Fuat Demirci has nearly half a century of commercial experience in the foundry business. Starting with three shops in OSTİM, he now continues his production in Sincan. Demirci says, "Even if I can't find anything else to do, I pass through OSTİM every week just to get some fresh air." The experienced industrialist states that there's nothing that can't be done in OSTİM and adds: "As a craftsman, we are never inferior to foreigners. They can make tanks, they can make cannons, they can make airplanes."
When did you first become acquainted with OSTİM?
I graduated from art school in 1965. We were doing foundry work in a 60-square-meter space in Büyük Sanayi. The late Cevat Dündar started establishing OSTİM. We know Cevat from Büyük Sanayi. He was a good friend of my father's... In the early years of OSTİM, a single-row area called the First Stage was built behind the gas station. But at that time, we had no money, nothing.
Did Mr. Cevat offer you a shop as well?
There was no one he didn't offer, bless him. There was a Mutual Aid Association. We have a new shop, but we're just making enough to buy bread. These places seem like a dream to us. We go back and forth around the first phase area… A 350 square meter space felt like a factory to us. Mr. Cevat passed away, and Mr. Turan took over. I didn't have an office; I just had a tin can and a lined notebook. I would write down my receivables on one side and my debts on the other, add and subtract, see the difference, and know my money.
We had a tin can, and we used to sit on it. In Scythia, we have a house, a place that used to be a horse stable, but the roof leaks, and we work there. Citizens working in Germany used to come and go in their cars. In the old days, someone who boarded a plane was considered a very important person.
How did you become a member of OSTİM?
I think it was 1980; we bought a single shop, with a basement. After the first phase, it became too small for us. There were three shops on 29th Street. Three shops, but no water, no electricity. There was construction site electricity, and there was a pit in the back that would fill with rainwater. We bought that place.
You bought three shops side by side?
Yes… We paid 12,000 lira. We put the 12,000 lira in a bag and handed it over to Turan. Then the shop owner came and we got the title deed. I used to walk to number 112 on 29th Street; cars couldn't get there. Where was the road? The road was muddy, and when it rained, it was impassable. We didn't always have a car. I remember walking all the way from OSTİM to the beginning of Demetevler's 1st Street many times. We got the construction site electricity by running a single cable from a crooked pole. Because our work involved casting, we needed water. In the beginning, there was no water here. I used to have water brought in by tankers… Over time, we rented two more shops, and we had five shops side by side. During that period, I was the company that paid the most for electricity in OSTİM.
“I WENT DOOR TO DOOR IN ITALY”
During the great crisis of 2000, everyone was sitting around. Oh my God, there was no work, no opportunities. I grabbed my bag, a translator, and went to Italy. I went door to door; they'd kick me out the door, I'd climb in through the chimney. They'd kick me out the chimney, I'd climb in through the door. I had to get work, there was no other way, I had to export. I went to a company and offered to make samples…
I was going to make and send a cast part. A tractor part. The guy said, "The Turks always send a good first sample, but the subsequent parts aren't the same." I was very upset. After some back and forth, he said, "Send 50." I replied, "That part alone weighs 100 kilos, I'll send you 500 and I won't even charge you." We made 500 and I sent them for free. A month or two passed, no news. In the third month, we got an order for a thousand. We made and sent a thousand, then a technical drawing came. We made one drawing, then another. Back then, there weren't the same resources; you were making wooden models, you didn't know how to send them, you didn't know how to export, you went through so much. Then the number of parts started to increase.
Do all the work come from Italy?
Yes… A year passed, and we became friends. We went to Italy to check if there were any problems with the parts. They immediately formed a team of three or four people from the inspection crew. One of them said, "Friend, there's a 1 mm thickness in the part." At that time, I was a foundry worker, I didn't know anything about machining. He wanted to install the part in its final form. I didn't have the means. I was a foundry worker.
Does it require separate craftsmanship to make?
Of course. We have a foundry, but we don't have a CNC machine. We cast it, grind it, remove the burrs, put it in a crate, and send it. The guy says, "Friend, remove the part of the process I need to do, and I'll just install it on the machine as is." I'm looking for a solution… We decided to have it done by the craftsmen in OSTIM. We went to Ahmet, he hugged us; we went to Mehmet, he hugged us.
Didn't that increase your costs?
It does, but the Italian company pays the difference. So we started outsourcing this work to the market. Everyone was sitting idle during the crisis, but I was working. Business picked up at the shop… Over time, I intended to set up a processing workshop. My partner said, "We can't do it, everyone should do their own profession." Whether you can or can't… I stated that I would do it.
I found a second friend. He became my partner. We bought the machinery for $200,000. I said to my partner, "Look, friend, we need to do this ourselves. We bought these machines for $200,000. We use them for a year, and what if we can't manage it? We can sell them for $150,000. Would a $50,000 loss really bankrupt us?"
That's always been my philosophy. Whenever I start a business, I look at the risks involved, how much it will affect me. If it's going to take me completely, I won't do it; if it's going to restrict me a little, I'll go for it. There's no such thing as a risk-free business. We rolled up our sleeves with our new partner. We rented the two shops behind us as well. Five shops, now seven. The electricity wasn't enough. I applied to the OSTIM management, and they helped. We connected the electricity, and my machine started working. Let's invest in our business; God will provide everything. God sees your efforts.
How did you establish your new location?
As our business grew, we looked for a larger space and built a factory by acquiring land in the 1st Organized Industrial Zone. In 2007, we also acquired another factory next to ours. I am a person who loves investing in my factory, my workplace, in OSTİM.
“YOU CAN FIND EVERYTHING YOU'RE LOOKING FOR IN OSTIM”
Isn't OSTİM the place that started for you and continues to be, the place that resonates with your heart?
Even if I can't find anything else to do, I pass through OSTİM every week just to get some fresh air. I'm fascinated by this place. After moving to my new place, I vacated my shop here. I looked for work for two years. Three of my shops remained empty; I didn't rent them out. May God bless everyone a thousand times over; from the person who founded this place, to the one who brought it to this point, to the employees, to the security personnel, to the chairman. I definitely visit OSTİM. If I can't go anywhere else, I go to Chairman Sıtkı's place and have a cup of tea or coffee with him.
There's nothing that can't be done in OSTİM. In terms of craftsmanship, we're never inferior to foreigners. They ask for tanks, we make them; they ask for cannons, we make them; they ask for airplanes, we make them. You can find everything you're looking for in OSTİM. If you can't find it, you can find it from your neighbor. But it's not like that in large organizations. I got here thanks to OSTİM. How could I have built factories without it? We used to live day-to-day, and now our grandchildren are studying in America. At its core, it's always the honest earnings of OSTİM. Let's say there are 7,000 tradesmen in OSTİM; 5,000 of them know me. I've reached this age and I've never used a proper check. Once something comes out of my mouth, it's over.
- Conduct a survey in the Organized Industrial Zone (OSB). 60% to 70% would say they are leaving OSTİM. They are leaving out of necessity. Because it's starting to feel too small, but our hearts are here. Businesses like ours that need a larger space, will they call it 'Bigger OSTİM', or perhaps they know the name better? Hopefully they'll find such a place, and hopefully we'll become partners. May God grant us to see those days.
(Note: The sentence is incomplete and unclear in the original Turkish text.) “THERE ARE BOTH JOBS AND MONEY IN OUR COUNTRY”
We used to place ads in the newspaper to find white-collar workers. Now I've banned it, I've stopped that practice. Because they call and first ask how much salary we'll pay. Doesn't anyone ask about the nature of the work? Giving without receiving is something only God can do. You have to contribute something to earn your salary. I don't believe there's a crisis in this country. I don't believe they say there's unemployment; we're all lying. There are jobs, money, everything in our country.
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