Our UGM Corporate Communications Director Sami Altınkaya's article entitled "To be or not to be" was published in the Dünya newspaper on 13.07.2020.

To be or not to be

Imagine a country more than half of its production is dependent on abroad. It is the first to use technology in everyday life, but it can't use technology as much as it wants in production. People who still perceive value added as a Value Added Tax is in the majority. It's a generation wasting time with social media.

A youth who tries to look to the future with hope, but is bowed to destiny. An understanding that discourse is not transformed into action. A structure in which the goodwill of the rulers cannot be implemented with a bulky bureaucratic structure.

Imagine a country where words are spoken every day, where everyone makes chewing gum in their mouth to empty it. For example, the word “education” is material for comedians. Heads who use the word “innovation” to speak differently but can't raise awareness. "Entrepreneurship" remains only in words. A society where “angel investors” don't show their true faces.

Rather than investing in the future, it's political discourse that seeks ways to save the day. A distant political understanding of people and the world with power and opposition.

It is possible to duplicate these sentences. As depressing as the overall picture is. And the presence of working people who still do not lose hope is just as pleasing. It's morale to see individual productions and ideas succeed.

I respect to those who ensure that the people they employs bring bread to their homes.

I applaud those who have obtained opportunities abroad that they cannot find in their country and have achieved significant academic achievements.

I respect business people who support young ideas and don't use it as a means of tax avoidance and arrogance in society.

I admire the business people who employ dozens of programmers in their factory and pay for the sweat of mind and make their production value added.

I admire the energy of business people who travel from country to country looking for new markets and wave their country's flag in those countries.

I miss a world where there are people who believe that word is collateral, wasting is haram and rights and equity. I believe that growth and development pass through “equal citizenship.”

'Whoever invests in technology will win’

In a world where the sweat of mind, not the sweat of the forehead, is paid for, we can divide this period into before and after the pandemic. This period, when companies that integrate technology into their production will survive, will be the most brutal one with respect to competition. Now we will hear more about these companies in the world. Especially during the pandemic period, the importance of this issue was once again revealed. Investment in technology is the only way out to reduce costs and increase productivity in production. We talked with Mettler Toledo General Manager Can Seyhan about the importance of technology in production and the point where added value comes.

- Can you explain the importance of manufacturing with advanced technology in this process?

Before the pandemic, concepts such as digitalization, Iot, Industry 4.0, which manufacturers closely followed, gained even more importance. As measurement technologies have transformed, digitization has become the main element of innovation. Beyond providing only accurate measurement results with an intelligent sensor, providing quality and real-time status information about the manufacturing process, including the device's status, was an important benchmark. All of this has led us to understand that investment in digitalization is a fundamental need in an era when digitalization is mandatory. Mettler Toledo continues to play an active role with many solutions such as software, data management systems, remote device control and remote service support for their investments in related sectors. Our customers may follow all the parameters of the production tanks with Mettler Toledo analytical online measurement devices remotely, and all laboratory data between each other with LabX software in the device can integrate with existing systems, you can import software control systems and industrial weighing solutions product ProdX data into the ERP system and apply to expert support about digitization of the industry with our solutions.

- What is your company's place in Turkey and the world?

Mettler Toledo is a global manufacturer and marketer of precision devices for use in laboratory, industry, and food retailing applications. Our company is in a strong position with sales of over 3 billion dollars worldwide. A significant part of our device sales are in the segments in which we are the leader. In addition to a broad product portfolio, we have one of the largest global sales and service organizations among precision device manufacturing companies. We focus on the value-added segments of our markets by providing innovative tools that often combine a variety of technologies, including application-specific solutions for customers. We design our instruments not only to collect valuable data, but also to facilitate the processing and transfer of that data to customer management information systems. Mettler Toledo, with a total of 16,200 employees worldwide, achieved 30 percent of its sales in 2019 from the European region, 39 percent from the United States and 31 percent from Asia and other regions. The company has an extensive global sales and service organization with 8,150 employees providing sales, marketing and services in 40 countries. The company has manufacturing assets in Europe, the US and China.

- What solutions of your company are significant regarding this period?

Our preventive maintenance before the problem occurs with measurement technologies used in production firms to take actions providing information to enable production to continue for a while, eliminate downtime, and repair at the right time in the Planning, Operations Management gives strong support. Such a measurement technology has the ability to automatically integrate into data networks and control systems, making initial installation and replacement quicker and easier. ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

Food reliability and continuity became one of the important items on the agenda during the pandemic period, while as I underlined at the beginning of the article, the issue of digitalization in the industry became even more important. In Mettler Toledo, our hygienic design washable scales product groups are the choice of manufacturers in the food and pharmaceutical sector in order to minimize possible contamination during the production phase. For remote operation process continuity issues, our data collection and control software, automation-based product groups and smart sensors meet the requirements of Iot and Industry 4.0, so manufacturers from all sectors have stood out in this period.

- What do you think has changed in production and industry with the pandemic?

It is very promising in terms of economic sustainability to see that the uncertainty and shock effect experienced in the first period of the pandemic process, which affected all countries, is quickly overcome in Turkey and that many sectors have adapted to this process. I believe it is better understood that production planning should be done with great care not only in the short term but also in the medium and long term, while efficiency and sustainability have become a priority by many manufacturers, especially in production sectors. In addition to meeting today's needs, the equipment used in the production area has brought the concept of ‘future-proof’ to the forefront even more recently, as well as the fact that there are intelligent solutions that can adapt to possible needs in the future. In addition, hygienic design, easy cleaning, data collection is among the issues that manufacturers have been focusing more on recently. Especially for some groups of the food, pharmaceutical and chemical sector, where production continued even during the pandemic period, for which we served intensively as Mettler Toledo, we also took responsibility for our part. We aimed to support manufacturers with our digital and innovative solutions that “can increase productivity while reducing cost in production without compromising quality” with webinars that we have organized.

On the other hand, we clearly see that production in industry has accelerated during this pandemic process, both with the statements of independent organizations and with the demands of our customers. In this process, against increasing demand and requirements for compliance with standards, manufacturers have also sought reliable solution partners to take fast action. I can say that we have managed to minimize the negative effects of the process by providing 24/7 service all over the world and in Turkey, as well as our comprehensive services such as devices, software and training with our wide range of products.