News From Us

Halk Bank SME - Domestic Tower Crane

•  1 January 2014
•  321 people read

Mithat Doğan worked in tower crane production in Italy for years. With the outbreak of the crisis in Europe, he united with his friends in the sector and started to manufacture these vehicles that had never been produced before in Turkey. Breaking Turkey's dependence on imports as it rises in construction, TGM Tower Crane managed to meet the needs of 40 percent of the domestic market in two years.

TGM Tower Crane- Mithat Doğan
Interview: Özerk IHLAMUR

Can you tell the founding story of your company?

Our company was founded on November 18, 2011 in Istanbul. Shortly after establishing it, we moved our company from Istanbul to Düzce. We chose this place because of its proximity to both Istanbul and Ankara.

For many years, my partners and I worked in Europe and were in this sector. The machines we had built were coming to Turkey.
 
After our research, we saw that there was no one doing this job in Turkey. We said, "Let's do this job in Turkey, let's prevent purchases from abroad," and we came to our country. After their arrival, there were serious concerns in Turkey about the tower crane. At first, we saw that the materials we would use were not produced by local manufacturers, and that the materials to be used in the tower crane were generally of low quality or high cost. We were having difficulty finding these parts, but since the tonnage of the materials we requested was high, the companies responded to our requests. We produced twelve machines in the first year. At first, there were serious concerns about domestic goods. We experienced serious difficulties in the first year, but we managed to overcome these difficulties. After our machines were used, contractors, subcontractors and businessmen in Turkey said, 'at least it is local', they trusted our brand and bought it.

How were you inspired by this idea you got from Europe?

I stayed in Italy for about twelve years and worked in this sector. My other partners also worked in this sector. After the 2008-2009 European crisis, our work there decreased. We knew that Turkey also had serious potential.

Do you think that if there is a possible contraction in the construction industry, your business will slow down?

We are not considering such a thing right now. We think that we have at least 20 years ahead of us. Türkiye imports 250-300 tower cranes from abroad annually. Here, we can only address 40 percent of the market as of now. We are trying to supply 100 percent in the future.

Do you also export?

We have sold almost 95 percent of the tower cranes we currently produce domestically. Because tower cranes are still coming to Turkey from the Far East and Europe. Our aim is only to reduce the prices of cranes of poor quality or high quality but high prices coming from abroad... Our first target is Türkiye...

How many people do you employ in your company?

When our company was founded, we were 12 people. As of now, we have more than 110 employees. The number of tower cranes we have produced to date has exceeded 90 and there is one operator working on each machine. However, these operators are not within our own structure, but within the companies we sell, and as a result, approximately 200 people are employed thanks to us.

What are TGM Tower Crane's plans for the future?
Our main goal for the future is to create a permanent brand that is passed down from generation to generation... The lifespan of tower cranes is 25 years. After 25 years they should be scrapped. This means that you will not use a tower crane for centuries. This gives us an advantage as these cranes will be purchased after approximately 25 years.

How much warranty do you give to the cranes you sell?
We produce the cranes we sell to European standards. In Europe, they give one year warranty for electricity and five years for metal. According to the law in Turkey, there is an obligation to provide two years for the electrical parts, and we give a two-year warranty for the electrical parts and a five-year metal warranty.
You can access the video report of our interview here.