General Manager of Cagdas Kablo (Cable) Deniz…

General Manager of Cagdas Kablo (Cable) Deniz Karamercan: By setting up a special line for our product “Profire NHXMH,” we will increase our production speed by 3 times.
The General Manager of Cagdas Kablo, Deniz Karamercan, emphasized that they would be closing the year 2013 with a real growth with value-added export and domestic market equilibrium and productive sales politics and would be continuing their investments regardless of the negative conditions with the contribution of their infrastructure and vision. Karamercan answered our questions.
How did the first quarter of 2014 pass for Seval Kablo?
I believe we need to evaluate that the first quarter of 2014 by including the second half of 2013 in terms of our company, sector and the World.
In terms of our country, the year 2013 had been a year where the financial abundance and stability had started to fall into decay, supply and demand markets had been tried to be balanced by current account deficit policies and political uncertainty had been higher end level. The electoral process also caused the uncertainties to increase.
During this period, we see that representatives of many sectors got caught to this situation unprepared.
The fact that all of the decisions we have taken and the scenarios we have created as of the 6th month of 2013 prove to be right is the most important factor that differentiates our company in the positive direction.
We closed the year 2013 with a real growth, with value-added export and domestic market equilibrium and productive sales politics and continued our investments regardless of the negative conditions with the contribution of their infrastructure and vision.
As in all other respects of life, the most important principle of our sector is “stability.” With quality and stable sales, service and after sales support activities our firm presented to its customers, we have advanced a few more steps in the first quarter of 2014 and put our signature under many successful businesses.
What are the investments Seval Kablo has made lastly and the Investment it plans to do in the future?
As it point out, our firm has a structure that always keep on investing even in the crisis environment. The reason for this is our belief in the “One that Doesn’t Improve Loses” strategy. With every day improving and widening staff structure, sales network and product range, we encourage our management continuously for new investments. Moreover, with every investment we make in person, machine or research & development / production & development, we leave our competitors behind one by one since our brand value, sales amount and qualified sales structure improving. This is team work and we live as a team for Seval Kablo. While some people keep watching this progress, we have more investments to make.
Our most important investment for 2014 had been in copper and the field of medium tension. We have engaged our copper thinning machine with capacity of 3.500 TONS/ MONTH this month. Our O.G. machine, though, will be put in use in September.
By setting up a special line for our product “Profire NHXMH,” we will increase our production speed 3 times and, with this increased capacity, we will reach the position of responding comfortably to the customer orders that we have missed in 2013.
What is your firm’s point of view towards research & development and production & development?
As of now, our firm has become a company with the most capacity to produce goods with Low-Voltage Energy cable factory in Turkey. The research and development studies our engineers performed are the underlying reasons for this. Additionally, we keep on renovating ourselves with the design changes of goods that are already in production. We were also having the capacity usage gaps until this year which is also the most important problem of our country. However, with the new production& development system and analyzing team we have established, we have prevented serious losses in our expenditures by succeeding all our machines, staff and system work without loss.
As Seval Kablo’s domestic market sales firm, what are your new investments?
Since 2011, our firm has started to sell its goods through Cagdas Kablo in the domestic market, which is again its own company. The point here is to minimize market risks, create value-add, have the Seval Kablo brand’s and goods’ availability and ensure its stability. Cagdas Kablo, giving services to entire Turkey with its storehouses in Ankara and Izmir, Istanbul sales office and Home Offices in Bursa, Antalya and Adana, started to work with regional agents that keep stock like itself with the “DOMESTIC MARKET” factory (capacity of 100 Tons of Copper/ Month) established within Seval Kablo. The dealers buy the products at the producer prices from Cagdas Kablo and present them to its project and regional customers. Our target as Seval Kablo is to form dealers that we can work with like Cagdas Kablo in all the cities.
Lately, Seval Kablo’s name has been started to be heard more often in the prestigious works in the domestic market. To where do you connect this success to?
As Seval Kablo, we manage our organization in align with our vision we have specified in 2011, that is to become a pioneering firm with high brand value. First, promotional activities of our brand has been made to all investing institutions/ establishments, consulting firms that design projects and electricity contracting firms by periodic visits. Since our products, varieties, export, factory capacity and service quality supported these promotions, we have become a brand desirable in prestigious, reputable and strategic projects in Turkey and in the World. Of course, we have more way to go since stagnating is against to our team spirit and love of work.
Additionally, as you will be hearing shortly, we have proudly signed 2 big agreements as Seval Kablo. The first one is the 10.000.000 $ frame supply agreement that we made with the biggest industrial institution and the second one is a purchasing agreement worth 20.000.000 TL in Anatolia’s biggest project.
We have earned these and similar projects with our quality and strength of brand. I thank to all my team members and solution partners for their contributions.
You have been awarded as first rank in export in the cable sector by DENIB. How do you evaluate Seval Kablo’s success in export?
Actually, Seval Kablo has based its growth with export. Our sales that we made to more than 60 countries so far and the projects that we had been preferred with in these countries always showed us that there is nothing stopping us and that we have to keep our targets high. Parallel to our continuously increasing capacity, what we are most proud of is value-add in our export capacity. Otherwise, the companies’ situation with just the targets of turnover and sales speak for itself. We are a firm that believes in the circle of investment and earnings and we live as so one-to-one.
The hardships in the cable sector have increased lately. Why do you think this is so?
This question, in fact, is an important one in terms of analyzing our sector’s situation in the last period. One needs to look at this problem from a different point of view; for instance,
•Sales politics that is just sales- oriented,
•Out of standard productions,
•Inspection and control being done by the government,
•Firms with no investment of branding,
•Capital and credibility not matching up with the works being done,
•Domestic risks and unreceived payments,
•Exchange rate risks,
•Unprofessional production and sales organizations
•The decrease in the competitiveness of firms that fall behind in investments,
•The mismanagement, moreover, clumsiness of sectorial agencies…
Any firm falling in distress is, in fact, not a wanted a situation in our sector because we are a company of a sector that can renew itself with the development of right kind of competition. No one should become happy with another company’s falling behind because this kills our sense security as a sector.
We, as Seval Kablo, have been preparing for this kind of situation for the last one year as I have mentioned earlier. This is why we are very comfortable as a firm. Of course, physically the scarcity of raw materials is a negative factor but I think currently all systems are right. Forward sale of a precious metal such as copper is a situation that had astonished us for years anyways, which caused the easy growth of companies that have no infrastructure.
The credits in the sales of cable tied to this situation should decrease, which shall be applied compulsorily in our sector.
In brief, we are doing a painful, expensive and risky business. We will win and keep on growing. No matter who does what, the situation of companies with no plans, no investments that stagnate and fall behind and just talk speaks for itself.
You have product insurance worth 10 million TL, which is a first in Energy cables in the World. What is the return of this to you?
This kind of application is present in other sectors but we have taken the first step as an energy cable company. Today, every step of this work that we do is a ring of the chain such as production–quality-control-R & D- transportation–sales – advertising… We took all of the chain under guarantee with “Product Responsibility Insurance,” which pleases the customers and we, in turn, are very pleased from the positive feedback we receive.
Finally, is there anything you would like to add as Seval Kablo?
The last period showed us that great things are done with the contribution of a team that believes. There are lots to be done on the way that go our targets and, surely, we have not only the power, but also the excitement. Stagnating, picking on people and systemless firms will have no place in the sector with time. Moreover, we do not feed on gossip or someone else’s hardship like incapable people. We just do our job and try to evaluate the processes well. We put the right examples to our dreams and, with these dreams, we grow more with our partner friends by each day and we will keep on growing,