‘Ottoman’ Became the Turkish Company Investing in the Most THEN Dyeing Machines at One Time

Interview: Dilek Hayırlı 

Ottoman Boya, Apre & Baskı, which dyes 40 tons of fabric daily and prints 1.5 million meters of rotary printing monthly in its integrated dyeing, finishing and printing facility, works with more than 100 well-known brands. The company, which has purchased all the machines in THEN’s product portfolio, responds to all demands and saves water and energy consumption while dyeing high-quality and fast fabric.

Vemteks Tekstil Ltd., which started its activities in Bursa in 1982 as a raw and dyed fabric supplier, switched to the dye-finishing sector by purchasing the dyeing facility established in Bursa Organized Industrial Zone (BOSB) in 2014.

Ottoman Boya, Apre & Baskı Inc., established with the partnership of Vedat Kantar and Hakan Dinçtürk, has entered a rapid growth phase since then. The company, which reached its targeted production capacity and quality in a short time with its integrated production system, established Ottomak Makine Ltd. in 2015 for the production of the textile machinery it needs. In 2016, Ottoman Boya, Apre & Baskı Inc., which accelerated its investments and expanded its machinery park and operation area, today offers contract dyeing, finishing and printing services to world-famous brands in Turkey and abroad.

Ottoman Boya, Apre & Baskı Inc., which produces using the most advanced technologies in the sector with the aim of sustainable growth, continues its modern machinery park investments nonstop.

In the first months of 2022, the company, which invested a total of 10 million euros in machinery, became the Turkish company that purchased the most THEN dyeing machines within Fong’s Europe at one time in the same year.

As Tekstil Teknoloji magazine, we visited Ottoman Boya, Apre & Baskı Inc.’s facility in Bursa Nilüfer Organized Industrial Zone and conducted an interview with General Manager Murat Evitan and Technologist Ayşe Topuzlu. In our interview; we talked about the company’s production activities since its establishment, its investments, its plans for 2024 and its cooperation with THEN within the world-famous German machinery manufacturer Fong’s Europe. After the interview, General Manager Murat Evitan gave us a tour of the production areas and gave detailed information about the machines.

‘‘We are One of the Highest Quality Dyeing and Finishing Plants in Turkey’’

In 1982, you started your activities as Vemteks Tekstil, and you have continued until today. Can we listen to the establishment story of Ottoman Boya, Apre & Baskı company from past to present?

In 1982, we started to operate as Vemteks Tekstil Ltd. as a raw fabric and dyed fabric supply company. As a result of our business discipline and customer satisfaction-oriented approach, the gains of positive feedback forced us to grow. In 2014, as Ottoman Inc., we decided to purchase the dyehouse facility established in BOSB. While this was a 2-ton dyehouse in the first stage, it has now reached a dyehouse capacity of 40 tons per day. After achieving the production quality and capacity we targeted, we started to manufacture our own machines by establishing Ottomak Makine Ltd. in 2015 for the production of machinery to increase service quality and speed. We diversified on the textile side by adding rotary printing, transfer printing and digital printing sections to our facility. We constantly renew ourselves by closely following the technologies and developments in the world. Today, we continue our production as one of the highest-quality dyeing and finishing facilities in Turkey with our modern machinery park.

‘‘We have the machine park that can dye all kinds of fabrics’’

Can you please tell us about the size of your facility, the number of employees, the products in your portfolio and your production volume?

Built on an area of 20 thousand square meters, Ottoman Boya, Apre & Baskı Inc. is an integrated production facility with dyeing, finishing and printing (rotation, sublimation and digital printing) departments. With approximately 400 employees, we dye knitted and woven fabrics, as well as printing processes. We have a machine park that can dye all kinds of fabrics. Since our product dyeing diversity meets all kinds of demands, our solution partners do not think ‘I may not be able to dye my fabric’ when coming to us. With a daily dyeing capacity of 40 tons of fabric and a monthly rotary printing capacity of 1.5 million meters, we are a very important solution partner of companies working for export as a subcontractor.

We work with more than 100 famous brands including Inditex brands (Zara, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Oysho) H&M, Koton, Marc O’Polo, More & More, Nara Maxx, LC Waikiki, Lacoste, FF, Tesco.

You have 3 different production lines: Dyeing, Finishing and Printing. How many machines are there currently operating in your parks?

Our facility serves as a fully automated paint shop. Every stage of our production is monitored with a computer-aided production program, and we automatically monitor raw material entries and shipment status from the system.

In our facility, we have machines that can dye in different weights from 2 kg to 2500 kg. In our printing department, mechanical (dry), chemical (wet) finishing and raising processes are performed flawlessly with rotary and digital printing machines to respond to various demands.

‘‘Our Most Important Criteria in Our Production; Quality, Speed, Water and Energy Consumption’’

What are the criteria you attach particular importance to in your productions?

Our biggest feature that distinguishes us from our competitors is that we can dye all kinds of fabrics from weaving to knitting with our quality and capacity. Our primary criterion in our production is quality. While doing this, we aim for minimum energy and water consumption. As you know, natural gas and electricity are now quite expensive and our water resources are decreasing. We also pay attention to environmental criteria. Our customers are now very sensitive about these issues. We make sure that the paints and chemicals we use are environmentally friendly. On-time delivery is another important criterion for us.

What were the factors that led you to choose THEN technologies? Can you please give us a brief information about the beginning and the process of your cooperation?

Thanks to our company, Ottomak Makine Ltd. Inc., we are able to update the machines within our organization because we have experience in machine production. We walk without losing time to keep up with the developing technology. Global customer sensitivity to water and energy consumption, which are the world’s scarce resources, is the same as our production principles.

In our investments, we primarily prefer machines that save water and energy consumption. As a company, we recently joined Inditex’s ‘Care For Water’ program because Inditex decided to work with companies that consume the least water and energy. Inditex categorizes companies due to their water consumption and environmental sensitivity and announces that it will continue with companies that fulfill these criteria. We were included in this system and successfully completed the process. We found the most suitable machines for these criteria in the THEN brand within the world-famous German machinery manufacturer Fong’s Europe. We started working with THEN in January 2022. In addition, we purchased THEN machines because our friends in the Iteks Intertekstil team, which represents the brand in Turkey, treated us very warmly and sincerely, and we caught the same frequency in solution-oriented work.

‘‘THEN responded positively to our requests for changes in the machine’’

Does Fong’s THEN provide technological updates according to your demands? How do they approach your needs and demands?

Another important factor in our preference for THEN machines was that the company responded positively to all of our requests and helped us make the changes we requested in the machine. A machine comes to us from THEN, it is installed, and we start using it. We want to add some applications to the machine according to the fabrics that we work with, we talk about this with the THEN team, and they offer whether it will be appropriate or not. This proper communication eventually turns into a relationship that satisfies both parties. Technologist Ayşe Topuzlu from the THEN team helps us a lot in this regard. She understands the language of the machine as she has installed and commissioned many machines around the world. Working with her, we successfully dye a wide variety of fabrics with high quality.

‘‘We Added All Machines in THEN’s Portfolio to Our Park’’

Can you provide information about the investments you have realized in THEN machines so far?

In 2022, we invested in the most THEN machines at one time. We have 4 air dyeing machines belonging to THEN brand. We have 1 Smartflow TSF jet dyeing machine that can dye with lower liquor. We were the first company to install the Smartflow machine in Turkey, and moreover, the new air dyeing machine will be installed in our company for the first time in Turkey. In terms of diversity, Ottoman Boya A.Ş. has the highest number of Then brand machines.

‘‘With Smartflow, We Can Dye All Types of Fabrics’’

What are the challenges faced in dyeing processes? What advantages have THEN machines provided you in this regard?

Ayşe Topuzlu: One of the biggest advantages of the THEN Smartflow TSF jet dyeing machine that we installed at Ottoman A.Ş. is that there is no hasbin (drum) inside. In this way, the fabric selectivity of the machine is reduced. While problems such as rubbing and abrasion are experienced in viscose and polyester thin fabrics, these problems are not experienced in Smartflow due to the absence of a drum, as it rotates completely with water power. You can reduce or enlarge the J-BOX of the machine according to the load. This gives you a wider working area. This allows you to dye all kinds of fabrics from 80 grams to 300 grams, from thin fabric to thick fabric.

Especially cellulosic satin fabrics are prone to fractures, so there are more length and sitting fractures. Or it can rub. In our THEN Smart Flow machine, rubbing and fractures are prevented. Since there is no damage to the fabric, there is no rubbing problem. Since it is a hydraulic machine with short liquor, it both increases quality and reduces water and energy consumption. The customer receives a quality dyed fabric in a shorter time.

Murat Evitan: Since our aim is low water consumption, we want to dye the fabrics that are successful in pipe machines in air machines. Because the fabric meets with water in the dyeing process, it is more fracture-free and the color yield is better. But we are trying to do this in pneumatic machines.  Because we have to compete in the market with less water consumption, less energy, less cost and price advantage. Therefore, we want to diversify the machine park and strengthen our hand. For this reason, THEN machines were the right choice for us.

‘‘We are very pleased to be working with THEN’’

Could you evaluate Fongs- THEN in terms of after-sales services?

In the sale of textile machinery, there is no ‘sold as is’ understanding. After-sales support is also very important. We have made a very solid cooperation with THEN in terms of both technological, after-sales support and installation. We have never had any problems. After the installation, we make fabric dyeing trials, THEN sends its authorized person immediately when we need it. They ship on time, they install on time, they do not skip problems. We talk to each other and solve the problem. We are very pleased to work with THEN brand.

You have certificates in areas such as environmental management and energy management. These also show us the sensitivity of you to environmental and energy use issues. Were these issues also influential in your preference for THEN machines?

All dyes and chemicals used in our facility comply with ecological and employee health criteria in accordance with European Union Laws. All physical and chemical tests are carried out in our laboratories by our experienced dyeing laboratory team.

We have ISO 50001 energy management certificate, 14001 environmental management certificate, ISO 9001 certificate, OEKO-TEX certificate, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certificate, Global Recycle Standard (GRS-RCS), ZDCH (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals) certificates.

All wastewater from our facility is reused at the treatment station of Nilüfer Organized Industrial Zone. In addition, we use second-quality water treated from Nilüfer stream in our facility, so we never use underground resources and drinking water. THEN machines have been very beneficial for us in saving water. Due to water savings, we have also achieved gains in the use of natural gas, from which we obtain steam at a rate of 1, 1.5 percent.

‘‘We are ready for 2024 with our machinery investments’’

Can you evaluate the first 5 months of 2023 for the Turkish textile industry and Ottoman Boya? As Ottoman Boya, can we get a brief information about your goals, plans, innovations and projects for 2024?

In the first months of 2022, we invested 10 million euros in machinery. Because we received a lot of orders even during the pandemic period, and we worked 3 shifts 24/7.

Although the global crisis caused by the reflection of the Russia-Ukraine war on the economy decreased demand on the one hand and caused an increase in natural gas prices on the other, we did not stop investing. We do not regret investing, thanks to our energy and water-saving machinery investments, we have both reduced natural gas and energy bills and proved our respect for the environment. Even if 2023 is stagnant, we think that the sector will revive as of next year, and we are ready for this with our investments. We are very hopeful for 2024.

As OTTOMAN GROUP, we have projects to install a solar energy system or a wind energy system in the coming years. Our work on this continues.