Having more than 65 years of experience in the woodworking machinery industry, SCM Group established SCM Türkiye in 2021 with the aim of taking its effectiveness in the Turkish market to a further level. We met with SCM Türkiye Country Manager Umut Erkan to talk about the investments of SCM Türkiye, the change and development of the sector in the last 10 years, and SCM Group’s perspective on the region and the sector. Erkan said: “The founding purpose of SCM Türkiye is primarily to provide support and service to established companies in Türkiye. Türkiye is an important supply base for Africa, the Middle East and Turkic states, thanks to its geopolitical location and skilled employees in production.”

SCM Group, one of the most important players in the global woodworking machinery industry, established SCM Türkiye with 100 percent Italian capital in 2021, after providing service to the Turkish market through main distributorship through the best solution partners for years. We talked about the work and goals of SCM Türkiye, which serves sectors such as furniture, doors, windows and timber, with SCM Türkiye Country Manager Umut Erkan. Mentioning that Türkiye is an important market, Erkan underlined that the 37th WoodTech Fair, which will be held on October 12-16, is an important chance to meet with customers.

  • The Turkish woodworking machinery industry has come a long way, especially in production, in the last 10 years. How do you evaluate this process?

Certainly, the foremost issue is the branding of companies that are the first to come to everyone’s mind. This issue is no longer to be discussed, and it is seen that our companies are well aware of this issue with their investments. I believe expansion of the product portfolio is the second issue, because just as our machines complement each other in production, they also complement each other in terms of sales. If you look at all world-leading companies, they are carrying out new studies to expand their product ranges every day. I would like to mention SCM as an example, which is the undisputed world leader in this regard, we have the chance to serve the entire customer base of the sector, which gives us the potential to have millions of customers all over the world. I would also like to mention Türkiye, my area of responsibility, as an example. Here, we are signing multi-million euro projects with some of the largest companies in our sector, while our machines can also be found in small carpentry workshops. This connects us to the whole sector, not just a part of it. Even if a very large production power is necessary for companies to have such a wide network in terms of production, it will strengthen the hands of our companies in terms of sales. For this reason, even if our manufacturers do not have this production capacity, they can increase their potential with the cooperation among each other.

  • How did SCM decide to invest in Türkiye? What points did you, as SCM, pay attention to when making this decision?

The investment in the opening of SCM Türkiye Subsidiary, with 100 percent Italian capital, dates back to 2021. It was aimed at providing direct, extensive and all-round sales and technical assistance to all the Turkish businesses in the woodworking sector, from the artisan right up to major industries. SCM Türkiye can rely on a highly specialised team of technicians and sales engineers who are able to support customers not only throughout the entire life cycle of a machine, but for the whole duration of their entrepreneurial activity. SCM has served the Turkısh market for many years, working with the most important distributor companies of the country, and supplying a wide variety of products and services for all the woodworking application sectors: furniture industry, windows and doors production, timber construction and artisan businesses. The investment in SCM Türkiye Subsidiary has been a further step forward in this long time partnership.

“Turkish woodworking manufacturers are investing heavily to make their processes more digital, efficient and flexible”
  • What role do Türkiye’s geographical location and regional trade potential play for you?

SCM decided to invest in Türkiye because this is a strategic and ever growing market with reference to the woodworking industry. Although the country’s macroeconomic context continues to be complex, SCM Türkiye will achieve record turnover in 2024 thanks to the machining lines and plants we have installed and are still supplying to key accounts in the country. The establishment of a Subsidiary in the İstanbul area has been conceived to meet the requirements of Turkish customers as well as all woodworking businesses in the entire East Mediterranean region. Local businesses’ demands have significantly changed in recent years and the importance of automation and innovation has become undeniable. Woodworking manufacturers and in particular local companies in the furnishing industry are investing heavily to modernise their factories and make their processes more digital, efficient and flexible. As a machine manufacturer with the widest product range for the entire woodworking industry, SCM intends to add its high quality service to its product excellence in line with the latest market’s requirements.

“Woodtech Fair is an important opportunity to meet customers”
  • Can we get your opinions, as SCM about WoodTech Fair, the largest meeting point of the Turkish woodworking machinery industry in Eurasia?

Woodtech Fair is an important opportunity to meet customers and present SCM innovations to the market. In 2023, for the first time, SCM attended the exhibition with its own exhibition space, in line with the strong attention given to the Turkish market and the strategic investments made with the opening of the SCM Türkiye Subsidiary. SCM confirms its participation in the trade fair in 2024 as well and the Group’s spotlight will be not only on top technology but also on digital transformation and services. SCM has strongly invested in these fields as demonstrated by its Digital Control Room, a new service included for customers who have a connected machine, which allows SCM service team to provide proactive technical assistance before a possible stoppage or accident occurs, or to analyse together with the customer possible situations of sub-optimal machine utilisation, thus avoiding problems or additional costs related to excessive energy consumption or premature wear of components.

“Türkiye is an important supply base for Africa, the Middle East and Turkic States”
  • Which markets do you serve from Türkiye?

The purpose of the establishment of SCM Türkiye is to support and serve the established companies especially in Türkiye. Türkiye is an important supply base for Africa, the Middle East and Turkic States thanks to its geopolitical position and skilled employees in production. However, thanks to the organizations that our company has already established for these markets, they can manage their processes in the most successful way without the need to receive support from Türkiye.