Our Business Agenda was Never Empty in 2024 with Both Sales and New Orders
Interview: Dilek Hayırlı
Sabri İlknur, Asteks Marketing and Sales Manager said; “In this period, we used our sales and marketing processes more actively and focused on sales especially in foreign markets. In this way, we achieved the sales and turnover targets we set when entering 2024. We increased our turnover targets for 2025.”

Sabri İlknur
Asteks Marketing and Sales Manager
We interviewed with Sabri İlknur, Asteks Marketing and Sales Manager, for our Tekstil Teknoloji magazine. İlknur evaluated the year 2024 and shared his investments, projects related to digitalization and sustainability, and predictions for 2025.
First of all, could you give us some information about Asteks’ production and exports in 2024? Which are the key markets where Asteks has a strong presence? What are your views on promising and emerging markets?
As the leading manufacturer of apron, cots and cots grinding solutions for the textile industry, I can say that we achieved our sales targets in 2024. Our business agenda was never empty with both sales and new orders. Compared to 2023, it is seen that we have achieved increases in our business volume. As Asteks, Turkiye and the Turkish textile industry still maintain their weight and importance in our sales rates. However, especially Central Asian Turkic Republics and Asian countries such as Egypt, Bangladesh and Pakistan stand out in exports. In these markets, we are preferred not only for our price advantage but more importantly for our advanced technologies, high quality and durable products.
Asteks has made significant investments in automation in recent years. Can you give concrete examples of how these investments have increased efficiency and quality in production processes?
For many years, we have offered solutions to the textile yarn industry with our apron and cots, which are considered the most consumable materials used by yarn manufacturers. With our strategic investments and R&D studies, we have now turned into a technology company that can produce machines. The interest shown by the textile industry in these works that expand our product portfolio and the demand we have achieved show that we are taking the right steps. Our cots grinding machines, which we developed especially for different yarns and applications, reflect the success of Turkish engineering. In a short period of time, we have introduced machines with manual to fully automatic systems to the market. These machines not only prevent work errors caused by personnel, but also have advantages that reduce operating costs. For example, our 401-SF&M cots grinding machine stands out with its intelligent feeding system and two independent grinding units. In this system, which eliminates the hassle of arranging a large number of cots one by one, all the cots only need to be poured into the feeding chamber and then the system automatically arranges and processes the cots itself. In the 401-SF&M, which features two different machines in a single concept, draw frame and combercots can be ground in one of the independent grinding units, while spinning machine cots can be processed automatically in the other. This means saving time, space and labor in a single machine and process. The energy consumption values of the machines we have developed show a continuous improvement, more cots can be grinding with less energy compared to similar machines.
Another solution we have developed for the smart factories of the future is the 101-AGV automatic guided vehicle. This vehicle, which we exhibited at ITM exhibitions, can pull 2 tons of load and rotates 360 degrees around itself and in narrow spaces, moving back and forth in the designated area without any personnel supervision. The 101-AGV device, which travels on a magnetic belt route within the facility, also keeps safety at the forefront with its ability to stop if it encounters an obstacle and then continue. We think that this solution, which facilitates load transportation especially in fabric and yarn factories, will be preferred by different sectors and segments in the coming period.
How is the innovation culture within the company shaped to develop innovative products? What kind of strategy does Asteks’ R&D department follow to develop new products for the needs of the industry? What is the role of customer feedback in this process?
Asteks focuses on the sectoral needs of tomorrow with its R&D department, which includes engineers from different disciplines. Instead of the dead ends of yesterday’s technologies, we consider how automation and artificial intelligence opportunities can be used in digitalized production processes. We maintain this perspective not only in our machines but also in the aprons and cots we produce. We produce efficient and durable aprons and cots for many different processes, from sensitive and challenging fibers to yarn production for technical fibers. We continue to innovate uninterruptedly with our apron, cots and cots grinding machines that reduce the operating costs of yarn manufacturers and contribute to yarn quality to the standards they set. For this, we allocate a certain portion of our annual turnover to these studies. In order to bring the results of our R&D studies to the market in a short time, we also continue our close cooperation with our stakeholders in the sector. With the results we get from our field tests here, our work for the final product moves to the next stage. We carry out these studies with our customers from the Turkish textile industry as well as with our partners abroad.
“889.1 tons of carbon dioxide emission will be prevented with our SPP Project”
Today, sustainability has become an important issue in industrial machinery. What steps does Asteks take to use environmentally friendly technologies and materials in its products? At this point, how environmentally friendly and sustainable are Asteks products?
First of all, we have made plans to make our own production processes more sustainable, and we keep our own infrastructure up to date to optimize our material procurement and use. In terms of our products, we focus on minimizing the environmental footprint. We produce our aprons and cots from the best materials, from rubber to metals, ensuring their longevity. The energy utilization levels of our machines are very low compared to their peers. In short, these are the best equipped machines so that the reconditioning process does not create an additional cost for the enterprises. Our ongoing R&D efforts include technologies that support environmental and recycling processes.
Another important investment realized by Asteks within the framework of sustainability is the Solar Power Plant (SPP) project. We made this investment in Kınık district of Izmir, on a 14,000 m2 land that is not suitable for agriculture. Our SPP project will generate 1267 kWp of energy. With this investment, we aim to generate 2,090,880 Kwh of electricity annually. Coal, oil, hydro or nuclear-based energy generation creates significant environmental costs and risks. Our project prevents 889.1 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and makes a significant contribution to sustainability. In short, we add value to our economy by producing the cleanest and most sustainable energy from the sun.
How do you evaluate the competitiveness and position of the Turkish textile machinery industry in global markets? How is Asteks trying to gain a place in this competition?
I can say that Turkish textile machinery has started to be recognized as strong partners in emerging textile markets. Although it varies from brand to brand, ‘Made in Turkiye’ now means quality, trust and good service. For this, our machinery manufacturers need to establish better service networks in the markets they export to. Standing by local customers, either with local partners or with their own sub-enterprises, opens the door to new demands. In this context, we create different supply chains in different countries and deliver our solutions to our customers in the best way and time. We think that new investments and incentives that will revitalize the development of the Turkish machinery industry with slow but sure steps are even more essential, especially in this period.
“We were Constantly in the field in 2024 to Maintain the Trust Our Customers Have Placed in Us”
How did factors such as the economic crisis, cost increases and fluctuations in exchange rates affect your company? How did you determine a road map to cope with them?
As a company, of course we do not have the power to change the macroeconomic indicators of our country, but we are successfully preparing ourselves for new market conditions in the light of these data. In the face of increasing production and operating costs, of course, we did not stop production or make any restrictions, nor did we compromise on our quality. During this period, we used our sales and marketing processes more actively and focused on sales, especially in foreign markets. This is how we achieved the sales and turnover targets we set as we entered 2024. The main element that should not be lost in times of economic difficulties is trust. We were constantly on the field in 2024 in order not to lose the trust our customers have in us.
For 2025, can you give us information about Asteks’ investments and production capacity increase targets? Do you have any plans to open new factories or production areas?
We have more positive and strong expectations for 2025. As the parameters in the country’s economy are more predictable and positive, we have also increased our turnover targets. In the new year, our efforts towards export markets will gain momentum. We believe that under favorable conditions such as the end of the civil war in Syria in the south and the stabilization of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the north, regional markets will revive and this will lead to more investment demand. This revival in foreign markets will have a positive impact on our sales and service processes.