Zeyd Tekstil Makes a Difference with Coated Tent Fabrics
Turkey’s leading home textile, medical textile, hotel textile and baby textile manufacturers, Denizli-based Zeyd Tekstil is exporting to more than 15 countries in 4 continents. The company, which recently started tent fabric production, has managed to make a name for itself in the sector. Multi-layered tent structures have performance levels above the average performance norms of the market, especially in functions such as rain and windproof, thermal insulation, flame retardant, mildew and fungal repellent.
We interviewed Zeyd Tekstil Owner and CEO Sakin Yalçın for Technical Textiles and Nonwoven Technologies magazine. Yalçın talked about the company’s foundation story, export markets, their newly started tent fabric production and investment plans.
As Zeyd Tekstil, you are one of Turkey’s leading manufacturers of technical textiles and home textiles. Can we listen to the story of Zeyd-Tekstil’s foundation and the philosophy behind its success?
The Zeyd Tekstil brand, which backed the success with great labor behind it, has become a brand that everyone knows not only in our city but also in our country. Being one of the leading manufacturers of our country is a great source of pride for us. We are driven to be even more successful and innovative. There is a great patience and hard work in the story of our foundation. Me Sakin Yalçın, together with my brothers Hidayet and Ali Yalçın, founded Zeyd Tekstil in 1990. 34 years have passed since then, and we are on our way to becoming the best in our field with almost a quarter of a century of labor. Our biggest philosophy behind our success has always been our ability to see what is right, what is good and what is new. Taking steps in accordance with the time and age, finding what is newer and more useful has always been among our priorities. While we are producing, we think about how we can provide better service to citizens with both our employees and our products.
“” We Distinguish from Our Competitors with Quality and Products that Respond to Needs”
Can you tell us about your product portfolio, usage fields and production capacity? What are the main features that distinguish your products from your competitors?
Our product portfolio is very wide. First, our portfolio includes home and medical technical textile products such as alezes, covers, sheaths, blankets, quilts, duvet covers, pillows, pillowcases, and bedding products. We can develop and produce fabrics with heating-cooling properties. In the field of hospital textiles, we can produce products such as doctor’s surgical garment, green cover, patient visitor gown, doctor’s uniform, patient clothes, patient shorts/pants, doctor’s lower apron, stretcher cover. We also produce products for towels, hotel group and kitchen textiles. Hot-melt coating-lamination, thermal lamination processes, all coatings and finishing processes that can provide functional and aesthetic features to fabrics are developed by our R&D team and turned into orders. After these processes are completed, the fabrics are transformed into final products in our garment lines. For now, our product capacity is around 20000 pieces per day. The most important features that distinguish our products from our competitors are their quality and the fact that they can respond to every need in a comfortable way.
“We Export 70% of Our Production”
How much of your production do you export? What are the countries/regions you export to? Accordingly, what can you say about your sales network and organization in the world?
As a brand born in Denizli, we represent our country with our quality products not only in our country but also in many countries of the world. Among these countries; Germany, France, Lithuania, Netherlands, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden, Romania, Austria, Italy, Mauritius, Bulgaria, Greece, United Arab Emirates, England, Saudi Arabia. Our sales network in the world is increasing day by day. According to 2023 data; we export 70% of our production. Having experts in our factory makes us even more successful. The sales network in the world consists of wholesale, retail sales, e-commerce (we have our own website and stores in some e-commerce channels) and overseas dealers.
How did you decide to start tent fabric production?
Actually, this production was an important step for us. The process actually started while our employees were working on a chemical at work. Then this idea and work was developed and finalized by our team members in R&D. As I mentioned at the beginning, the main reason why we turned to this field is our philosophy of always being innovative. We are still new in this field, but we have already made a name for ourselves with our successful products.
“We will Exhibit the Coating Tent Prototype at HIGHTEX 2024”
Can you tell us about the properties of your tent fabrics, and in which sectors they will be used?
Our tent fabrics and multilayer tent structures have performance levels above the average performance norms of the market, especially in functions such as rain and wind proofing, thermal insulation, flame retardant, mildew and fungal repellent. In some of our fabrics, we can exceed the 15000 mm water column threshold as a rainproof performance level. We can increase this value even more. This is a type of coating that is not affected by the aging effects of UV rays. On the other hand, for customers who do not want to take risks with their products, we also produce UV protective outer lining as an upper layer in the tent. We will be exhibiting a prototype of such a tent structure at our booth at HIGHTEX 2024. Another outstanding feature of our coated tent fabrics is their good thermal insulation. Our product provides up to twice the thermal insulation compared to products with average performance levels in the market. This function has been confirmed by tests conducted in accredited laboratories. We also have fabrics that pass the NFPA 701 flame retardancy test of accredited laboratories. We have achieved high success in the AATCC 30 fungal and mildew growth tests applied to the tents. With this feature, mildew and fungal growths cannot threaten our tents in any way.
Although it is quite difficult, we have the ability and capacity to develop and produce these fabrics, which combine all these functions in a single structure at the same time, in the form of field dispatch and administration tent fabrics for the armed forces of all countries (headquarters and vehicle hangars), disaster management and many other sectors, especially our own country. We also have multifunctional fabric qualities for the camping sector. We have a strong development and flexible production capability, which means that we can adapt our fabrics to the standards and specifications of our customers who want to buy. We can customize production to meet the values they want. Thanks to their multifunctionality, our fabrics can also be used in environmental textiles as awning and canvas fabrics or in construction textiles as roof top coverings.
What is your production volume target for tent fabric production? Will you export tent fabric? Which countries are your target countries?
We aim to produce 3 million 120 thousand meters of tent fabric annually, which is our production volume target for tent fabric production. We do not want to stay only local; we will export to other countries in this field as well. We are targeting countries such as Germany, America, Holland, Italy, England, France, Lithuania, Netherlands, Hungary, Bosnia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden, Romania, Austria, Italy, Mauritius, Bulgaria, Greece, United Arab Emirates, England, Saudi Arabia.
“We See Ourselves as the First Competitor”
What do you pay attention to when investing in machinery and technology in your production facility to maintain your competitiveness and quality?
As Zeyd Tekstil, we act carefully at many points while making the investments in our production facility. We always see ourselves as the first competitor. The main source of our strength in competition and quality lies in our strong belief in ourselves. We first believe that we will succeed and then we take the necessary steps in the most appropriate and correct way. What we pay attention to is always being people-oriented and touching people’s lives, no matter which product or project we have.
We can say that sustainability, digitalization, and environmentally friendly production are one of the most important agendas of the whole world in recent years. As Zeyd Tekstil, what kind of steps do you take on these issues?
Of course, we are the closest followers of these developments. We have certificates such as GOTS, GRS, RCS, OEKO-TEX. We also try to maintain standards with certificates such as BSCI and SEDEX to ensure the satisfaction of our employees. As we take human and environment-oriented steps while producing, our success is already positioned in a sustainable flow. As we produce without harming our environment and without disturbing the rhythm and harmony of our environment, we are taking even more confident steps forward on behalf of ourselves and our future. As Zeyd Tekstil, we keep up with the speed of the digital world and we are included in the innovation of each passing day with our innovations. We also make our business suitable for the latest technologies as digitalization.
What are your predictions about the trends and innovations in the near future regarding technical textiles, medical textiles and home textiles in the world and in Turkey?
Along with the age of technology, the development in textile products is also increasing. For example, if we look at the medical field, you know that even artificial veins can be produced thanks to technical textiles. This shows us that there is no field that textile products cannot enter in the future. In addition, sustainability and innovation-oriented products are expected to increase in technical textiles. This may include the use of recyclable materials. In medical textiles, there may be an increase in demand for products focused on personal health and hygiene, especially products with antimicrobial and water repellent properties. In home textiles, comfort and practicality will be at the forefront, and demand for functional and smart home textiles may increase. This could include textiles integrated with smart control systems in homes.
“We Aim to Expand Our Machine Park and Increase Our Number of Personnel”
How was 2024 for your company? What are your expectations for 2025? Do you have any new product and investment plans?
2024 was a very productive year for us. We can see that our path is heading towards the summit day by day in line with the reactions from our products and our partners and business partners.
In 2025, our expectations are to commercialize our technical textiles, which we developed in 2023-2024 and whose R&D studies were completed, and to further increase our export network. We also aim to expand our machine park and increase the number of our personnel. KOSGEB’s R&D and Innovation Support Program, our new product project, which was entitled to receive support with a very high score and is currently in its third period, continues. When the patenting activities reach a certain level, we will be in front of you with these products.
