OSRAM Collaborates With Coats To Extend Wearable LED Technology
OSRAM has developed a smart lighting system, wearable LED technology, utilizing active LED technology to enhance nighttime visibility and personal safety. For the worldwide spread of this technology, the company collaborated with Coats, the world leader in industrial yarn.
OSRAM is one of the world’s leading companies in lighting technology, with a long history of more than 112 years. It is headquartered in Munich, Germany. Semiconductor technologies are at the center of the company’s work. In addition, OSRAM develops technologies that can be used in a wide variety of areas from virtual reality to autonomous driving, from smartphones to smart lighting solutions in buildings and cities, from textiles to entertainment lighting. Its mission is to improve the quality of life of individuals and communities by using the possibilities of light, to enable people to communicate better, travel better, work better and live better.
OSRAM has developed a smart lighting system, wearable LED technology, utilizing active LED technology to enhance nighttime visibility and personal safety. For the worldwide spread of this technology, the company collaborated with Coats, the world leader in industrial yarn. As Textile Technology magazine, we conducted an exclusive interview with Can Dikmen, the CEO of OSRAM Turkey, to discuss the details of this cooperation as well as new projects of the company.
Can we first listen to the adventure of OSRAM in Turkey from you?
We continue our activities as OSRAM’s operations in Turkey for nearly 30 years. Except for the traditional bulb market, we are located in almost every area of lighting such as automobile lighting, professional lighting solutions, LED products, digital lighting, entertainment lighting, and professional and industrial applications with our employees in Turkey. We are trying to provide the fastest and most accurate solutions to our customers with our quality, logistics, and finance teams, in addition to our sales operations in Turkey. Our head office is located in Levent, Istanbul, and our quality and logistics warehouse is in Tuzla.
Could you please tell us about your product portfolio? What are the most prominent features of your products that distinguish them from their competitors?
Our product portfolio includes products that can be used in all areas of lighting except for the traditional bulb market. As OSRAM, we focus entirely on technology-oriented solutions and develop innovative systems and products in this direction.
The ability to provide solutions to the needs of different users and sectors also puts OSRAM in the foreground in the sector. For example, one of our latest innovations has been the lighting that plants need for strong and healthy growth. With OT FIT 380 D NFC HC, which meets all the special criteria required for those who want to install a powerful lighting system in their greenhouse or renew their garden lighting, we have launched a specially produced LED driver that will overcome the problems in industrial facilities. In addition, we carried our long years of experience in pool lighting to the next level with Aqua Mini this year.
Night Breaker Silver, which stands out with its night vision feature, and Night Breaker Laser, which provides up to 200 percent more brightness, are two exemplars to our new performance lighting provided for the automotive industry that enable the drivers to see the road more clearly with their above-average performance. Thus, drivers can more easily detect dangerous situations, obstacles, and other vehicles on the road. We are the first company to use the ‘‘laser embossing’’ technique that we utilized in the production of Night Breaker Laser.
If we consider the automotive sector, half of the passenger cars produced worldwide each year use OSRAM lamps. At OSRAM, safety and safe driving are at the center of our investments. We see this as a mission, and in addition, we inform the drivers of the dangers associated with road and driving safety that counterfeit products can pose. We also offer a warranty of up to 10 years on OSRAM products, depending on the model and area of use. We included all our OSRAM products in the OSRAM Trust Program, which we launched in 2015 to protect our customers from low quality, short-lived counterfeit products.
The biggest advantage of the lighting industry in recent years has been the continuously developing LED Technology. What are the latest trends you have witnessed in this area? What innovations await us in the near future? Can you please evaluate this question especially in the context of textile products?
LED technology advances its position in the market more and more every year because of the energy efficiency, environmental contribution, and comfort that it provides. We live in a world dominated by advanced technology, but we still have difficulty in seeing people who are using or working on the roads, sidewalks, or paths in bad weather or in the dark. This can cause great risks for personal security. As OSRAM, we have developed a smart lighting system, wearable LED technology, utilizing active LED technology to enhance nighttime visibility and personal safety. Our technology can be placed on work wear such as helmets and bags, as well as school bags and many other apparel and equipment. Available in many colors and different forms, OSRAM LED modules are powered by a portable charger to provide up to 8 hours of illumination. When this portable charger is removed, clothes and accessories can be washed at 60°C and can be dried at 90°C.
Our active LED technology allows the object that it is attached to be seen and remain visible from a particular distance with three times greater visibility than previous reflective products. This is good news for anyone who wants to keep themselves or their employees safe outdoors. We also work with innovative partners around the world to ensure this technology is spread and used in many exciting and important applications.
Could you please tell us about the most important innovations of your company in LED technology in the last few years and especially the products developed for smart textile products?
The technology that we have developed is used in every field from airports to factories, from construction to road works. As an example, UVEX uses our wearable LED technology in work jackets and safety vests produced for people working in construction sites, road maintenance, and similar places.
Yet again, Rossini Company prefers this lighting solution for FlashUp high-visibility work jackets. Willy Bogner develops stylish jackets with LED modules inside, while, Held, a manufacturer of motorcycle clothing, uses these modules to increase the visibility of motorcycle riders on the road. The companies Steinmann Group and Jack Wolfskin use this technology in backpacks for safer travel to and from school, hiking, cycling, and many other activities. VAUDE Sport offers backpacks with OSRAM LED technology for cyclists, skiers, and other outdoor athletes. Geox Company uses this technology in many of its sports jackets.
We are also testing the feasibility of using this technology at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport located in China and working on what can be done to improve it.
OSRAM has partnered with Coats, a world leader in industrial yarn, for the worldwide distribution of LED technology. Can you please tell us about the details of this collaboration?
We collaborated with Coats, which is the world-leading company in industrial yarn, to spread the technology that we have developed worldwide. Coats is developing piping and reflective stripes to make it easier to merge our wearable lighting technology to textile products. Today, many brands utilize this technology in their products to ensure work and workplace safety.
Could you please provide information about your representatives around the world and the countries you mainly export to?
As OSRAM, we serve in 150 countries and we consider the Middle East and Africa region as an important and strategic territory. The potential that the region contains is very valuable for OSRAM, as the territory consists of developing countries in general. We closely follow the trends of the growing economies in the region and we establish a wide range of collaborations to meet the different needs of companies operating in the fields of construction, industry, agriculture, textile, technology, and entertainment with the technological lighting products that we have developed.
How important is the Turkish market for OSRAM and can please provide information about your business volume here?
We continue our double-digit growth every year as OSRAM Turkey. We closed 2019 with a growth of over 10 percent, which was similar to the previous years. Turkey OSRAM holds a position in the top 5 of a revenue-based list among the other countries that OSRAM operates.
As OSRAM in Turkey, we are the market leader in automotive lighting. Therefore, in recent years, we have emphasized marketing and business associations regarding the automotive sector both in Turkey and abroad. We attended many exhibitions and applied for the world’s most prestigious awards. We have collaborated with Martaş and Dynamic Automotive, two of the important companies in the Turkish automotive industry. Through this cooperation, we have been able to place our products in all sales points throughout Turkey.
In addition, we are the solution partner of major projects in Turkey. Inaugurated last year, the Great Çamlıca Mosque, which is the largest mosque in Turkey, entrusted the OSRAM lighting system. All lighting and control system of the Great Çamlıca Mosque was prepared by OSRAM. The mosque is illuminated by OSRAM’s 2000 different electrical and lighting products using 5000 meters of cable to be seen aesthetically from all over Istanbul, adding a prestigious extent to the silhouette of Istanbul.
Do you have new projects, new investments, and new products that you plan to launch for 2021?
With OSRAM’s acquisition of Ring, which offers after-sales spare parts and services in the UK, we will expand our product range in the automotive sector to include automotive electronics and accessories, as well as expand our sales network and open up to new markets. In addition to lighting, we plan to offer our customers innovative products that they can travel with pleasure in their vehicles and prioritize road safety by increasing the variety.
As OSRAM, we will entirely focus on technology-oriented solutions in 2021. We will develop innovative systems and products in this direction.
Interview: Dilek HAYIRLI
