Arta Tekstil will Produce Knitted Fabrics that Protect Baby and Child Health
Interview: Özge Çağıl Sütcü
For 35 years, Arta Tekstil respondes to the dyeing, printing, and finishing needs of its customers in woven and knitted fabrics with its dynamic and innovative structure. The company, which has a monthly capacity of 4 million meters in the production of dyed, printed, and coated woven fabrics and 900 tons in knitted fabric, plans to commission the 3rd rotation printing line with an investment of 650 thousand dollars.
As Tekstil Teknoloji magazine, we interviewed Arta Tekstil Co-Founder Arif Nalbant. Nalbant shared information about their production capacity, investment plans and the details of the GES project, which is about to be completed.
Arta Tekstil aims to be one of the top 5 non-denim fabric manufacturers in the world. Could you give some information about the works of Arta Tekstil on this subject?
As Arta Tekstil, we supply high quality finished woven and knitted fabrics with fast, high quality, original designs to important fashion brands and chain stores in Turkey and Europe. We also provide special dyeing, printing and finishing services to our customers within the needs of the sector. We are investing in our machinery park and maximizing our service quality, while at the same time acting with a sense of social and environmental responsibility through our sustainability investments, in line with our goal of becoming one of the world’s top 5 non-denim fabric manufacturers. Today, both producers and consumers care about the sustainable production of a product or raw material and its low environmental impact. As Arta Tekstil family, we have been working to protect the environment and world health since our establishment. We are working with the goal of entering the top 5 in our sector in the world with the right investments and qualified productions at the right time. We have a steadily growing structure, so we are confident that we will reach our goal.
“We Work with The Goal of High Quality and Sustainable Customer Satisfaction”
You win the “Stars of Export Gold Award” every year. To what do you owe this success? Could you tell us about your export and production capacity?
For years, we have been working with the goal of high quality and sustainable customer satisfaction by keeping our flexible production structure and rapidly adapting to current technologies. Our colleagues work with high precision and efficiency in all our departments. In this way, we meet our customers’ demands. We have certificates for all our production stages and sustainability policy. As a company, we achieve successful results in exports thanks to our structure that does not compromise on quality. We currently produce 4 million meters of woven and 900 tons of knitted fabric per month. This means that 21% of our total turnover consists of direct export figures. We regularly win awards in the field of exports and with the motivation we receive from this, we focus even more on our goal and move forward with excitement and diligence.
“Entering the American Market is Our Priority Target”
Which countries do your export markets include and which regions are the markets you have potential in? What do you pay attention to when choosing these markets?
We offer high quality products to major fashion brands and chain stores in Europe. We are particularly strong in markets such as Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Italy. With the marketing activities we carry out abroad, we both increase our presence in the markets we are already in, and strengthen ourselves in the markets we will enter. When we choose new markets, we take care to ensure that they are places where we can be permanent when we make our plans for the long term in general. Our primary goal is to enter the American market this year. In the coming years, we aim to operate in the markets of Balkan and West African countries.
“We Always Focus on the Future”
You have machinery investments and your machinery park is expanding day by day. What are the issues you prioritize when investing in machinery (being economical, environment-friendly production, using less energy and water, needing less personnel, etc.)?
We have a machine park worth approximately 80 million dollars and we are increasing our production power with our new investments every day. When investing in machinery, we focus primarily on the fact that it will be increase our productivity and will have a low environmental impact. Our goal is to provide the fastest and highest quality service to our customers while continuing to protect environmental health. For this, we pay attention to how much we can integrate both the machines we choose and the systems we install into our sustainability organization and how much speed this investment will bring us. When making any investment, we do not think daily and always focus on the future.
With the Solar Power Plant (SPP), which is planned to be completed in August 2023, you aim to be a facility that both generates its own electricity and ensures your energy security? Which stage is your SPP investment at, could you tell us about your progress?
The Solar Power Plant is an important part of our investments based on sustainability. Our facility is located on an area of 110 thousand m2 in Yerköy in Yozgat. Our work started in February 2023. Our first panels were placed in April. The process continues without slowing down. We aim to complete all operations in August 2023. After the completion of our facility, we will generate over 16 million kWh of clean energy per year. We strive to minimize our environmental impact. Through the Solar Power Plant, we will have the opportunity to meet all the electricity needs of our factory with zero carbon emission and sustainable methods.
For now, we are primarily waiting for the completion of our Solar Power Plant investment. In addition, our rotary printing line investment has been completed recently. In the coming period, we will of course carry out new activities that will both increase our production capacities and support our sustainability organization. But for now, our goal is to ensure that our existing investments are completed flawlessly.
“We Have Difficulty Finding Technical Staff”
There is a lack of qualified personnel in the sector. Do you also experience such a problem and if so, what measures and solutions do you develop?
As Arta Tekstil, we are growing day by day and in direct proportion to this growth, our need for employees is increasing more and more. Unfortunately, the lack of qualified personnel in many sectors is also present in our sector. Nowadays, especially the young population wants to work in office jobs, which is causing difficulties in finding technical staff. As a solution, we cooperate with universities and various technical schools. In this way, we provide training and internship opportunities to young people who are interested in the sector, help them prepare for professional life after school and continue on our way with those who agree to work with us.
“We will be able to produce knitted fabrics that protect baby and child health”
As Arta Tekstil, what do you think about the state of the textile industry in the world and Turkey in general?
Among the headlines that have affected producers the most in recent years are recession concerns affecting global trade, logistical problems and the wave of inflation. The textile sector is also affected by this situation. Many problems can be encountered from product procurement to shipment. We overcome these problems thanks to our planned actions and being a well-established company in both our export-oriented and domestic market-oriented works.
Is there anything you would like to add?
We have certificates that we have obtained at the national and international levels, which enable us to stay ahead of our competitors. To date, we have been awarded dozens of certificates in many fields such as printing, dyeing, production processes and service quality. In a way, we have registered our quality. Our organic and recycled production certificates, the JOIN LIFE certificate issued by INDITEX
and to the ‘OEKO-TEX CLASS-1’ that we have recently obtained, we will have the opportunity to produce knitted fabrics that protect baby and child health. Thus, we will be among the companies preferred by global clothing brands in this field.
