Despite All Negatives In The Automotive Industry, ORS Realized 60 Percent Exports

Ortadogu Bearing Industry And Trade Inc. (Ors) Sales And Marketing Manager Mehmet Emin Akın:

“ORS HAS JUSTIFIED PROUD OF MANUFACTURING A TECHNOLOGY PRODUCT SUCH AS BEARINGS WITH HIGH QUALITY”

 Providing details about the company, Akın also draws attention to the fact that the inadequacy of the taxes applied on bearings imported from China negatively affects the domestic market.

Sharing details about Ortadoğu Bearing Industry and Trade Inc. (ORS), Turkey's first integrated bearing manufacturer company, which was established in 1982 and started production in 1986, Akın said: “With 400 employees and an annual capacity of 4 million 500 thousand units. started production. Its location is 65 km from Ankara Polatlı highway. Today, its outdoor area is 550 thousand m2 and its indoor area is 135 thousand m2. The annual capacity of ORS as of 2021 is 95 million bearings and an additional 30 million annual components (pulley, bushing, ring). With the new investments being made, the bearing capacity will increase to 135 million units. ORS owns a 3x7=21 MW power generation facility, an R&D department and a 100% usable recycling treatment facility as of 2009. The company's licensor was Austrian firm Steyr, which was later acquired by SKF between 1982 and 1991. The license agreement was terminated with SKF in 1993. As of this date, it continues its production with the knowledge, experience and efforts of Turkish engineers and workers. 2 thousand people are employed in ORS. The number of white collar workers is 320 and 120 of them are engineers.”

“The Main Production of ORS is Ball Bearing Production”

 Expressing that the main production of ORS is the production of ball bearings, Akın states that as of 2006, the production of cylindrical and tapered roller bearings has also started. Akın said that; “ORS has significantly reduced the variety of raw steel materials with the 6 hot forging facilities, which were put into operation in 1996, cold rolling benches and the transition from pipe material to forging bar material. The facility has around 2,000 benches. These lathes are CNC and NC lathes, which were purchased from the most well-known machine manufacturers of the countries where they were purchased. The average age of the bench does not fall below 7-8 years old due to new investments made continuously. As of today, ORS has ISO 9001:2005, IATF 16949:ISO 14001:2015, OHSAS 18001:2007, ISO/IEC 27001:2013, ISO 50001:2018, FORD Q1 documents. In this context, ORS, which is constantly audited by its customers, is the 'A' class supplier of all its customers. ORS factory is an integrated factory, on the one hand, rod and pipe material enters and on the other hand, it reaches the customer as packaged bearings.”

“75% of ORS Production is Exported to 30 Countries”

Stating that 75 percent of ORS production is exported to 30 countries; mainly Germany, England, USA, Italy, France, Spain, Poland, Russia, Czechia, Sweden, Canada, Bulgaria, Mexico, China, India, Hungary, Romania, Austria, Brazil, Egypt; Akın said that; “Our important export customers are VW/Germany-China-Brazil, AUDI/Germany, Valeo/Global, Fiat/Italy, Dana/USA-India, Brazil, Robert Bosch/Germany, Litens/Germany-Canada, Siemens AG/Global , BSH/Global, Dornier/Germany, Eaton/USA, Dana/USA, Alison/USA, Wabco/Global, Thyssen krupp/Germany-Hungary, Mahle/China, Continental/Germany. We are second-degree suppliers of BMW, Catterpillar, John Deer and Volvo.”

“ORS Gives The Other 25 Percent Of Its Production To The Domestic OEM Customers And The Retail Market”

Stating that the other 25 percent of ORS production is given to OEM customers in the country and to the retail market through its dealers, Akın said that; “The domestic customers are Turkey's major industrial establishments such as Arçelik, Tofaş, TTF, Lucas, Ford-Otosan, BMC, Karsan, Bayrak Plastik, TurkTraktor, Ford, Tırsan, Yimaz Gearbox, Gamak, WAT Motor, Omega Motor, ELK Motor, Volt Motor, Hema-TRW, Hattat Tarım, Valeo, BSH-Çerkezköy. Today, ORS is proud of producing a very high technology product such as bearings, which is an indicator of industrialization and a strategic machine element for every country, with high quality.”

“We Use Land, Air and Sea Transport Channels”

Mentioning that they use land, air and sea transportation channels in their exports, Akın said that; “60 percent of these transportations are land transportation, 35 percent sea transportation and 5 percent air transportation. In addition to the transportation cost, the image of the carrier in the market, delivery performances and the level of communication in the operational process are taken into account in the companies.”

“Despite All the Negativities in the Automotive Sector, ORS Exported 60 Percent”

Noting that there was an 18 percent growth in 2021 compared to the previous year, Akın points out that despite all the negativities in the world's automotive industry, ORS exports 60 percent. Akın continues his words as follows: “However, the uncertainties in the companies continued. With our previously planned investments, new projects of our export OEM companies continued.”

“Exorbitant Increases in the Logistics Sector Added to the Pandemic”

Stating that due to the global pandemic in the last two years, European and American continent suppliers have started to approach Far Eastern manufacturers with caution; Akın states that with the addition of the 600 percent and 700 percent exorbitant increases in the logistics sector to this pandemic, some important customers have started to see the results of this and they wish it to be permanent. Akın said that; “We believe that Turkey's chances will increase, especially on the side of European suppliers, due to its geopolitical position and strong supply chain of the supplier industry. As a different market, if it ceases to be a cheap market according to the developments in China, the Middle East and Africa continent are among our target markets. Chinese manufacturers hold 70 percent and 80 percent of the trade here, and competition with them is very difficult under the current conditions.”

“If There Is an Attractive Offer, We Will Consider It”

Emphasizing that they can increase their production capacity according to the developing domestic and export market situation, Akın also says that they do not have any investment plans with foreigners for now. Akın continued by saying that; “However, if there is an attractive offer for the future of ORS, we will consider it. As ORS, we established a company that produces spindles and grinding machines in Korea under the name of 'ORS-KOREA'. From there, our sales in and out of Korea began. In previous years, the issue of purchasing a bearing factory established in Germany, Romania and Bulgaria came to the fore.

“We Give Weight to Special Bearings”

Akın stated that the production of standard bearings has become very competitive globally and profit margins have decreased a lot, and that western bearing manufacturers have started to produce at very competitive prices in their Far East factories. Akın said that; “The production and exports of Far Eastern producers under the protection of the state also affect our market negatively. For this reason, we focus on special bearings instead of high value-added use in the automotive and industrial field, which have better profit margins. Besides, producing bearing components is among our goals.”

The Troubles Encountered by the Transporter Also Affect the Importer…

Expressing that the problems experienced by the Turkish transporters in Europe and the Turkic Republics also affect them, Akın lists these problems as follows: “It is a question that the documents enabling the transit of vehicles with TR plates on the highway, for example, from countries such as Romania, Hungary, Austria, are exhausted and are not renewed before the end of the year. In addition, there is a prolongation of the progress bans of vehicles due to public holidays. On the other hand, there are strikes and work slowdowns at the border gates, as well as densities at the border gates. Due to the pandemic, there are vaccine and PCR test obligations and, accordingly, the prolongation of deliveries, the shortage of vehicle supply due to the import-export imbalance, and increases in prices. Due to the personnel whose Covid-19 test is positive, there has been a delay in communication and recently increased controls at foreign customs. On the maritime route, there is a constant increase in prices due to the space and equipment problems experienced on the ships, waiting due to the inadequacy of the workforce in the operational processes at the ports due to the pandemic, and high demurrage costs. There are delays in shipments due to strikes and slowdowns in ports, and transit time extensions due to the proliferation of transit ports. Due to the late deliveries, the production has come to a standstill and the deliveries are made very late, especially due to the lack of drivers in the UK and the USA.”

“They Sell Bearings to Our Country with a 10 Percent Advantage”

Adding his expectations from the relevant NGOs and the state, Akın finally said that; “When we export to countries such as South America, Argentina and Brazil, we encounter 18 percent customs duty without exception. They pay us 8 percent customs duty when exporting. They sell bearings to our country with an advantage of 10 percent from the very beginning. The production and exports of Chinese manufacturers under the protection of the state, as well as the inadequacy of the taxes applied on bearings imported from China, adversely affect our domestic market. It is our desire to eliminate such injustices.”