Guest Blog: Spotlight on Turkey

An exclusive blog from Bilgehan Dogaç, CEO, CodeArt Yazilim Sistemleri, Lanner's partner in Turkey, looking at their growing economy.

Since announcing our formal partnership with Lanner back at the beginning of the year, our feet have barely touched the ground. We recently signed our first major deal with denim manufacturer ISKO who will use WITNESS to support a range of lean and six sigma programmes, improve the uptime of their weaving machines monitor and boost production. With customers including Levi Strauss, Marks & Spencer and Next, ISKO produces 200 million metres of denim every year and through using WITNESS to do more with less, they really are challenging the old adage about cutting your cloth!

We are also very pleased to see that Osmangazi University of Eskisehir, which has over 18,000 students, will be using WITNESS within the context of a new master’s program in its department of Industrial Engineering. Our universities programme is very important and we are looking to collaborate with more academic institutions to increase awareness of simulation technology in Turkey.

And with WITNESS already being used in Turkey by both Ford, Renault and FNSS, we are busy delivering training services to both companies to ensure they get the most value out of the software.

While Turkey has always been important historically and culturally as the gateway between East and West, it has found a new footing on the global map as a major emerging market, bucking the global trend by chalking up 5% year on year growth for the 10th consecutive year. While many economies have struggled to recover from the global financial crisis, the Turkish economy reported growth of 8.5% in 2011, thus standing out as the fastest growing in Europe.

The country is among the world's leading producers of agricultural products; textiles; motor vehicles, ships and other transportation equipment; construction materials; consumer electronics and home appliances, and as price pressure continues, so does the need to demonstrate flexibility, intelligence and innovation in production processes. Simulation plays perfectly to this challenge, enabling manufacturers to experiment with process change in a virtual environment so that they can implement new initiatives and innovations, minimise their risk profile and maximise profitability. For this reason Turkey remains a key territory for WITNESS and we look forward to a continued successful relationship with Lanner as we move into the second part of the year.