SleepTech Magazine Mattress, Accessories, Machinery, Raw Materials
The manufacturer of all kinds of springs at highest quality along with all levels of carbon steel wire…
Based in Kayseri, Turkey, Boycelik is the most leading raw material supplier of European and the world for the mattress and furniture industry. To discover the success story of the company, Sleep Well editors asked various questions to Mr. Feridun Tosun, Chief Sales and Marketing Executive of Boyçelik.
How long have you been active in this business?
After 55 years of production and experience as a department of Boydak Group, Boycelik was officially formed as a stand-alone company in 2006 upon reaching a substantial capacity.
With which products are you in the mattress business? Do you have any patented products among your product groups to offer special solutions to your business partners?
Boycelik manufactures low, medium and high carbon steel wire, bonnel springs, pocket springs, SL springs, cosiflex springs, offset springs and zigzag springs to meet the needs of the mattress industry.
Where and what kind of materials do you supply for the production of your products? Do you import?
Boyçelik provides raw material (wire rod) from Turkey and Europe. In doing so, Boyçelik’s first aim is to choose the highest quality raw materials from different suppliers. We believe good quality raw materials help with good
quality finished product.
How do you realize product development? Is it realized by your R&D Department? How important are your R&D activities in your company policy?
Information is collected via joint effort of Production, QC and Sales Depts. by researches done at fairs, from social media and printed media. Also the info received from customers is noted as part of R&D data. Then, upon agreeing on what new product would have large demand, samples are produced and tested, until the desired outcome is reached.
As for production and quality R&D, related departments continuously do research and tests to get more efficiency from our daily duties. These are measured by several techniques recorded for self – checks and comparisons.
Which countries do you export?
Boyçelik mainly exports to European countries, USA, South America, the Middle East, North Africa and Far East; moreover, exports to 65 countries in total have been realized.
How much capacity do you have in production, export and domestic sales?
Boyçelik has an annual production capacity of 62,000 tons of steel wire, 400,000 pcs pocket springs ,5,000,000 pcs bonnel springs, 820,000 pcs SL springs and 300 tons of zigzag springs. 58% of total production is sold in
domestic market, and 42 % of the total production is exported.
Can you furnish us about your new investments?
When we compare production numbers of mattresses with last years, we realize that consumption and production numbers are increasing and growth is expected to continue in the following years as well. The demand for pocket spring mattresses is increasing compared to bonnel spring mattresses.
The main reason for this is the change in consumer preferences and understanding of quality. That’s why we decided to make investment on pocket spring machines and increase pocket spring production in 2013. We also decided to increase production capacity of steel wire in 2013. This means additional investments in new machines.
Are there problems in the sector and do you offer any solutions for those problems?
A big handicap in bedding industry is in-competitive prices in international markets due to high transportation costs. R&D studies should be made to reduce transportation cost by shrinking the volume of packaging to be able to pack
and load more goods in trucks or containers. Product designs are not sufficient and not effective enough. Expectations and needs of consumers should be pre-determined, which will enable the service of right product to the market at the right time. We, as Turkey, are not very well known in international markets, that’s why we must generate brand names to provide a competitive advantage.
How do you evaluate the development of the mattress industry in Turkey and in the world? What are your targets at this regard?
The volume of the world mattress industry is about twenty billion dollars. USA, China and Brazil are listed as top 3 in production and consumption. Production and consumption numbers are increasing and are expected to grow more. As stated above, the demand for pocket springs is increasing due to changes in consumer preferences and understanding of quality. This is valid for Turkey as well.
On the other hand, According to analysis made in Turkey, the volume of the mattress industry has exceeded TRL 1 billion. Turkey has a total of 25 companies, engaged in the production of beds, which manufacture approximately 3 million mattresses a year. However, production capacity is 7 million mattresses a year.
Unfortunately, a significant problem of the sector is that R & D is ignored. In addition, health awareness among Turkish people is not fully formed and most customers do not care about health issues and solutions. Consumers refuse to change their mattresses even when the product completes its useful lifetime. Sufficient awareness about the health effects of the right mattress should be established.
