The announcement by Koloğlu Group, the member of our Association, about thepartnership of “Hengshi Fiberglass and Koloğlu Group”, leading to a decision for investment in Turkey for manufacturing fibers for the composites industry, is provided below.

WE WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE TO THE PUBLIC OUR DECISION TO INVEST IN TURKEY FOR MANUFACTURING OF FABRIC FOR THE COMPOSITES INDUSTRY, THROUGH A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN “HENGSHI FIBERGLASS and KOLOĞLU GROUP”.

As the leading supplier for wind power producers worldwide, China Hengshi Foundation Co. Ltd. is delighted to announce the commencement of work for the opening up of our third manufacturing plant worldwide in Izmir, in partnership with Koloğlu Group, following our existing plants in the People’s Republic of China and Egypt. The progress and potential Turkey exhibits in the composites industry, with special reference to wind power, automotive, defense industry and marine applications, were the leading factors guiding us towards the investment decision. Soon, we will be providing you further details about all the products and services we will offer for the composites industry. We hope this will be beneficial for Turkish composites industry in general, and our firm in particular.
Yours respectfully,
Koloğlu Group

Kordsa’s composite manufacturing facility certified for quality and risk management in aerospace and defense industry

Reinforcement technologies’ leader Kordsa’s manufacturing facility at Composite Technologies Center of Excellence, a technology hub inaugurated in cooperation with Sabancı University to bring together industry and university under the same roof, received BS EN ISO 9001:2015 ve EN 9100:2016 (AS9100D) certification, which is an international standard for quality and risk management in aerospace and defense industry.

Sabancı Holding affiliate Kordsa’s manufacturing facility at Composite Technologies Center of Excellence, which is a home to basic research, applied research, technology development, product development, entrepreneurship as well as production processes in composites technologies, received BS EN ISO 9001:2015 and EN 9100:2016 (AS9100D) certificates, which approve its compliance with Aerospace and Defense Industry Quality and Risk Management Standards. This certificate, confirming Kordsa's commitment to high quality service to domestic and global customers in the aerospace and defense industries, will be a major advantage in realizing the company’s targets in the aerospace industry.

About Kordsa
Kordsa is the global player of tire, construction reinforcement and composites technologies market. As the worldwide leader of the tire reinforcement technologies market, it carries out production through a vast area from USA to Asia Pacific and supplies its reinforcement technologies to the whole world. With its business processes all based on R&D and innovation, Kordsa has 692 patent applications world-wide.

METYX Group has completed an agreement with the Gaston County Economic Development Commission
in North Carolina to acquire a manufacturing facility for its new METYX USA Technical Textiles Division.
An initial investment to purchase and upgrade the existing 30 acre (120 000 sq. m) site and existing
buildings has been finalised, which includes 130,000 sq. ft (~ 12,000 sq. m) of covered space. The site is
located in Ranlo, Gaston County, a town approximately 28 miles west of Charlotte city. Production is
expected to start by the end of Q3 2018. Significant support and incentive programs are being provided at
both county and state levels which, combined with the ideal location, have made this a highly attractive
package for the group and helped to secure the deal.

The planned new METYX US operations in North Carolina, expected to employ up to 200 people, will
initially focus on setting up technical textiles production lines for manufacturing a range of glass and
carbon fabrics, along with sales, customer service and warehousing facilities to serve the North American
composites market. As a next phase, in line with customer needs, fabric, core and vacuum consumable kit
cutting capabilities will be added in the future. METYX is primarily looking to establish business with US
and Canadian OEMs and tier 1 converters in the wind energy generation, marine, road and rail
transportation and industrial sectors.

METYX Group Managing partner, Uğur Üstünel stated: “Having been interested for several years, we
believe now is the right time to invest and bring our portfolio of products and services to the North
American market. The US is a very attractive market, being the biggest globally in several key industry
sectors with good future growth prospects. Without doubt, it is a fiercely competitive region, but we believe
that our passionate customer service culture and solutions offering approach, combined with our strong
product and service offering gives us a unique selling proposition that will attract new business. This is a
very exciting time for METYX and we look forward to starting our US operations later this year.”

Üstünel will head up METYX USA working alongside newly appointed advisory board team members
Christian Kissinger, Evren Aykol and Stefan Kanburoglu, who will play a key role in getting METYX USA
up and running in the coming months. They will also provide considerable local knowledge and business
networking as all three are based in North Carolina, living nearby in Charlotte city, so commutable to the
new location in Ranlo.

North Carolina is an established manufacturing location in the USA, with more than 75,000 people working
in plastics and chemicals manufacturing, being home to leading multinationals including DowDupont and
BASF. The state also has a long history of textile manufacturing, with around 700 companies, including
competitors. Manufacturers in a number of target market sectors for METYX technical textile products are
also in the region. In more recent years, North Carolina has seen significant growth in the renewable
energy companies, particularly wind turbine generator manufacturing, as well as a growing number of
automotive, truck and heavy machinery manufacturing companies.

Our Association has successfully carried out the JEC WORLD 2018 Paris Fair with the participation of a total of 31 Turkish companies including 12 companies within the scope of the cooperation with the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) this year under National Participation Organization and 19 independent exhibitors .

Within the framework of the National Participation Organization, Turkish companies have also had the opportunity to welcome their guests and promote their products in a contiguous plane and wider exhibition spaces. The increasing number of Turkish companies participating in the fair every year, which is performed in the excellent organization of ITO, has been an important indicator that Turkish composites and Turkish composite companies have steadily strengthened their place in the World Market. Turkey Composite Industry, which grew even further in 2017, had the chance to show its position once again on international level through the representatives attending the fair. Another indicator of this situation is the intense interest in our magazine and our Sectorial Catalogue in the fair where the 18th edition of “COMPOSITES TURKEY” Sectorial Magazine was distributed, which is the main publication of the Turkish Composite Sector.

THE TURKISH COMPANIES PARTICIPATED IN  JEC WORLD 2017

1)    3D WOVENS – ERGİNER SERAMİK

2)    AĞTEKS LTD.

3)    AKAR MAKİNA

4)    AKPA KİMYA

5)    BORUSAN ARGE

6)    BOYTEK

7)    CAMELYAF

8)    CARBOMID – BİRLİK TİCARET

9)    COATS TÜRKİYE

10)  DEKORSAN TİCARİ ARAÇ VE POLYESTER ÜRÜNLERİ

11)   DOWAKSA

12)   DURATEK

13)   DURFOM

14)   ECE BOYA

15)   FİBERFLON

16)   İBA KİMYA

17)   İSTANBUL TİCARET ODASI

18)   KORDSA

19)   KOSSE KOMPOZİT

20)  LİTERATÜR KİMYA

21)   METYX COMPOSITES

22)   MIR AR-GE

23)   POLİYA 

24)   POLRES POLYESTER

25)   SITEKS

26)   SPINTEKS

27)   SPM KOMPOZİT

28)   STA KOMPOZİT – SÖNMEZ A.S.F.

29)   TEZKOM – ESKİM

30)   T C M A – KOMPOZİT SANAYİCİLERİ DERNEĞİ

31)    TURKUAZ POLYESTER

This year, more than 1300 companies participated in and 42,445 people visited the JEC WORLD Fair, the number one Fair of the Composite Sector, from 115 countries. The Turkish companies taking part in the most crowded composite fair held to date, thus had the opportunity to exhibit their activities all over the world.

JEC WORLD 2018 Fair will take place in Paris between the dates of March 6-8, March, 2018.  

METYX Group has concluded discussions with the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA)
and secured a 50% matched Government funded incentive package to support a multimillion Euro
investment project to expand METYX Hungary Kft. HIPA works closely with the Hungarian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs to attract inward investment from overseas companies into Hungary to create new jobs
and build its economy.

The combined investment funds will be used to significantly expand the existing facilities at the
Kaposvár site over the next five years, to increase production capacity for knitting glass and carbon
fibre textiles and to expand its fabric and core kitting service. METYX Hungary has 15,000 sq. m of
covered factory space and 67,000 sq.m open space currently operational, which is only 35% of the
230,000 sq. m former North American Bus Industries (NABI) production site acquired by METYX in
2013, so the site has plenty of space for this planned expansion and further growth in the future.
At a press conference in Budapest on Wednesday 7 th February the formal announcement of this
investment agreement was made by Mr. Péter Szijjártó, the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Mr. Attila Gelencsér, Kaposvár’s parliamentary representative in Budapest. During the press
conference, Mr. Uğur Üstünel, Co-Director of METYX Group stated: “We are delighted with this
significant investment support package from the Hungarian Government to help us expand our facilities
and increase staff numbers. We look forward to working closely with HIPA and other Hungarian
government agencies going forward to make our expansion plans a reality. Being located in central
Europe, METYX Hungary is strategically very important to enable us to continue business growth
across the EU market and meet customer demands. Such positive support provided from both local and
central government in Hungary has motivated the METYX board to commit further capital investments
in production technologies and infrastructure at our Kaposvár site.”
Üstünel went on to say: “In May 2015 we started production in Kaposvár with only 15 people. Today,
METYX Hungary employs 155 people and delivers across Europe. The site currently operates four
production lines, with 3 additional lines being installed in 2018. With the new investments, the total
annual capacity at METYX Hungary will increase from 3000 to 8000 tons for technical fabrics alone,
along with an expanded glass and core kit cutting service. We expect the numbers of employees in
Hungary to reach 200 by the end of this year, with additional people needed by the end of 2020. As a
result of this major incentive program, we are committed to making multimillion Euro investments over
the next five years which will secure more than 200 long term jobs in Kaposvár. It is safe to say that
METYX is already ahead of our commitments to the Hungarian government.”
The fabrics and kits manufactured by METYX Hungary are aimed at producers of composite parts used
in major industrial market sectors including: building and construction, boatbuilding, automotive,
transportation and wind energy; the ISO 9001 accredited Kaposvár site has completed intensive supply
chain qualification programs with key wind turbine manufacturers.

PlastEurasia – 27th International Istanbul Plastic Industry Fair held in association with PAGEV (Turkish Plastic Industries, Research, Development and Education Foundation) and TÜYAP welcomed sector professionals from many countries including Far East and Middle East to Europe, Central Asia to Balkans.

PlastEurasia Istanbul 2017 Fair, which opened its doors for the 27th time on 6 December 2017, has become more colorful this year. Our association has also taken a stand in the exhibition where the latest technological products are exhibited from plastics machines to chemicals and raw materials, from machine side industry to heat, control devices and molds.

Mehmet Göçmen, the CEO of Sabancı Holding, has announced that their subsidiary and member of our association Kordsa will be among the suppliers of Boeing. The press release on the subject is below. We congratulate Kordsa Company for their successful work.

In CAMX THE COMPOSITES exhibition to be held in Orlando, Florida between December 11-14, 2017; Our members

AKPA Organic Peroxide Kimya San. and Dıs Tic. Ltd. Sti. – E20
METYX Composites – M76

will participate in the indicated stand numbers.

Polin Waterparks is honored with awards for innovative products, exceptional booth design, the image and the branding.

The prestigious awards recognize the best of the best at the annual international event.

Turkey (November 23, 2017) – Earning a single Brass Ring Award is a significant accomplishment for most participants of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions annual show. But this year, Polin Waterparks outdid itself by bringing home four of the prestigious honors.

IAAPA’s Brass Ring Awards are recognized as among the most respected honors in the amusement industry. Polin Waterparks received its awards during the IAAPA Attractions Expo in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday, Nov. 15.

Last year, Polin was honored with a Brass Ring for Best New Product for its Space Race waterslide, a first-of-its-kind waterslide that allows groups of riders to compete against one another. This year, Polin was recognized with four awards. The four awards bestowed on the company were

Brass Ring for Best New Product, 1^st Place – Category “Technology Applied to Amusements”

This award recognizes new products that demonstrate the application of a technology that has not previously been used for the same function that the technology accomplishes in the new product. The award recognizes Polin’s industry-breaking Splash VR – Virtual Reality Waterslide, a technology that provides a virtual-reality experience for waterpark guests without requiring a park to retrofit any aspect of an existing waterslide. Guests wear the wireless, waterproof VR headsets as they ride a waterslide to experience a unique journey, such as exploring the Lost City of Atlantis.  

Brass Ring for Best New Product, 2^nd Place – Category “Water Park Ride/Attraction”

This award is for new products that are designed primarily for rides or attractions in a waterpark or water-activity areas in theme parks, amusement parks or family entertainment centers. IAAPA recognizes Polin’s accomplishment in the introduction of its new Splash Cabin, the industry’s first interactive, water-powered game. Designed for two players, the competition is a water-fueled battle using animated players who interact using a 3D screen. Guests enter a beach-style cabin to play and earn points by hitting moving targets.

Brass Ring for Best Exhibit, 1^st Place

Winners of this award are exalted for the quality, originality and uniqueness of their booths’ designs, along with branding elements (the use of corporate logo and/or brand within the design of the booth and promotion of product or service). Winners also must meet exceptional levels in regards to staffing (professional appearance, welcoming and friendly demeanor, approachable and knowledgeable) and overall appeal (booth cleanliness, attractive layout, and ease of access to information within the booth).

Sohret Pakis, Director of Marketing and Communications for Polin Waterparks , says that being recognized for having an exceptional booth was not an easy task. “We didn’t rely simply on posters, models or videos,” she explained. “We did have those elements, but we focused on giving an experience to guests who entered our booth. We wanted it to become a miniature amusement park on the IAAPA show floor.” She described the inclusion of simulators that enabled guests to try four of Polin’s most popular rides. “We also offered the first hologram model ever used at IAAPA to showcase our new Mantis attraction,” she said. “And we offered our new Splash Cabin so guests could actually play the game. Each and every detail of our booth was planned with utmost importance down to the last detail. We had 5 stations (Splash VR, SplashWare, Ride’n Splash, Polin Aquariums/Funtastic Aquariums, Polin Wave Parks) with industry experts to fully serve our guests. “

Brass Ring- Image Award

This unique award is restricted to the best exhibit on the entire show floor. Judges choose the winner based on booth design, branding, staffing and overall appeal. Unlike many awards at IAAPA, however, consideration for the Image Award does not require submission of an application, distinguishing it as the absolute most highly recognized award at the show.

Pakis said her company was honored to win the award, “I think one aspect of our booth that set us apart and helped the judges choose us was the emphasis we put on our R&D center. We truly are working hard to elevate our industry’s efforts in this regard, so put a great deal of care into emphasizing this aspect of our business and illustrating our strategic plan. As a marketing director, I feel a great deal of responsibility in helping people to understand our strategy. Our marketing team works hard to integrate it into our brand and convey our message clearly and in a way our guests deserve,” she explained. “It’s an honor to be recognized for our efforts by the number 1 organization in our industry.”

Pakis said Polin is grateful to IAAPA and the judges for recognizing the company’s achievements on so many levels.

Please click to download high-resolution of the photos.

Please click to learn more on Splash VR.

Please click to learn more on Splash Cabin.

Please click to learn more on Mantis Waterslide.

Please click to learn more on SplashWare.

Please click to learn more on Ride’n Splash.

Please click to learn more on Polin Aquariums and Funtastic Aquariums.

Please click to learn more on Polin Wave Parks.