We have adopted a fast digitalization path to protect the health of our employees and stakeholders.

Stating that they did not experience any disruptions in the supply chain with the measures they took in the corona virus process, ŞENMAK General Manager Hüseyin Semerci said that they will overcome this process in the best way.

We talked with Semerci about the production process in the Covid-19 process.

Covid-19 is the world's agenda and the most vital problem ... Could you give information about your precautions and practices in this regard as a company?

As ŞENMAK, we have taken the highest level of precautions to protect the health of our employees while managing the corona virus fight process. We have appointed a leader who reports the developments in our company about corona virus measures directly to our general manager. The manager of each department also constantly supports our leader within the scope of the measures.

In the first stage, we took measures such as disinfecting the entire facility every day, masks, warning signs, protecting social distance, and closing the playgrounds. In the second phase, we switched to a rotating and home office working order, the fever of the staff was measured every day, the health of our staff and the people they lived with was monitored, we provided our guests with masks and gloves and carried out fever measurements. In order to protect the health of our employees and stakeholders, we have adopted a fast digitalization path. We hold all our meetings with more than 3 people within the company and our meetings with our customers online.

We started to regularly monitor and update the processes we created within the scope of the measures. These measures consist of 60 items today.

In the corona virus process, we continue to protect our stakeholders, employees and values ​​with all the measures we take against the determined risk factors.

To what extent was SENMAK affected in this process?

We did not experience any disruptions in our supply chain. In January, we provided the other raw materials we use, especially the qualified steel that we have to buy in our work program for 2020.

We export 65 percent of our production to European countries. While the corona virus epidemic, which deeply affects the whole world, causes dramatic declines in the demands of our foreign customers, we continue to keep our communication and coordination with our current stakeholders strong in the domestic market.

While evaluating the market dynamics in order to maintain the stability of our company in the corona virus process, we continue to develop our scenarios that reveal the income-expense risks.

We have a staff of 94 qualified personnel including our R&D center in our company ŞENMAK, which manufactures in a closed area of ​​6 thousand square meters in Hadımköy. As Şenmak, if we can still continue to fight the corona virus epidemic, we owe it to 94 of us.

As part of the fight against Covid-19, governments announce various measures. Turkey also announced an economic measure. Do you find enough? What are the missing points?

Although we find the solutions included in the "Economic Stability Shield Package", which consists of 19 articles announced by our President, positively, we believe that there will not be enough solutions to our financing problems that our company and other companies in our sector are experiencing and therefore, we believe that additional new arrangements will definitely be made that will bring solutions to our problems.

(Money and interest payments of the loans we use, postponement of the payment terms for one year and without interest, taking all manufacturing and industry sectors into the scope of interest-free breath loan application and force majeure, deferring SSI, VAT and withholding payments until the end of the year, and energy expenses without interest. like postponing until the end of the year)

Every employee has a great value in the machinery industry. At ŞENMAK, each of our employees is very valuable to us, and we contribute to their professional knowledge by providing long-term training to our employees. That's why we didn't go to decrease employment. We hope positive discrimination will be applied to exporters who do not decrease their employment.

While appreciating its positive regulations in loans, especially public banks, KGF should be more active in this process.

It is seen that this virus epidemic, declared as a pandemic by the world health organization, will cause serious damage to human life and economies.

In the "Economic Stability Shield Package", we will support the principles of 'employment and production continuity' as much as we can, and the additional economic support of our ministers who manage the economy and industry of our country, especially with the support of our President, to the companies in the manufacturing sector such as us and the companies involved in the manufacturing sector under the conditions I tried to explain we believe that they will protect it by putting it into effect.

Could you share your expectations about 2020?

As ŞENMAK, we are never pessimistic, we will continue to contribute to the economy of our country by making extraordinary efforts for new markets in this process.

Effects of Pandemic on the Plastic Machinery Industry

Şenmak, who entered the sector in a small lathe workshop in 1987, started screw and barrel production as of 1995, and today produces screw and barrel systems for the world's leading plastic machine manufacturers in the production facilities in Hadımköy, after respectively Bayrampaşa with İkitelli.

Şenmak's factory in Hadımköy is an R&D-oriented production base that is based on high technology in the field of plastic processing machines and forms the basis of value-added products. This is one of the underlying reasons for its success in the Turkish and European markets.

Noting that Şenmak has been working as an exporter with 60 percent as of the past years, Hüseyin Semerci pointed out that they experienced a serious contraction in export markets with the effect of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, and pointed out that all manufacturers in the world are experiencing similar scenarios.

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 add 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 that 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 like February-March, has not been inexperienced in how the world will maintain its life by taking a stand against this epidemic and how it will continue its business, except in areas such as food, medical and packaging sectors it pushed the consumption to decline and to postpone new investments in the industries.

Closure of country borders, travel bans, 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.

Specially for Şenmak, our exports caused a decrease of 50-55 percent from the period when the epidemic broke out in our country until September.

As of September, step by step, week after week, 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 are witnessing the rise of our exports.

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 still 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 main element of marketing is that fairs were not held this year, and that some technical and commercial meetings cannot be held online, which is still an important factor in reaching 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, disconnect 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 the year 2020 with a loss of 20-25 percent.

The domestic market, on the other hand, started autumn faster than the recovery in exports.

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

GHOST NETS ARE RECYCLED INTO WHITE GOODS

"Ghost Nets", one of the biggest threats to marine life, will be recycled under the sponsorship of Şenmak Makina operating in the plastic machinery sector, and recycled into secondary raw material to benefit the national economy.

Marmara Archipelago Ghost Nets Project

The aim of the Marmara Archipelago Ghost Nets Project is to make a significant contribution to the aquatic ecosystem by removing 40 thousand square meters of ghost nets equivalent in size to 95 basketball courts from 25 locations in Balıkesir Marmara Archipelago Region. The extracted nets will be recycled and introduced into the national economy as secondary plastic raw material.

Marmara Archipelago Ghost Nets Project Exploratory Diving

The Marmara Archipelago Ghost Nets Project, which started in July 2020 with the initiative of Hüseyin Semerci, Chairman of Şenmak Makina is carried out in 25 locations determined as a result of preliminary studies carried out by divers.

All parameters of the studies were evaluated by Balıkesir University Faculty Members and Balıkesir Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry staff while the project report prepared by Assoc. Dr. Dilek Türker, Fisheries Engineer Abdulkadir Ünal, Dr. Ahmet Öztener, Expert Biologist Kadriye Zengin was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

The Ministry of Environment and Urbanization has approved the "recovery of plastic waste into the economy in accordance with the waste codes" in the project which aims to introduce extracted nets as secondary raw material into industry instead of disposing them in disposal facilities. Ghost nets that will be extracted ed within the scope of Marmara Archipelago Ghost Nets Project will be transformed by recycling companies and used in the production of white goods.

Image of ghost nets in situ

640 thousand tons of ghost net is abandoned to the seas every year

Balıkçıların, avlanırken ağlarını deniz dibindeki kayalıklara takması sonucu denize bırakmak zorunda kaldığı hayalet ağlar uzun bir mesafe boyunca, yıllarca akıntıyla sürüklenerek ve önüne gelen her şeyi tam bir katil gibi avlayarak hareket ediyor. Küçük balıkları yakalayıp onların avcılarını da bölgeye çeken ağlar, köpek balıkları, deniz kuşları gibi her yıl milyonlarca hayvanı öldürmekten sorumlular. Hayalet ağlar, canlı mercanları dolaştırarak, resifleri boğarak ve resif ortamlarına parazitleri ve istilacı türleri çekerek daha fazla hasara neden oluyor.

Ghost nets, which fishermen have had to abandon in the sea when they are snagged by rocks on the seabed while fishing, move for years, drifting with the current and hunting everything that comes their way like a predator. They are responsible for killing millions of animals every year by catching fry and consequently luring their predators to the area as well as sharks and seabirds. Ghost nets cause further damage by getting entangled with live corals, drowning reefs and attracting parasites and invasive species to reef environments.

According to the data of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, every year 640 thousand tons of ghost net enter the seas and a 100-meter ghost net causes the death of at least 300 sea creatures.

Creatures caught in ghost nets in the Marmara Sea

The aquatic ecosystem is under threat

Noting that the plastics used in the production of nets that stand out with their robustness are an important part of human life, Şenmak Makina Chairman of the Board Hüseyin Semerci pointed out that it can take many years for these plastic to dissolve and disappear as a result of erroneous and unconscious use of plastics that add value to human life with their superior properties which is why plastic must be prevented from becoming waste.

Hüseyin SEMERCİ Şenmak's Chairman of the Board

Stating that they had set off to contribute to the impoverished underwater life and fishing activities, Semerci said: “We will contribute to the aquatic ecosystem by extracting ghost nets from 25 points in Balıkesir's Marmara Archipelago. We will recycle and reuse the net waste and prevent them from becoming waste. We want to pay our debt to the sea and be an example with our project. Approximately 40 thousand square meters of net, which we will create with our Marmara Archipelago Artificial Reef Project, will be processed in a recycling facility and subsequently processed by a white goods manufacturer and turned into white goods, which are an integral part of our daily life."

Semerci: “The project should start from the Marmara Sea and spread throughout the country”

Noting that there is extreme urban pressure and traffic in the Marmara Region and Marmara Sea, which hosts more than 30 percent of the country's population, Semerci stated that ghost nets cause serious damage to the fauna and flora by covering the sea bed and continued by saying, ‘With the declining fish population in recent years, we not only know about this very serious issue, we are living it. We want to create national awareness in the public opinion, starting from the Marmara Region with our project. We are the source of the problem caused by the ghost nets that have drifted in our seas for years and demolished all living creatures, pose a serious threat to our seas and the population of the species, and therefore we must solve it.”

Marmara Archipelago Ghost Nets Project is executed by the Balıkesir Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, with the support of Marmara Island Gündoğdu Village Development and Beautification Association under the sponsorship of Şenmak Makina.