“2021 Started Quite Good for Most of the Textile Machinery Industry”

Timuçin Benal, Erbatech Sales Manager 

 

Erbatech company, which is a manufacturer of continuous wet finishing machines for knitted and woven fabrics, continued its production without closing its factory during the pandemic period. The company, which started to receive new orders in the middle of the pandemic, launched a new product in the first weeks of 2021.

Erbatech Sales Manager Timuçin Benal, with whom we interviewed for “German Special Issue” said that; “The feedback from our customers regarding this new product is quite good and i think it will be a milestone for the dyeing of knitted fabrics.”

We talked with Benal who said that the Turkish textile industry, especially the knitting industry displayed a successful performance during the pandemic process, and regarding the trends in finishing machines, Erbatech’ activities during the pandemic process and their 2021 goals.

 “In the middle of the pandemic, we got new orders”

 First of all, the sectors are going through a very difficult process due to the pandemic in the whole world. How was the year 2020 in terms of your company? How was your company’s reaction to Pandemic? As Erbatech, what kind of preparations do you make for the post-pandemic period?

To be honest we didn’t know what would expect us when the pandemic started. And especially the months April and May were really tough. The whole sector stopped and nobody really knew how to react to this new situation. At the end of the day we never closed our factory. We had orders to deliver and with the time, in the middle of the pandemic, we got new orders. Not as much as we are used to but it was enough to finish the year 2020 with an optimisim for the next year.

Which kind of innovations and progress is expected in upcoming years in the textile machinery sector and especially finishing textile machinery?

I believe most of the innovative products in the textile machinery sector will have one focus; Environment. Consuming less water and energy will be the focus of all of us. The whole sector has to become better in terms of sustainability. And it’s our job to provide our customers with the best possible technology and technical support to achieve this goal.

“Turkey, Bangladesh and India will be our main markets in the future”

Which are your major markets? Could you give information about the new markets where your products are in demand?

We have a big market share for continuous wet finishing machines for knitted fabrics worldwide. To name a few countries, Turkey, Bangladesh and India are countries where we have many machines in operation and where we have by far the biggest market shares. I believe that these countries will be our main markets in the future as well.

As our growing markets i would consider Central America, South America and China. All of them performed very well in the last two years and i believe that we will build on this success in the future.

The knitting industry performed very successfully, especially during the pandemic period. How do you evaluate the performance of Turkish knitters in this process? What do you think are the reasons for success?

I think that the whole turkish textile industry is very successfull in terms of being dynamic and flexible. It’s amazing to see how quick the turkish textile industry can adabt to new conditions. This energy and being close to Europe are the biggest advantages of this country in terms of textile industry and knitting industry in particular.

As Erbatech, what are your expectations from 2021? Are there any plans for launching new products targeted at textile industry? Do you plan to invest or expand your manufacturing facilities?

Well, to be honest we already launched a new product early this year. The feedback from our customers regarding this new product is quite good and i think it will be a milestone for the dyeing of knitted fabrics. You can be sure that you will hear more in the close future about this product.

2021 started quite good and i think it will be a good year in terms of business. Not only for us, for most of the textile machinery industry with focus on knitted fabrics.

We as Erbatech have a certain capacity and we don’t plan to expand our manufacturing facilities. Our aim is not to be the biggest. We want to do the best possible machines in our field and therefore we will continue to invest in people, not in buildings.

Interview: Dilek HAYIRLI