Turkish Engineers Demonstrated the Power of Domestic Production with the ‘Nakkaş TR 20’ Unit
Turkuaz Electromechanics, which mainly operated in the defense industry in the past, made an assertive entry into the textile industry with the brand of Nakkaş. The company started the production of embroidery machines that can respond to the most important sector of the textile industry.
Turkuaz Electromechanics, having worked in a wide range of production and design, is now preparing to make its name known in the textile industry. The company, which previously designed and manufactured many parts that the Turkish army required, made a forceful entry into the textile industry by actualizing the embroidery machine project that they have been planning for a long time.
The “Nakkaş TR 20” embroidery unit, which possesses masterful traces of vigorous thought processes along with great engineering, contains more advantageous features than many other embroidery machines available in the market today.
The touch screen panel PC and advanced domestic software, easiness in installment and disassembling, electronic control cabinet located on both ends of the body, automatic needle repeat arrangement, needle fixing mechanism for easy needle change, easy shuttle change, quiet running cam boxes and long-life shuttle drive system are among the features of the Nakkaş TR 20 embroidery unit.
As Textile Technology Magazine, we paid a visit to Turkuaz Electromechanics located in Gölcük district of Kocaeli in order to observe and learn more about this innovative design. We would like to extend our gratitude to the Turkuaz Electromechanics General Manager – Mechanical and Electronics Engineer Selim Küçükateş, Finance and Production Manager Volkan Yıldız, and the R&D Manager Mechanical Engineer Mehmet Bayraktutar, who hosted us with great hospitality. Below is the interview that we conducted for our readers.
You have served in different industries until this time and in recent years you have been out of your subject area and produced an embroidery unit. How did your decision-making process progress at this point?
Selim Küçükateş: First of all, in 2000, we carried out electronic control of a model-1911 mechanical, jacquard card-operated machine in the company of Yusuf Atak Bey, owner of Atak Brode company in Adapazarı. The fact that Mister Yusuf also having a significant accumulation on the software side made the job very easy. The system was applied to 63 machines, and the transition of the machines from mechanical to electronic was provided. The success of the work done on the conventional machines led to the idea of designing and manufacturing the latest system CNC machine domestically from scratch. As a result of R&D activities, which we have initiated in 2012, an embroidery machine, which was manufactured only in Switzerland in the world at that time, is now produced for the first time in Turkey.
What kind of distinctive characteristics does the embroidery unit that you manufacture possesses comparing to the conventional machines? What difficulties did it have in the past? What are your main differences with counterpart CNC embroidery machines?
Mehmet Bayraktutar: The patterns were printed in perforated forms on the cards in the form of stripes on the machines at that time. Machine users had to preserve these rolled perforated cards and renew the worn-out ones when necessary. It was also very difficult to find the fault if the perforated strips were worn-out.
Selim Küçükateş: We can confidently argue that we have preserved the working logic of embroidery machines utilized for 150 years and constituted a new form with our own mechanisms. The shuttle drive mechanism, which we patented in 2012, which is one of the most important innovations we have introduced to the embroidery machine world, has also inspired other manufacturers. As a second innovation, we can talk about the needle fixing device. This arrangement enables to perform hundreds of needles on the machine with a single finger movement without any tools. Likewise, our patented needle punch selector mechanism that we have designed for the repeat of needles has been solved with a very simple mechanism without the need for constant air drive. The less-pieces, more-jobs concept provided by our military design capability, allowed the dismantling of the unit a lot easier thanks to the usage of fewer parts inside the machine.
How long does it take for you to deliver the orders of the embroidery unit?
Volkan Yıldız: We plan to deliver our first machines within four to five months of the order date. We will then be in a situation that can manufacture one or two machines every month in the short term.
What are the main advantages of carrying out domestic manufacturing? Can you evaluate your embroidery units compared to alternative counterparts?
Volkan Yıldız: Our main purpose is to meet the expectancies of our customers with our design and manufacturing power in accordance with the principles of our company. I think this is our biggest advantage. That’s why we didn’t compromise on quality in production and design. We observe the processing speed of our embroidery unit on a similar basis with alternative machines. We believe that we will be at the forefront of the industry with spare parts availability, strong service support, quality and price convenience, and our domestic software support that will be constantly updated on all our machines. In addition, the fact that we actualize our design and software within our company reduces our dependence on foreign countries and is another significant advantage.
Mehmet Bayraktutar: Resulting from working in many machinery industries, we know how a part of a specific machinery can be in form, how it can be processed, and how it can be manufactured in the easiest way. When you compare our unit with a counterpart one, you can observe its aesthetics and skillful operation. All the parts on our machine are specially and specifically designed for our unit. While designing this machine in terms of our engineering capabilities, we also did not accept projects from other companies. The control and all mechanical design of the machine belong completely to us. This product is a work of experienced, specialized, knowledgeable hands who can work in different disciplines.
What kind of after-sales service will you provide to your customers about your embroidery unit considering its malfunction or need for spare parts?
Volkan Yıldız: The most important reason for our purpose of being in the business is our “service first” logic. For this reason, we have tried to develop our machine so that it will not malfunction and will not need spare parts. Despite this, we guarantee that we will provide the best customer satisfaction regardless of the unreasonable profit in case of a failure and the need of spare parts. Especially within the warranty period, we will undertake all of the problems caused because of the unit. We primarily aim for an understanding of robust service.
Mehmet Bayraktutar: By the way, regarding the spare parts, I would like to clarify one of the discussions we had during the design phase. We do not design any of the parts to make money from the sales of the spare parts. We aim to profit from our machinery sales, not spare parts.
What were the factors that you paid the most attention to in the design of the embroidery unit?
Mehmet Bayraktutar: While putting our machinery forward, we move with a general design approach. The main essence of all the parts that constitute the embroidery machine is to move a needle correctly. We have not determined the base of the machine and put the needle in the middle and have not created an un-ergonomic structure. We have positioned the needle according to the people working in the industry. We developed the dimensions of the machine according to the anatomy of the users. Our machine also has two electronic control cabinets to support the body of the unit, which is unusual and not seen in counterparts. This system has not been applied anywhere before. With this structure, we have minimized the shaking of the machine posts and limited the length of the servo motor cables to a maximum of three meters. As a result, we have created a reliable and simpler silent construction.
What would you like to express to the companies producing embroidery in terms of choosing your unit?
Mehmet Bayraktutar: We completely trust our machine, which is very user friendly, robust, and also made of quality materials. We confidently support our machine regarding both spare parts and service. We know that we can handle all kinds of details on the embroidery machine. I recommend companies in the industry to try our unit. Because I am pretty sure that they will never regret it.
Lastly, do you have anything that you want to add?
Volkan Yıldız: I strongly believe that being able to demonstrate ourselves with our manufacturing power and R&D designs in the market will bring us to a good position in the embroidery machinery production sector. We will continue to work more innovatively and ahead of its time on our machines.
Interview: Kübra Karaca / Tekstil Teknoloji Magazine