1- Imas Makina is one of the leading companies in the milling technologies industry. First of all, can you briefly tell us the history of your company's establishment and the place and role it has in the sector?

Our company was established in 1989 within the body of İttifak Holding. Our company, which always aims to be at the top, is among the 3 largest companies in Turkey. We are among the top 5 companies in the world. As Imas; We carry out the production, marketing and after-sales services process with our experienced professional staff and business habits in international norms. We continue our work with the knowledge, experience, and responsibility that will bring new technologies, production speed and standardization required by the global economy, minimizing production costs, solving the need for instant support, and corporate continuity principles.
We operate under the brand name Milleral in the grain milling industry, Viteral in the feed milling industry, Cuteral in the band and circular saw benches and Steral in the steel construction industry.
With Milleral, we offer turnkey production and installation services for machines and complete facilities used in the processing of grains such as wheat, corn, rye, oats and barley into flour and semolina. Viteral, on the other hand, is our brand that carries the service of producing and installing machines used to produce cattle, ovine and poultry feed as turnkey facilities to the feed machinery sector.
With our Cuteral brand; We offer high speed cutting circular saw machines to the sector, together with saw benches in many models such as angled, semi and fully automatic, articulated, columnar, fast cutting and PLC. Also with Steral; In the construction sector, we realize turnkey projects such as industrial buildings, service buildings, social buildings (hotel, shopping mall, hospital), stadium and bridge.

2- Could you give brief information about your production facilities? (How many square meters, how many employees, technology used etc.)

We have a closed area of ​​approximately 30 thousand square meters on an open area of ​​approximately 60 thousand square meters. We have a parking area for 42 vehicles, a 1 km long walking path that our personnel can use, and a basketball and volleyball court. The factory layout was designed in accordance with the production processes and planning. We have approximately 2 thousand square meters of ready and semi-finished warehouse area. We increased the sheet metal processing speed 3 times with our 6 kW fiber laser machine. We achieved a 40 percent increase in productivity with our 5 Axis CNC machines. We have also increased the quality of production with robotic welding.

3- There are many milling machine manufacturers in Turkey. What does Imas promise to flour industrialists in this fiercely competitive sector? What qualities does it stand out for?

The main points where İmaş makes a difference: innovation, quality, technology, sustainability… Another important issue is that we provide spare parts and technical service 24/7. We have a separate team for after-sales services, which we call ProSupport. We care very much about after-sales and providing sustainable service in this field is among our business priorities.

4- Could you give us brief information about the important projects that you have implemented recently?

In 2018, there are 3 flour production facilities of 500 tons - 300 tons in Algeria, 120 tons of semolina production facilities, 240 tons of flour production facilities in Russia, 240 tons and 60 tons of flour production facilities in Uzbekistan, 100 tons of flour production facilities in Ethiopia, and 100 tons of flour production facilities in Mali. tons of flour production facility and facilities that we have commissioned in many countries of the world. Also this year, we have commissioned a 200-ton flour production facility for Torku company and a 300-ton flour production facility for Ekol Sera company in our country. However, the assembly continues in many countries and we have projects that are in the commissioning phase. They can be informed about every project we have commissioned by following us on our social media accounts.

5- Imas is among the companies that invest the most in R&D. A company that is particularly focused on this issue. You established the R&D flour mill supported by Tübitak in 2012. You established a new R&D center last year. Can you tell us about your R&D activities and the budget you have allocated to this subject? What was the contribution of your R&D activities to your sales and brand value?

As a company, we attach great importance to R&D. As we are among the first 1000 exporters of Turkey, we took our place among the first 250 companies that invested most in R&D in Turkey and we broke new ground in the sector. We are justifiably proud of this. Last year, the amount of expenditure we made on R&D exceeded 6 Million TL. We expect this figure to be at the same level in 2018 as well. We increased our investments with the activation of our R&D center. These investments we made were very effective in improving our product quality in a short time. Our R&D center continues to work rapidly on new product development, and this framework is also very beneficial for university-industry cooperation.

We attach importance to While reducing our production costs, we were able to develop products with high energy efficiency, and this reflected positively on our exports. With this center, we aim to contribute to the creation of an economic environment with high productivity and competitiveness, while producing products with high added value, focused on innovation, and qualified employment.

6- Can you give us information about your operations abroad? How many countries have you sold to? Is there a particular area you focus on?

As Imas Makine, which stands out as one of the rare brands with its own patent in its sector, we carry our technology from Central Asia to the Middle East, from African countries to the Turkic Republics. On the other hand, in 2017, we carried out 19 turnkey projects from Asia to Africa with the Milleral brand. With the ongoing projects in 2018, we increased this number to 39. We continue our projects in 17 different countries in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. To date, we have exported to 94 countries in total. The region we focus on is Africa… On the other hand, we participate in fairs in many parts of the world. For example, in the last 2 months, we took part in fairs held in Turkey, Philippines, Algeria, Kenya, Germany, Mexico, Nigeria and Chile. The number of fairs we attended has approached 30 this year…

7- You opened an office in the USA in 2011. Since then, you have been a supplier to giants such as ADM and Ardent Mill. How is the interest in Imas in the North American market? How well did your expectations meet?

When we opened the office, we set out knowing that the American market was not easy. We encountered certain resistances in the first years, but we continued to serve and take place in the sector by working tirelessly. Currently, we continue our machinery sales to the mills of world giant companies such as ADM in different states. In addition, we continue to sell to mills in Canada. Being among the suppliers of a world giant company like Cargil is an important source of pride for us.... The American market is a market where companies that play in the 1st league and provide high-standard quality and service... we have proven. In addition to these companies, we are among the important suppliers of large groups that have mills in many states of America such as Mennel, Fairview, Grain Craft.

8- What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the milling industry right now?

The biggest challenge in the industry right now; The narrowing of the market, the increasing competition and the increase in the number of producers day by day, resulting in quality problems…

9- You are in close contact with flour industrialists. What kind of expectations do customers have from mill machinery that raises the bar for technology?

Especially the expectation; Reducing input costs… This means reducing electricity consumption, maintenance costs and reducing the number of people working, which is accomplished with the full automation method. In addition, keeping the efficiency figures at the highest level by minimizing the stopping rate in the mill…

10- Can you tell us about your company's future goals and expectations?

Our aim is to provide service with quality facilities that will exceed the expectations of both our customers and our employees, where customer satisfaction is kept at the highest level without ranking, among the best milling machinery manufacturers at world standards. We are the company that invests the most in R&D among Turkish companies. Our goal is not only to add value to our own company, but also to contribute to the sector...

11- Mr. Mustafa, you are an experienced professional working in this sector for many years. Can you tell us about the changes you have observed in the sector in recent years?

The sector is shrinking day by day and the search for new markets and entering new markets are becoming more important than ever. In addition, providing after-sales service is as important as selling the project. For this, it is necessary to focus on this issue by establishing a separate unit, not within the existing structure. As Imas, we are proud to be Turkey's leading company in this regard. We provide the best after-sales service in more than 95 countries with our 24/7 ProSupport team. With the automation system we use, we provide our customers with online instant services and make them feel that we are a solution partner at every opportunity.

12- Turkey is the world leader in flour export. To what do you attribute Turkey's success? Do you think this success is sustainable?

No success is accidental. Success is 10 percent talent and 90 percent hard work. Sustainability of this can be achieved with a lot of work. I believe that Turkey will continue this and achieve greater success.

13- Our Black Sea neighbors Russia and Ukraine increase their grain production every year. These grain giants right next to us are also planning serious investments in the milling industry. Do you see investment potential in this region?

AforementionedRaw material production in the market, especially corn and wheat production, is increasing day by day. We hope that serious investments will be made in milling in order to increase sales margins by adding more value. However, we anticipate that the embargoes currently implemented in Russia may pose a serious obstacle, but this will have no effect beyond slowing the market's orientation.

14- Apart from these, is there anything you would like to add or mention?

As both a company and a country; Investments in technology and R&D will enable us to have a greater say in the world market. As Imas, we work with this awareness and move forward with firm steps towards the future. We will continue to provide added value to our customers, the industry and our country.