Hüseyin Semerci General Manager; Effects of Pandemic on the Plastic Machinery Sector from the Window of ŞENMAK

Şenmak, having launched the activities thereof in the sector in a small lathe workshop in 1987, started screw and barrel production as of 1995, and today produces screws and barrel systems for the world’s leading plastic machine manufacturers in its production facilities domiciled in Hadımköy district of Istanbul, following its respectively facilities domiciled in Bayrampaşa and İkitelli district of Istanbul.

Şenmak’s factory in Hadimkoy district of Istanbul is a R & D-focused manufacturing base based on high technology in the field of plastic processing machinery which forms the basis of value-added products. This is one of the reasons underlying the success of Şenmak in Turkey and European markets. Mr. Hüseyin Semerci, noting that Şenmak has been exporting 60 percent of its production in the recent years, pointed out that they experienced a serious contraction in export markets due the effect of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, and drew attention to the fact that all manufacturers in the world are experiencing similar scenarios.

Mr. Hüseyin Semerci continued his words as follows: “We export an average of 60 percent of our production every year. In order to increase this rate even more, we attend fairs and go on business trips to have new customers to our references in many countries of the world.

Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, France are our main export markets. We are an approved equipment supplier to Western European machinery manufacturers, which are well known and respected around the world. The targets we set for this year at the beginning of 2020 were to exceed the previous year.

The Covid-19 epidemic, which started in China in December and affected Europe together with our country in February-March, has shown that the world has been inexperienced against this epidemic regarding how the world will maintain its existence by taking a stand against this epidemic and how it will continue its business and caused decline in consumption and delay of new investments in industries except in areas such as food, medical and packaging sectors. Closure of country borders and travel bans took place and machinery and equipment manufacturers in countries where the epidemic is high have weakened in foreign trade, and each country has sought urgent needs from its solution partners in its domestic market.

Regarding Şenmak, our exports caused a decrease to 50-55 percent from the period when the epidemic started in our country until September. As of September, step by step, the rise of our exports was witnessed week after week –altough not actively as before- and whe got used to the habits of living with the pandemic, the new normal process, and the belief that the players in the industry should focus on their business . Today, European countries have not fully opened their borders in the context of combating the virus. Since some countries continue to quarantine for 14 days upon entering the country, business trips cannot be made.

In order to make a 1-week business trip in quarantined countries, you have to spend three weeks in the relevant country and 2 weeks off at home / hotel. In many countries in Europe, white-collar personnel still continue to work from home.

The fairs, which are the main elements of marketing, were not held this year, and the fact that some technical and commercial meetings cannot be held online and this is still an important factor in achieving full efficiency. In trade, we are going through an epidemic process in which we can face many problems that will affect all countries and sectors with the domino effect, delay and disrupt the supply chain from raw material supply to intermediate goods supply and ultimately upset costs.

In terms of our production volume, we are the leader in our country and among the five largest producers in Europe. Our evaluations show that even if we cannot reach the figures for 2019, we will end 2020 with a loss of 20-25 percent. The domestic market, on the other hand, started faster in exports compared to autumn.

We display a production and sales graph similar to the domestic market performances of previous years. Leaving worries behind, habits to live with the current process, return of domestic producers to their jobs and desire to do their production without interruption reflected us positively. “