Dear BEYSAD Readers,

A new firm has recently joined BEYSAD family. We wish this established company operating in its industry for centuries had joined us earlier; however, we are still very pleased to see this company as a member of BEYSAD. Our new member is Valf San. A.Ş. managed under the responsibility of the Elginkan Foundation and established in 1957 for the purpose of meeting the need for high quality valves. Hakan Şen, Marketing and Sales Manager of Valf San. A.Ş. was kind enough to spare his time for this interview amidst his busy schedule. We would like to thank him on behalf of BEYSAD.

Can you please tell about yourself? When did you meet Valf?

I am a mechanical engineer. I graduated from the university in 1992 and have been working for the private sector since then. I previously worked for companies engaged in heating, cooling and ventilation installations, production of steam boilers and bottle-glass production. In November 1998 I started to work at the marketing department of Valf Sanayii A.Ş. I am currently working as the firm’s marketing and sales manager in charge of domestic and overseas sales and marketing operations.  

Can you please tell us about Valf and its activities?

In order to understand the development of Valf Sanayi A.Ş. better, we should go back to 1950s when the foundation for Elginkan group of companies was laid. Elginkan Family, the founders of the Elginkan group of company, was dealing with engineering and construction undertaking businesses then. Once they saw the need for quality fixtures, armatures and valves, they decided to focus on the production of quality valves in 1957 and the first plant was established in Istanbul. These valves manufactured under the trademark E.C.A. met the need for quality products and has been a sector leader since the first day. The production activities which started in these years subsequently moved to Manisa in 1970 and are today carried out under the responsibility of the firm Valf Sanayii A.Ş. 

To which industries do you offer services?

With its valves manufactured from brass raw material under the brand E.C.A., Valf Sanayii A.Ş. is actually everywhere in our daily lives. At the moment the firm offers services to any fixture industry with its valves specific to water, natural gas, heating, cooling, fire and steam equipment, to the appliance and industrial kitchen sectors with its standard, safety or thermostatic gas valves that are used in gas cookers and heaters, to LPG tube sector with its tube valves and water and natural gas distribution companies with special infrastructure valves and components. In other words, you can meet our products on top of the radiator used in homes, in valves used in ovens or gas burners, in the cooling systems of cold shelves at a supermarket, as part of your natural gas instalment at home or on top of an LPG tube that comes your home. There is no other local firm in the industry manufacturing this huge variety of products under one roof. With its product type of more than 4000 and annual production volume of 26 million units, Valf Sanayii A.Ş. is the largest valve manufacturer of Turkey. 

Can you please tell us about the organisational structure of Valf?

Valf Sanayii A.Ş. is one of the 19 companies forming the Elginkan group of companies. The company headquarters are based in Manisa and production activities are carried out by almost 550 people in three different locations within the Manisa Organized Industrial Zone. The plant’s operations are performed by following units: production unit in charge of hot press forging, machining and assembly; technical department carrying out design and certification activities; management systems department in charge of quality assurance, management and environmental systems; quality control department performing quality control activities; planning department for production planning and purchasing activities; marketing and sales department in charge domestic and overseas marketing and sales activities; financial and administrative affairs department in charge of financing, accounting and human resources; maintenance-repair department for the plant’s all maintenance activities; and company headquarters on top of all these departments. All our blue collar personnel working for production activities are members of the Turkish Metal Union. 

Can you please share your export figures and which countries are your top export markets?

45% of our production output is exported directly to foreign markets. Moreover, a further portion of our products is exported to overseas markets as components used in products manufactured by our customers in Turkey. Taking this portion into account, we can say that our export volume is around 60%. We sell our products to mainly to Europe, North Africa and Middle East, Russia and Turkic Republics; however, our products are even sold to customers in South America. 

Our firm is also dedicated to the TURQUALITY brand creation programme that is incentivized by the government and aims to create “10 world brands in 10 years”. The ECA brand in the TURQUALITY programme is the sole representative of the sector in this product category.  

What makes you different from your competitors?

Indeed, what makes us mainly different not only from our competitors but also many other firms in the world is that all the companies in the group are managed by means of the foundation, which is an extraordinary practice. Although there are many Turkish firms establishing foundations or maintaining close ties with different foundations, it is very rare for a foundation to run the management of a group of companies. The ELGİNKAN FOUNDATION is responsible for the management of group of companies and the purpose is to ensure the ELGİNKAN group of companies lives forever and serves to its society.

Valf Sanayi A.Ş. today has a corporate structure which is the outcome of its deep-rooted experience in the manufacturing industry spanning 50 years. Adding to this our quality understanding which is never compromised, our firm produces environmentally friendly products that underline efficiency, safety and practicality. These factors makes us strong in terms of competitiveness. 

What do you expect from BEYSAD as a member? What can BEYSAD do for you?

We are aware that BEYSAD’s main purpose is to bring together firms in the white goods supply industry and create a platform through which common messages can be voiced more effectively and common problems encountered in the industry are dealt with more effectively. Our expectations from BEYSAD are mainly linked to this objective. I believe this will help us provide main industry firms with more satisfactory services, in addition to taking all of us ahead of our competitors in the business arena. I hope BEYSAD can cover all the white goods supply industry firms and play an efficient role in helping our industry qualifying for the world league.