PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2012

Editour reports 11 PET planet insider Vol. 13 No. 05/12 www.petpla.net Köksan PET Packaging Industry We met: Mr Murat Kökoglu, Member of the Board An affair of rapid growth With 17 preform lines and six closure lines, Köksan is one of the largest converters in Turkey as well as further afield. The rise from the first preform in 2004 up to an annual capac- ity of just under 100,000t of PET/a has been a rapid affair. This article sets out to track develop- ments over the last five years in this company which is just coming up to its centenary. The initial situation was not particularly auspicious. The last occasion we visited Köksan (which was five years ago) it was just one preform manufacturer among a host of others in Turkey. Its head office and preform production centre were located at some distance from one another. Gaziantep, with a population of nearly one million, is situ- ated in the remote South-East of Turkey, and is an impor- tant industrial centre. And the fact that Köksan’s product portfolio tends to be made up of standard commodities makes the company vulnerable to global competitive forces in the preforms sector. The company’s success cannot be ascribed to its favourable pricing structure because, had that been the case, Köksan would not have been consistently able to invest and re-invest in the expansion of its lines. So what is the secret of its success? This was the question we put to Murat Kökoglu, who is currently the 3rd generation of his family to manage the company. “We love our work, I don’t just go to work in the mornings, I actually run“ is how he sums up his enthusiasm for the company. This get-up-and- go attitude is infectious and acts as an inspiration to the other employees. Ali Ihsan Muhittinglu, Area Sales Man- ager confirms this: “We are a young team and look forward to the new challenges that each day brings“. And these challenges are legion. And these challenges were legion. The company had formerly run an operation bottling pickles in jars and graduated to PET via this route. The initial challenge as far as they were concerned came in 2006 with the decision to relocate their preform busi- ness, which had been established in Gaziantep only two years previously, to the main company site. Murat’s father told us five years ago that they ”needed one or two extra machines per year“. This has instead turned out to be two to three lines per year. There are currently 15 Netstal and 2 Husky lines which are supplied with PET from Piovan lines and the preforms are inspected by the IMD lines. The cap business represents a relatively recent development. It is Köksan’s intention, using the brand name Eurocap, to supply the industry with single serve bottles, but also 1.5l and 5 gallon bottles, together with CSD and edible oil caps. The cap lines in Gaziantep have been focusing on these. They now have a production capacity of 4 billion caps p/a on six lines - two Netstal and four Husky. Along with these are Forstag tools and Corvaglia closures for which Köksan has exclusive marketing rights in Turkey. The switch to lightweight water bottles and closures was successfully carried out in just a few months, almost all water customers are now going for the lightweight option. The next project is the lightweight 1881 neck finish. Here Köksan are planning to enter the market during the coming year. “50% of our products are sold in Turkey and the remain- ing 50% abroad. We get a number of enquiries relating to the 1881 from beyond our national borders. And if we pro- duce the preform and closure with 1881 neck – here at our premises in Turkey it won’t be long before we find our local customers asking for it too“ is the strategy that Köksan is pursuing. The most ambitious project on which the Kökoglu family is now embarking is their own polymerisation plant with an annual capacity of 432,000t. The first half is due to go into production at the end of 2012 and the foundations are cur- rently being laid. The plant will be sited directly adjacent to the preform hall. “Production of the 216,000t of PET will make Turkey independent of PET imports which means that it is not only good for us, it’s also good for the Turkish national econ- omy“ explains Murat. And, by the time the second section of the plant commences operations in 2015, the Turkish market should have developed sufficiently to cope with it. This perhaps amounts to crystal ball gazing and iden- tifying definite strategies will play just as great a part in achieving success as the enthusiasm described at the beginning of this article. www.koksan.com A new era for Köksan with the PET polymerisation plant. Murat Kökoglu in front of the foundations of the new facility. The company name cast in stone, solid enough for the 4th and 5th generation.