Arzu CORPORATION
Created Date: October 21, 2024 07:00
Seçkin Birzat, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Laser Isse, which touches 23 sectors with its domestically produced laser welding machines; He pointed out that the sector is under Chinese invasion. Pointing out that the country has turned into a ‘poor quality product dump’ of Chinese companies, Birzat emphasized that imports amounting to 1 billion Euros have occurred in laser applications alone in the last 2-3 years.
The laser welding sector, one of the leading niche areas, offers great opportunities for investors. However, the industry is currently going through a difficult period. Laser Isse Chairman Seçkin Birzat, one of the entrepreneurs who noticed the gap in the sector years ago and turned to the field; He said that the sector had its share of the global economic crisis and fluctuations in exchange rates. In addition, Seçkin Birzat explained that they are under the invasion of China as a sector and said, “The country has turned into a ‘dumpster of poor quality products’ of Chinese companies. The price of machines coming from China is one third of ours. Investors are investing in Chinese brands, attracted by the price difference. Imports amounting to 1 billion Euros have occurred in laser applications alone in the last 2-3 years. “In this regard, we want the state to support and protect domestic producers and prevent imports,” he said.
THE COMPANY ENTERED THE COUNTRY
Explaining that there has been a 50 percent decrease in domestic demands, Birzat said, “Unfortunately, the profit margins we will obtain in Turkey do not allow us to grow. That’s why we changed the route completely to export. 40 percent of our production goes to the domestic market and 60 percent goes to export. Among our foreign markets, Europe and the USA are our first priority. “We have machines working in 56 countries,” he said. Stating that they invested in a factory named Laser Isse Europe GmbH in Germany last year, Birzat gave the following information about this year’s investments: “We established a factory named Laser Isse USA Inc in America. This year, we will invest 6-7 million Euros in machinery and construction and 1 million Euros in R&D. We aim for a 50 percent growth with an additional capacity of 4 thousand square meters in September-November next year. Again, there is a factory investment in Çatalca, of which we target 40 thousand square meters. “If we can find a partner with conditions that allow us to retain the management, we plan to do it in 1.5-2 years.”
HE WANTS TO BE A UNICORN
Entrepreneur Seçkin Birzat, who touched 23 sectors today with the laser welding machines he produced in the laser field he discovered in 2003, wants to be the first Turkish company to reach a valuation of 1 billion Euros by exporting technology in the field with his partner Burak Çelikkaya. Birzat, who aims to become a unicorn in 2029, said, “Turkey’s average value per kilogram in exports is around 2 dollars. The kilogram value of our latest export is over 100 Euros. We have a very serious say in the industry, so we are under serious harassment to be constantly bought by rival companies. However, our goal is to retain the majority of shares until we become a unicorn,” he said. Birzat said that they aim to export 10 million Euros for this year and that they want to increase this target to 15 million Euros for next year. Stating that they have produced and sent over 1800 systems to 56 countries so far, Birzat said, “We employ over 150 people. We have more than 50 engineers and a customer portfolio of over 4 thousand. “1200 of them are local, the rest are foreigners,” he said.
FOUND THE IDEA AT THE FAIR
Seçkin Birzat, who was born in Iğdır as the child of a teacher father and a housewife mother; He started his business life at a young age by working for his father to generate additional income. Birzat, who went to İTO Anatolian Trade High School after primary school, received training in an internship program in London as soon as he finished high school. Explaining that he always had an entrepreneurial spirit in him, Birzat said, “I started visiting fairs frequently. At a fair I attended in Birmingham, a man wrote my name on a pen with a laser and gave it to me as a gift. I’m smitten with this idea. I started thinking about what I could do about this. I researched and saw that there was no laser marking device anywhere in Turkey. “I decided to do this job,” he summarized his story of entering the field.
‘WE CANNOT GROW’
Birzat complained that they wanted to move their production to cities such as Çorlu, Gebze, İzmir and Eskişehir, but could not grow, and said: “Because we are losing our core staff. People cannot leave their homes, families and surroundings and disperse. We wanted to go to Eskişehir when we were 80 people, 60 people said they couldn’t come. Our biggest problem is that we do not currently have a world-class factory. The machine I produce covers my entire production area. I can’t start a new job without removing that machine. I’m losing business because of this. The value of the business we lost in this year alone amounted to 7.5 million Euros. We have the capacity to take on the job, but we cannot deliver it on time because we are not physically capable. We currently have a land. However, construction prices skyrocketed, we could not realize it due to uncertainties in foreign exchange and our inability to find a loan. In this context, our initiatives and searches continue.”
Source: bigpara.hurriyet.com.tr
