Sales partner of the KLINGER Group - Salmarcon in Turkey
Since 2009 Salmarcon has been supplying industrial valves and gaskets for the Turkish industry ✔ oil & gas ✔ chemical ✔ steel ✔ heating ✔ OEM
Meet KLINGER’s Sales Partners!
The majority of our customers have already been in contact with our sales partners: Those are the companies who support us in marketing our products and promoting our services. All of them act as resellers, providing expertise and onsite services. Still, some of them go far beyond that, and market products they diligently manufacture under the KLINGER license. In this series, we bring a few of our international sales partners out from behind the curtain – to give you an idea of the important work they do.
International sales partners mean many advantages for our customers:
shorter delivery routes
faster delivery
flexibility
local production, cutting or assembly as a sustainability measure
reliability even in times of global supply bottlenecks
Founded in 2009, Salmarcon soon became KLINGER’s top distributor in Turkey. KLINGER’s sales partner Salmarcon A.Ş. is Turkey’s leading specialist in high quality industrial sealing products, fluid control, gaskets, bolts, nuts, stud bolds, washers, and associated services. Nowadays, the company has a revenue of nearly 3 million Euro and employs over 40 people.
The history of Salmarcon starts off with KLINGER Dichtungstechnik (KDT) actively looking for Turkish sales representatives in 2009. Remembers KDT’s former Sales Manager Hans Forstner: “In the application process, Kaya Kaya immediately made clear that he was the right guy. He was only 28, came fresh out of one of the country’s most prestigious universities, had a profound insight into the Turkish market, and was looking for a challenge.”
Close cooperation with Austrian experts
Forstner invited Kaya over to Austria and taught him everything he needed to know about seals and gaskets. Onsite at the Gumpoldskirchen factory, Kaya dived deep into the specifics of each product he was about to put on the Turkish market. Back in Turkey, he instantly got in contact with potential customers. Still, the beginnings of Salmarcon were modest: Just one room, 40 m², no heating, no air conditioning.
„Three years later, in May 2012, I started my own company. I hired an assistant who is still with me, a driver, and rented a small storage space. I built those shelves myself and must have carried 2, maybe 3 tons of material with my very hands.“
Kaya Kaya, founder and MD of Salmarcon
16,000m² of sealing sheets per year
Over the course of a year, he managed to convince more and more customers of the reliability and extreme durability of KLINGER products. In 2014, at last, Salmarcon rented 200 additional square meters in the industrial area. In November 2013 Feridun Ozok, Kaya’s Technical Coordinator and consultant, joined the company. Today, the company cuts 16,000 m² of KLINGER’s sealing sheets per year. Customer retention has recently risen from 65 % to 84 % within a year.
Salmarcon premises today
10,000 m² in total, thereof 7,500 m² buildings:
6,000 m² workshop
1,500 m² office-space
Salmarcon keeps expanding its capacities and optimizing its production processes to guarantee top-quality sealing products and prompt delivery. A new factory is currently built: 5,000 m² land: 4,000 m² workshop – 3,500 workshop and 500 m2 office (planned completion: end of 2022.
Salmarcon’s factory in Çanakkale, Turkey
6,000 m² of the latest production technologies and storage space
Servicing customers locally
Soon Salmarcon extended its business by buying machines to produce metal gaskets in Turkey. In 2017, a new factory was built in Çanakkale, an area famous for technological and industrial development. The expansion paid off but also the soft sealing business grew constantly:
„Right now, I’m cutting 250,000 pieces of gasket per day. Our products are used within a wide range of industrial sectors, including oil and gas, chemical, nuclear, pulp and paper, power generation, transportation, food applications, steel, heating systems, and original equipment manufacturers.“
Kaya Kaya, founder and MD of Salmarcon
And the expansion continues. In November 2021, Salmarcon opened a new branch in Bucharest, Romania, in order to supply customers with KLINGER products there, following the example of Turkey.
A partnership based on mutual respect and trust: Kaya Kaya and Christoph Klinger-Lohr.
Solar power for Turkish deliveries
Asked about his plans for the future, Kaya gets enthusiastic: “Sustainability is the key: Just now, we’re attaching solar panels on the factory roof. We will reach a total of 1.5 megawatts force. My goal is to make this a 100% green company. In the near future, we will put an electric charger in front of the premises, so that company cars and delivery trucks can run on sustainable energy.” Industry 4.0, AI, and smart production processes are also high up on his agenda.
The secret of wise storage
One last question to Kaya: What is his secret of success during those hard COVID times? “We always kept stock, huge amounts of stock,” Kaya answers quickly. “We need to be able to deliver at all times. I had all the sheets in stock, always, because our customers trust in us. If there is one thing I realized over time, it’s this: In the sealing business, customers are extremely loyal. If the products hold what they promise; if the quality is reliable, durable, worth its money; they will stay with us. And KLINGER products keep their promises.”
Christoph Klinger-Lohr (CEO KLINGER Group), Kaya Kaya (MD Salmarcon), Michael Sautter (KLINGER’s Business Unit Director Sealing), Feridun Ozok (Technical Coordinator Salmarcon)
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