Boettcher is in Turkey…

Ozan Karacak

Boettcher is in Turkey…
Boettcher, the German firm that is a global actor in press rollers and rubber with its 25 distribution firms, 80 offices and warehouses, 90 representatives and more than 2000 employees in ten countries established its own firm in Turkey.
Boettcher is a strong and experienced member of the printing sector with its establishment that goes back for more than 280 years. The firm decided in 2006 to form its firm in Turkey. The first party of stocks of Boettcher Turkey (Boettcher Matbaa Malzemeleri Ticaret Ltd. Sti.) that became operational at ISTOC is already loaded from Germany.
Ozan Karaca who became the administrator of Boettcher Turkey describes the firm as follows: “Boettcher is an independent family firm. The developments lived during eight generations avail the international fame of the firm at the present. The courage of enterprise and maybe the more important modesty are the basic principles that are embraced by all the employees and subsidiaries of the firm. Reliability, quality and continuity are valued features. The basic aim of Boettcher is to transfer these values to its customers in the form of goods and services.
“Boettcher is a leading supplier of high-technology rubber, polyurethane, teflon and silicon materials and the world leader in industrial and printing rollers. Besides the rollers in printing sector, it also produces a rich variety of products for different applications along with chemicals and rubber compounds. It continues to develop new and quality products that meet the customer needs thanks to its R&D department.
“Summarizing Boettcher in figures shows that it has 17 production facilities, 25 sales and service units, 80 offices and warehouses and 90 representatives in 10 countries, employing a total of more than 2000.”
Ozan Karaca explains Boettcher’s decision to open office in Turkey with the development of the country in industrial, economic and commercial areas beyond printing. He says, “These played an important role in Boettcher’s decision to come to Turkey” and adds, “The rate of growth of Turkey, young population, increasing propensity of consumption and the increase in the number of schools and universities show that the future of printing sector is going to be bright. Boettcher with its 280 years of experience wants to help with these developments.
“The new Boettcher Turkey will stock primarily all the rollers of the printing machines that are in use in Turkey. Besides the rollers, the various chemicals and materials, washing solvents, fountain solutions, cleaning pastes, fountain folios and washing cloths used by the presses will also be stocked. Furthermore press rubbers for different applications will be among the products that will be supplied by Boettcher.
“Our purpose I to remove the problems felt by the printing houses and to aid them in their development.”
Ozan Karaca states that they are not planning any production in Turkey so far but will be stocking the rollers used by the common presses in use in Turkey. The customers will be able to return their old rollers to Boettcher Turkey for a nominal fee following the replacement by the original rollers brought from Germany. Later, these old rollers will be sent to Germany to be reprocessed.
He says that the firm will be employing two experienced sales personnel who will be trained on the job about the products and the applications used in Turkey, adds, “Boettcher really has a great experience. We will render our sales personnel capable of solving the problems in Turkey.”
Boettcher produces rollers for sheet offset presses and has various rollers and rubbers for heatset and coldest presses.
Ozan Karaca lists the features that distinguish Boettcher from its rivals as follows: “First of all, Boettcher produces the raw material it uses, that is, the rubber, itself. In this regard it has over 2000 recipes. About 500 of these are being actively used. There is an ongoing R&D activity that is immediately reflected to production. Boettcher provides ex-factory rollers for machines like Heidelberg, Komori and MAN Roland. The rollers are mass produced without any manual intervention from the beginning to packaging. Very sensitive measurement systems are used; again manual-free techniques that use laser measurement. Therefore, the technology used is very advanced. This reflects directly to product quality.”
He points out that the firm can now import directly and the first stocks are already loaded from the factory in Germany and adds, “In a very short while, we’ll be able to provide our customers directly from our own stocks. We can also advance offers.
“Boettcher is a brand that is well-known in the Turkish market for about 8-9 years. It has numerous customers. The prices will be lower compared to the past and most importantly, the delivery will be much faster. Prices will be more favourable and products will be more diversified. Boettcher wasn’t too active especially in the chemicals and there will be printing rubbers for different types of applications.”
Boettcher Turkey’s primary target is to participate in the fair that will be held in Gaziantep. Ozan Karaca is planning training and seminar programs that will be concentrated in the autumn. Trainers from abroad will train the attendants. Dense customer visits and other promotional activities are also in the agenda of the firm.