibility and profitability of the project . By contrast , in highly complex corporate world , the decision-making process can be painfully slow . Once we found ourselves competing with two of the largest players in our line of business . A major German OEM urgently needed a sample of a special solenoid valve , which had to be delivered in a matter of days . Requiring assessments and approvals from multiple departments , the other two companies failed to meet the deadline , whereas we sent the sample and won the contract .”
Two generations of the Kaya family . Pictured from left to right are : Fatih ( ERP Project Manager ), Enver ( Chairman ), Elif ( Marketing Specialist ), and Ömer ( General Manager ).
And we should not forget that due to the energy price crisis , shipping costs have skyrocketed in the last year or so . Thanks to the geographically strategic location of Turkey , shipping from Turkey to Europe and North America is both faster and cheaper . So , when you combine all these advantages , you can see that we find ourselves in a powerful position .”
Lean manufacturing and digitalisation
In an effort to increase the efficiency of its operations , SMS TORK is investing in modernising its manufacturing system as well as in digitalising various processes . Mr . Kaya elaborates : “ In the last three years , we have transitioned to cellular manufacturing , which is much more efficient compared to how we operated in the past , thanks to a greater flow of the production and assembly
“
Along with our product range , quality and flexibility , price competitiveness and fast delivery are what gives us a cutting edge .”
Tailor-made solutions
SMS TORK has an R & D team of 15 engineers , who can adapt existing company products to meet specific customer requirements as well as to develop new solutions from scratch . Such capabilities provide the company with a lot of flexibility that can open doors to new business opportunities . Mr . Kaya recounts two examples of how going the extra mile has paid off : “ For a French company , we recently developed a new type of solenoid valve that they needed for one of their projects . Having fully met their expectations , they are now a regular client , which means new business for us . A couple of year ago , we had a similar experience domestically . In Turkey , many cars run on LPG , so when you go to the filling station , every pump contains a solenoid valve . Shortly after we had developed solenoid valves for LPG dispensers , a company approached us with a request to develop a special , explosion-proof coil for safety reasons . We said that we would make no extra charge for the development work , and they promised us to buy the product if meeting the requirements . In the end , they were happy with the product , and we won a new customer .” processes . Of course , this required some investment in new machinery , but the main change was a shift in our mentality . To give an example : in the solenoid valve production line , we decreased the number of workers from 13 to eight yet managed to increase the manufacturing capacity by 25 %. In other words , with fewer people we can produce more , meaning that we can use some of our staff in other parts of our operations . “ We have also introduced HMI technology , which allows us to manage our manufacturing processes more efficiently . Furthermore , we are increasingly using enterprise resource planning ( ERP ) to integrate and optimise our business processes such as finances , HR , supply chain . And finally , we have also started to use business and market intelligence to support our sales activities .”
Looking ahead
When asked about his company ’ s plans for the future , Mr . Kaya displays a great deal of vision and ambition . “ As soon as we have launched our latest development , the multiturn actuator , we plan to start expanding our range of ball valves to include options for more demanding applications , so higher temperatures , pressures , also larger sizes , etc . The other major short-term target is to grow the export market for pneumatic and electric actuators . We are also considering entering the control valve market , and my father is very passionate about flow control instrumentation , too , so that is another area of potential product development for us . Ultimately , whichever path we choose , one thing is certain : SMS TORK will continue innovating to offer an increasingly comprehensive portfolio of high-quality flow control products .” www . valve-world . net Valve World November 2022
11