Eroğlu

    SEM plastic

    Founder Honorary President

1 - can you briefly introduce your company and tell us about your activities in the packaging sector?

Sem Plastik operates in plastic food packaging category and especially in disposable food packaging category. Examples of food packaging we manufacture include plastic cups, plates, cutlery, ice cream boxes, ayran cups, yoghurt containers. We export our travel service equipment to 7 of the world's top 10 airlines, including Emirates and Qatar Airways. Again, our food containers are packaged in yogurt, ice cream, confectionery and fast food group to the products of the important brands of Turkey and the world.

Our company started its activities in 1975 by producing spare parts for agricultural machinery. In 1985, we produced plastic parts in the telecommunications sector; in this period, we served elite organizations such as Alcatel, Northern and thermal. Since 1986, we have focused on the production of disposable food packaging, which is our specialty today. We have an important market share in both domestic and foreign markets.

Our headquarters is located in Istanbul. We continue our activities at our facilities of 20 thousand square meters in Silivri and 8 thousand square meters in Malatya.

We employ 350 people together with our group companies.

2 - in terms of your company, 2013 (sales, growth, import, export, employment and turnover etc.) can you explain how it went through numerical data? Your targets for 2014 (Export, Import, new product and new market, turnover, growth, capacity increase, etc.) would you like to share)?

When we look at our 2013 figures, it is seen that the turnover of our group companies has reached TL 170 million. Again in the same year, we signed for sale from production exceeding 90 million TL. We also exported 22 million dollars of plastic products to more than 130 countries. As I mentioned before Silivri, Malatya factories and group companies we provide employment 350 people. With the increase in our sales from production in 2013, we have increased our position in the second 500 ISO by 39 digits and placed in the 4th place.

3 - did you have a new investment in 2013? If so, can you tell us about the place of the investment, the budget, the effects of the investment on your employment and your company? Is there a new investment or project you plan to make on your agenda? Would you like to share your expectations and what needs are there?

We evaluated 2013 as the year of progress in productivity on behalf of our company. We have invested in efficient and efficient use of all the resources in our company. Full automatic packaging machines, robotic automation systems, bringing processes closer together, energy efficiency, water efficiency, logistics and storage automation has created our investments.  In addition, we have done renovation and reorganization studies in some machines and processes where productivity loss is experienced.

With all our investments, we accelerated our steps in line with our vision and strategy of “becoming a brand that facilitates life in food packaging and disposable products in the world” and further improved our competitiveness.

4 - Do you have a new product or project that you are developing or working on? Can you tell me if you have one?

SEM Plastik continues its efforts to offer its customers a unique and integrated service and product range. Within our structure, we can perform all injection, thermoform and extrusion processes, and also in our plants, we make closed cycle production by recycling process. With the advantage of gathering all these processes under the same roof, we can produce solutions to all the needs of our customers as well as developing our combined product range which is the output of these processes. For example; we develop our range of products produced by plastic injection, shaped by thermoform cover and dressed with 9 color offset printing and label. In parallel with the needs of our customers, we will further increase the number of integrated and value-added packaging in the coming periods.

5-Do you export?  Can we get information about your foreign markets?

SEM Plastik exports are among our priorities. In 2013, our exports surpassed $ 22 million and we took our place among the largest thousand exporters in Turkey. Today we export our products to more than 130 countries. The countries we export most are England, Spain, USA, Palestine, Denmark, Iraq, Germany, Bulgaria and France. Meanwhile, we are opening up to new markets. Recently, the countries we exported include Latin America, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, as well as countries outside the traditional markets of Turkey.

6 - do you have R & D activities?

As SEM Plastik, we give priority and importance to R & D and design in order to develop our products according to the needs of our customers and to create new products. We anticipate the needs of our market and think, ‘How can we do something different,’ and we work accordingly. We have an innovative approach on the raw material foot.Thanks to our R & D investments and Sem Studio Design Solutions, which we established in 2007 to give an identity to the packaging, we have achieved many successes. We also carry out joint studies with Itu industrial products design department (ITU entas).

At this point, I would like to give an example of two special products developed by our R & D department. First,” Bor Plas", which is located within our Travel Service Equipment Product Group preferred by airlines, is our non-flammable dish. With this product, we realized a first in Turkey and produced a non-melting plastic plate in the oven. The dishes can be cooked at 200 degrees Celsius in the home-style electric ovens in the ‘boron Plas’ plate, which is much lighter than porcelain, and served on the same plate. Moreover, the dishwasher can be washed and reused. The plastic plate that is not melted in the oven, which is the first in Turkey, is produced by only three companies in the world. However, with our innovation efforts, we have made the product more quality than its counterparts in the world.

Our second example is the hot ashore container. Thanks to its special formula, it can be easily filled and protected in these plastic containers as soon as the ashure comes down from the furnace. With the efforts of our R & D team, we added A Plus feature to this product as SEM Plastik and we gained the ability to be heated in the microwave to these ashure containers. Now, those who love the Ashura hot can consume the Ashura they remove from the refrigerator by heating it in the microwave without having to take it in another container.  

We currently have 174 different product design registrations, 25 different ideas and inventions useful model registrations and 7 brand registrations, including our Bor Plas plate and hot ashure container. Our work for new and different products continues continuously. 

7 - by 2014, the packaging sector in terms of how it's been a year? What kind of future do you draw for the sector?

Packaging industry and market is growing rapidly. Changing living conditions and increasing demand for packaged products are the most important factors that make the sector bigger. However, the consumption of packaging in Turkey is unfortunately not at the desired levels.The packaging sector closed the year 2013 with a turnover of 16 billion dollars and exports of 3.6 billion dollars. Thus, packaging industry exports increased by 17 percent in value compared to the previous year. Plastic packaging products are also ranked first with 70 percent share in total packaging industry exports last year.The sector continues to work with a focus on growth. Although it is a difficult year, we foresee that we will close 2014 with growth figures just below last year.

8 - What is the most important agenda item of the sector right now? What are your suggestions and expectations for the solution of your problems?

I can specify the most important problem of plastics industry and hence plastic packaging industry as dependence on imports by 85 percent in raw materials. We need a new petrochemical investment to prevent the import of raw materials. However, the petrochemical investment plans to be made to our country in the short term are unfortunately inadequate. Recently, we have been following developments in raw materials closely. In order to create the domestic petrochemical sector in Turkey, the plastic production sector should be opened. However, in this way, Turkey becomes a major production market and making production in such a market is also attractive for petrochemical companies.

9 - What You Want To Add?

SEM Plastik, as I mentioned before, is one of the largest thousand exporters of Turkey. In addition, we are among the largest of our sector and with our production and sales figures in 2013, we have increased our position in ISO second 500 by 39 Steps and settled to 452th place. Besides all these, we have received the ‘Environmental Award ' from Istanbul Chamber of industry with our green production. In 2012, our two companies entered the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, which was attended by Obama with a live broadcast, among the fastest growing companies in the Middle East, Asia and Turkey. In addition, we have received the ‘summit special award ' with our entrepreneurship and investments in Palestine. With our investment in Palestine, we have created an example for the development, development and contribution of the region to the peace of the region.

The strengthening of domestic industry and production is of great importance for Turkey's development and growth. For this reason, we need to be a country that creates its own model according to its own conditions while benefiting from world experiences where obstacles in front of production are removed, entrepreneur, labourer and producer are supported.