Home EDITORIAL COMMENT MSI-TDR’s Editorial Comment of Issue 112

MSI-TDR’s Editorial Comment of Issue 112

by Can Kılınç

Sarsılmaz Offers All Firearms Required by a Military Unit

Sarsılmaz presented itself under the limelight with the visit of Prof. Dr. İsmail Demir, President of Defence Industry Agency to company’s Düzce factories, and became this month’s cover issue. The visit was held in August, and during the visit, Prof. Dr. Demir and his accompanying delegation inspected Sarsılmaz’s R&D centre, production lines of various firearms including SAR 56, SAR 762 MT, and SAR 127 MT, and the products from these production lines. Prof. Dr. Demir and his accompanying delegation also toured the cutting tools production and sharpening section and the internationally certified calibration section. The R&D section, the backbone for all the firearms development successes by Sarsılmaz, was also graced by Prof. Dr. Demir, where he was informed regarding the ongoing works in the prototyping section. Prof. Dr. Demir then headed to the shooting range and shot various firearms designed and produced by Sarsılmaz with national resources.

Prof. Dr. Demir made a speech after his visit, sharing the following: “…Today, we saw the success stories of Sarsılmaz in its factories. I offer my congratulations to all the stakeholders that contributed. I am sure we will continue our successes on our way to becoming a global brand. I am sure world brand Türkiye will prove itself in our journey to larger weapons.” Prof. Dr. Demir then reminded that Türkiye could not even had indigenous assault rifles 7 years ago, yet it is now a country with many firearms companies that produce rifles and other firearms, continuing as follows: “Today, we tested vehicle mounted version of 12.7 x 99 mm heavy machine gun here. Versions of this weapon, for naval and aircraft use, are continuing to be built. In addition, we tested a vehicle mounted 7.62 x 51 mm machine gun. In addition to this, our MPT assault rifle has its gas piston system changed by expert Sarsılmaz engineers, lightening the weapon to create MPT-SH. We can see that all kinds of firearms are being produced with great care and precision incorporating the changes our Armed Forces desired, including 12.7 x 99 mm heavy machine gun, 7.62 x 51 mm machine gun and assault rifle, 5.56 x 45 mm machine gun and assault rifle, 7.62 x 39 mm assault rifles, 9 x 19 mm submachine guns and pistols. Today Türkiye is a global brand in firearms production; just like how our pistols became world famous, so will our rifles and larger arms will be. We are producing larger calibre weapons, and 12.7 x 99 mm is a proof of that. We will see weapons in 20-, 25-, and 30-mm calibres as well. This success belongs to Türkiye, to all of us. Turkish defence industry has a bright future. We will use both public and private sector to create various products.”

Latif Aral Aliş, Chairman of Board of Sarsılmaz, made statements regarding the visit of Prof. Dr. Demir and his accompanying delegation, sharing that Sarsılmaz became one of the leading firearms companies around the world through its 150 years of experience and that its Düzce factory could produce all the firearms required by a military unit and adding: “Sarsılmaz established TR Mekatronik company, partnered with Turkish Aerospace, and is developing 20 mm rotary cannons to be integrated into ATAK helicopters, 25 mm cannons to be integrated into tactical wheeled armoured vehicles, and 127 MT Air to be integrated into HÜRKUŞ-C aircraft, with this joint company to design and produce these weapons.”

Sarsılmaz has a very wide product range that consist of more than 300 products, from sporting weapons to pistols, from submachine guns to assault rifles and even to heavy machine guns and autocannons. The company is exporting its products to over 80 countries.

HSB Solutions Creates an Innovative Business Model to Prevent Brain Drain

Defence and aerospace sector is undergoing a transformation across the entire globe for various reasons and as such, expertise sees more and more demand. This also inspires new initiatives and business ideas. One young initiative that entered the sector with an innovative business model that was conceptualised by following the Turkish and foreign developments regarding expert human resources is HSB Solutions. The company was founded as a women’s initiative in February. Hazan Günay, Founding Partner at HSB Solutions explains the innovative business model, in an interview published in Turkish edition of MSI TDR as follows:

“Capable engineers are required around the world and Türkiye has built up a talent pool in this area. The people who are a part of this pool are happy to stay in Türkiye if they find good working conditions. As such, we started our journey to create excellent working conditions for offering Türkiye’s defence and aerospace capabilities to projects and companies both in Türkiye and abroad.”

Ms. Günay has shared the following on why they started this business in Türkiye and not anywhere else:

“Turkish defence and aerospace industry has developed significantly in the last few years, thanks to defence projects. HÜRKUŞ, ANKA, BAYRAKTAR TB2, AKINCI, T129, and GÖKBEY are some of the platforms Türkiye has created. When one adds various modernisation projects to this list, it becomes obvious that Turkish engineers have been involved in as many projects as their counterparts would see in their lifetime, in only a decade. This process created a very competent talent pool and engineering know-how in Türkiye.

With this in mind, the transformation around the world, the demand that is created by this transformation, the build up of talent in Türkiye, and the supply of this talent synergise well with each other. We started our journey by realising this potential.”

The difference between this new business model and simple contracting of engineering human capital is a crucial point. Ms. Günay answered our question on this point with the following words:

“First of all, HSB Solutions provide services with both its own employees and business partners. We put great emphasis on our employees. They are not mere numbers in our engineering potential. We provide the same or better working conditions they may find abroad in Türkiye. This includes a corporate culture, a multinational work environment, and personal development opportunities. In addition, they do not need to separate from their families and social groups as they stay in Türkiye. We are very confident that the people who see our working conditions will not want to move abroad.”

This business model has the potential to reduce the brain drain that has been affecting Türkiye, which had many qualified personnel leave the country lately.

Four expertise areas are prominent in HSB Solutions’ activities: Flight Sciences, Requirement Management / Systems Engineering, Avionics, and Safety. HSB Solutions provides support in flight science field for a foreign company that is working on eVTOL and took on the responsibilities of avionics business package of another overseas company. The company also aims to be a solution partner for companies that have offset obligations in Türkiye to ensure these obligations are fulfilled.

The company is also in touch with large, global companies regarding new business packages, and aims to have an engineering staff of 30 in its third year, and to increase it to 100 in its tenth.

MABAYCO, with a Focus on Customer Satisfaction, Shortens Delivery Time to Days with Correct Inventory Management

Another company that serves the sector with an innovative business model that focuses on new opportunities created by the development of defence and aerospace sector and creates a difference in its field is MABAYCO. The company was founded to procure chemical products, which are especially used in aircraft, quickly, cost-effectively, and reliably. Mehmet Ali Başaran, Business Development and Sales Manager at MABAYCO, in his interview published in Turkish edition of MSI TDR, shared the following on the foundation concept of the company: “We conceptualised MABAYCO as a solution partner company that will be representative or distributor of many brands, a company that will sell the products from brands without such a business relationship, and a company that will be able to provide alternative products from various brands. After making this concept real and establishing MABAYCO, our clients were able to find the product diversity they wished for under one roof. They started receiving services they always wished for but could not.”

MABAYCO had to fight pandemic conditions that affected the entire world right after its founding. Despite this, the company showed an immense growth and became able to provide a very wide product range to sector companies both in Türkiye and abroad. MABAYCO provides its services to energy, textile, and petrochemicals sectors as well as defence and aerospace, and it also procures parts, spare parts, and components aimed at civil aviation.

The company aims for a comprehensive customer satisfaction with its activities, and it can provide solutions for the whole special chemical procurement process, including logistics, sales, and after sales support with its experienced staff.

MABAYCO achieves very short delivery times with correct inventory management. The company can even purchase stock with its own initiative for clients that share their needs and forecasts and as such, reduce the delivery times to days, a process that could take several months otherwise. MABAYCO can even offer same day delivery to companies in Istanbul. The company made 1,183 deliveries to its 403 clients last year, averaging a delivery time of 7 days.

MABAYCO aims to be a global company that offers procurement services to the defence and aerospace sector. The company’s agenda includes receiving quality certificates like AS 9120 that determines the quality standards for procurement companies and developing its activities in the USA further. MABAYCO also evaluates opening depots in Ankara and Eskişehir in line with the sector demands and works on new distributorships and forecasts an increase in employment in line with these developments.

We wish to be with you again, dear reader, in our October issue that will include the important developments in September.

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