Karpen PVC, which produces PVC door and window profiles as well as aluminum support profiles, aims to increase its exports from 15 million dollars last year to 20 million dollars this year.

Halil Cankar, Chairman of the Board of Karpen, stated that they export 50&49; of their capacity and said, "Our goal is to increase this rate to 70&49;. Our most important foreign markets are the Middle East, Turkish Republics, Balkans, and African countries."

Halil Cankar, Chairman of the Board of Karpen PVC, stated that they have completed the infrastructure of their domestic market structures and said, "We have a total of seven warehouses in the domestic market, including Ankara, Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir, Antalya, and Samsun. Our goal is to focus more on foreign markets rather than the domestic market."

Halil Cankar, who pointed out that the most important problem in the sector is qualified personnel, said, "We cannot find the personnel we are looking for in this regard. We request personnel from IŞKUR, but most of them are over middle age and quickly get bored and leave the job. A solution must be found for this issue."

Halil Cankar, who said that branding is very important for them and they want to become more institutionalized, answered the questions of Ortadoğu Business as follows:

Can you give us information about Karpen?

Our company was established in the 1990s on wooden doors and windows. We continued our production on wooden doors and windows until 1995. In 1995, we switched to PVC. PVC continued as a door and window system. In 1998, we integrated with PVC and glass. In other words, we have become able to produce everything necessary for a window. In 2000, we had to move out of the small industry. Our number of workers reached approximately 110. We decided to become fully integrated. In other words, we planned for dust to enter one side of the factory and windows to come out the other side. For this reason, we bought a machine from Germany. After purchasing the machine, we started making window systems ourselves. In other words, we started producing the profile ourselves. Later, while asking for dealership, we bought another machine and doubled one of our lines, and then increased our line to 3. Later, they said, "Don&39;t do this job, give it to us, you produce profiles." Later, we left the window business. We made the workers working with us into workshop owners. We continued until 2008. In 2008, we realized that we no longer fit in the Gaziantep KÜSGET industrial site. For this reason, we decided to move to the organized industrial zone. We have been in the 4th Organized Industrial Zone for approximately 3 years. When we came here, we had a total of 6 lines, and now we have 17 lines. We started aluminum production in 2012 and we are very ambitious. We achieved a first in Gaziantep. Our goal is not only to be in the domestic market but also to open up to foreign markets. We want approximately 70&49; of our production to be focused on foreign markets.

How big are you in terms of closed and open areas in production and what is your capacity?

We have 20,000 square meters of closed area and 5,000 square meters of open area. In total, we have an area of 25,000 square meters. We export to 15 countries. Our monthly capacity is between 1,000 and 1,500 tons. We produce 200 tons of aluminum and approximately 1,500 tons of PVC monthly. Since the details of aluminum are numerous, we have fully established aluminum this year. We will start working as of the third month.

Which countries do you export to? What percentage of your production goes to exports?

Currently, 50&49; of our production continues as exports. In other words, we have exported one out of every two productions. Our neighbors are in the first place. There are Iran, Iraq, and Syria. But there is no Syria at the moment. Africa is in second place and we export a lot. We are also in the Balkans and Turkish Republics; but if we put it in order, our neighbors in the Middle East are in the first place, and Africa is in the second place.

What is the current status of your export figures?

We made 15 million dollars worth of exports in 2012. Our target for 2013 is 20 million dollars. Our goal is to focus more on foreign markets rather than the domestic market. We have already completed the infrastructure of our domestic market structure. We have a total of seven warehouses in Ankara, Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir, Antalya, and Samsun.

Are there any problems related to the sector? What do you think are the solutions?

The problems in PVC are mainly due to the very long maturities. Firms with larger capacities than us are opening up the maturity a lot. Because of this, we are having difficulties. Maturities cannot continue like this. A solution must be found against this. In 2012, we had a labor shortage. While we were looking for personnel aged 25-30, we had to employ personnel aged 45-50. We almost came to the point of employing retirees. We requested 20 workers from the employment agency. However, 18 of them left, and only one or two remained. Unfortunately, we cannot find qualified personnel to work permanently.

What are your goals for 2013? Do you have any branding studies?

2013 will be better than last year. We have placed an order for machines to increase our capacity by 30&49;. We will make a new investment of around one million euros. We have made the advance payment and signed a contract. Branding is very important for us, and we want to become more institutionalized. We plan to hand over a corporate company to the second and third generations.

What are your thoughts on quality regarding Karpen? Also, where do you stand on the issue of quality?

We attach great importance to quality. This is the first reason for our preference. Also, making this business with quality materials is another reason. We will bring Karpen to better and more beautiful places, God willing.