Sales General Industries has moved into new offices in Istanbul. They offer the ideal environment to drive growth in Turkey.
With our new office space, we are ushering in a new era for our business in Turkey,” said Jürgen Besser, Vice President, Global General Industries (GI). In Istanbul, the ultramodern Kolektif House provides space for creative work to companies ranging from small startups to global corporations.
“We are leasing 290 square meters (3,100 square feet) at a very reasonable price. We split it up the way we wanted and gave it the Freudenberg look. The office spaces are stylish and make an impression, so we can represent the Freudenberg brand appropriately. They evoke the good reputation that we enjoy among our Turkish customers as a quality leader. This kind of visibility and prestige locally is very important to many of our customers,” said Sedat Yurdakul, Sales Director, General Industries Turkey.
In years past, the six-person sales team – four employees from GI and two from Industrial Services – repurposed a leased apartment into offices. Today they welcome the new motivating work environment, the comfort level, and the improved cooperation that came with the move in early May. But with consistent double-digit growth rates in recent years, the organization’s business success was the crucial driver. With that growth in mind, another salesperson could soon join the team, and the new quarters already have a workspace for the person.
The new address in Istanbul
Freudenberg Sealing Technologies
San. Ve Tic. A.Ş.
Barbaros mah. Begonya Sokak No. 7
A+Live – Kolektif House D.No. 10
34746 Ataşehir/Istanbul
Receiving Customers
“In our offices and in the rest of the building, we have excellent options for receiving our customers. The Kolektif House offers space for training, TechDays and conferences. If we visit customers in other cities, we can even rent space at a Kolektif House there short-term,” Yurdakul said.
The activities of Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (FST) in Turkey’s industrial sector picked up speed about 20 years ago. Business has steadily increased since then. For a long time, the focus was on Simmerring® and fluid technology for construction machinery, washing machines and gearboxes. Well-known global manufacturers and Turkish market leaders became customers in short order. The business has diversified since then. It now includes accumulators and seals for electric motors. Above all, FST has expanded its services, which now include assembling kits and labeling products.
Freudenberg Xpress is another of these value-added services. It provides customers with single parts and small production runs very quickly – in any dimensions, geometries and materials. “We always have a solution for our customers. We don’t see ourselves as a seal manufacturer but rather as a partner offering solutions to customers in Turkey,” Yurdakul said.
In addition to Freudenberg premium brand products, the selection includes Dichtomatik parts that meet the industrial standard. In Turkey, FST also sells seals from its Japanese joint venture partner NOK. They are suitable for the many Asian construction machines in the market.
Coming Soon: Its Own Local Warehouse
Now that the move into new offices has been completed, the next expansion is in sight, this time into services: It is the opening of the office’s own warehouse in Istanbul next year, in cooperation with FST affiliate Corteco.
Besser offered a glimpse of the future: “We have already tested our warehouse concept successfully in Bursa, where the Transmission & Driveline Division has a major production facility; that’s where our Xpress operation is. We set up a temporary warehouse at the site to supply our customers quickly and directly. It has been well received. We’ve identified considerable interest and were able to bring in new business. In Turkey as well, ‘local for local’ is in high demand, especially for small- and medium-size companies. This fueled the drive to set up our own local warehouse in Istanbul for the long-term and operate it with Corteco,” he said.
