Borsan Group is setting its investments plans in motion despite the fact that 2017 was a challenging year, and the company aims to become a global brand in LED and low voltage cable fields.
Borsan Group did not hold back its investments after a challenging year for Turkish economy and the company completed its manufacturing plant investments; company’s Gebze and Milano, Italy facilities are now moved to Samsun, Turkey. “Now, we are manufacturing our products in furniture, cooper cable, aluminum cable, custom low voltage cables, electrical appliances and LED lighting products in a single facility located in Samsun,” said Adnan Ölmez, Chairman of the Board of Borsan Group, having stated that they have combined 5 factories which were operating in different locations. “This improvement is valuable financially in terms of consistency and it is a source of pride for us,” he added.
“Our products are sold in 75 countries in 4 continents”
Mr. Ölmez further stated that they are focusing on product improvements for their available series in the LED and low voltage cable lines while developing new products and added; “Launched in December, our LED products are sold in 75 countries in 4 continents at the moment. I had the chance to witness the customer satisfaction firsthand. It was exciting to receive positive feedback in fair organization”.
“We are exporting 50% of our products”
Having underlined that they have focused on growth and product diversity, Mr. Ölmez continued: “In 2017, our growth was at 35% in terms of turnover. However, we cannot call this a real growth. The growth in turnover does not represent the volume and it is a product of increased raw material prices or the fluctuating exchange rate. Moreover, we place more importance on our profitability and not our turnover. When it comes to profitability, we cannot say that 2017 was a good year. Unfortunately, this was the case for the industry as a whole for the recent years. Building on these numbers, we can say that the reason behind our focus on different product group is to improve our profitability. In export, Borsan Group has sustained a significant increase when compared to the previous year. We are exporting 50% of our products. Now in 2018, we are going to reap what we have sown in 2017. We are aiming to grow globally especially with our low voltage, aluminium and copper cable products. And we are going to grow further in domestic market with our LED product range. In addition to R&D and M&D efforts, we are going to manufacture based on the needs of the market”.
“We are training the executives of future”
Having reminded that Borsan Group was established in 1984 and has become an umbrella company with 15 affiliates, 5 of which being international, with 2,200 employees, Mr. Ölmez noted that the “3K Project” begun in 2008 as part of their corporate processes. “We concluded that we should train our executives of the future after discussions with our consultants. Although it may mean that we are going to lose a few years commercially, it was more important for us to have a team which adapted to our corporate culture, and specialized in our business. After a protocol signed with Samsun 19 Mayıs University, we have started to recruit young people as they graduated. And we named this project which is beneficial for both the university, students and us, the ‘3K Project’. Our project was also approved by the Council of Higher Education and our first recruits are still working with us, paving the way for both their and our future,” he added. Adnan Ölmez, on the secrets of success, said, “Success follows when you meet with the right person at the right time. This is my secret. I act in agreement with my partners. And of course I work with professionals”.