We Conducted an Interview with Pınar Yokeş from Yokeş Makina

We conducted an enjoyable interview with Pınar Yokeş, Sales and Marketing Manager at Yokeş Makina, about the company's establishment process and the services they provide to the sector. Yokeş provided important information about the company's recent developments.

 

Could you briefly tell our readers about yourself, your education, and your professional background in the sector?

I was born in Izmir in 1978. I completed my secondary and high school education at Izmir Özel Türk Koleji and my university education at Bilkent University in Ankara. I began my professional career in Istanbul. I worked as a manager in leading Turkish holding companies, specializing in domestic sales, marketing, export, and finance. I had the opportunity to work directly with important figures who set the direction for the sector. Since 2012, I have continued this knowledge and experience in our family company as a third-generation representative.

Could you tell us about Yokeş Makina's development process from its establishment to today?

Yokeş Makina was founded in 1943 by my grandfather Mehmet Emin Yokeş as one of the city's first machine shops in Kalearkası, Izmir. Initially, this workshop with 4 workers primarily provided maintenance, repair, and spare parts services to the industrial establishments of that era. During those years, the workshop focused mainly on agricultural machinery work. From 1974 onwards, my father Meriç Yokeş began working in the paint manufacturing sector in response to incoming demands and first manufactured the "PM-Series, Vertical Type – Open Screen Pearl-Mill" wet grinding machine. Different machine requests from various sectors continued to come during this period. In order to increase production capacity and expand our product portfolio, we moved to the 1st Industrial Zone in 1984. Since 1998, the company has been managed by my brother Mehmet Yalım Yokeş. He is a Mechanical Engineer, graduate of Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, and played the most active role in bringing our company to its current position and vision. These demands, which began in Izmir, soon continued throughout Turkey and then abroad. As our exports increased, we built a new factory. Since 2015, we have been continuing our production in ITOB Organized Industrial Zone.

What are Yokeş Makina's products and product groups? Which sectors do you serve?

We manufacture high-speed dispersers/dissolvers, horizontal-type high-efficiency wet grinding machines, basket mills, general-purpose mixers in various types and sizes for various mixing and homogenization processes, vacuum-type dissolvers for high-viscosity and high-density products and discharge systems, butterfly-type dissolvers, platform-type dissolvers, dispersers/wet grinding machines at laboratory and pilot production scales, and auxiliary equipment such as gear-type pumps and filtration machines needed for all these processes. We serve general chemicals, paints and related products, printing inks, pesticide chemicals, agricultural chemical industry, public health products, cosmetics industry, food industry, pharmaceutical and biochemistry industries, among others.

Could you tell us about your domestic and international sales activities? Which regions do you primarily sell to?

In the domestic market, all companies currently producing in the sector mentioned are our customers. We made our first export to Vietnam in 1998. Our export figures have increased year after year, and we have now become a company that exports 80% of its production. We have machines operating in Africa, Turkic Republics, Middle Eastern countries, Far East, Europe, and even in Germany, where we have strong competitors. We serve general chemicals, paints and related products, printing inks, pesticide chemicals, agricultural chemical industry, public health products, cosmetics industry, food industry, pharmaceutical and biochemistry industries, among others.

Have you recently introduced an innovative machine production that makes a difference in the sector?

We manufactured the SM Lab Mini machine with a grinding chamber of 0.2 liters, which can perform wet grinding via a Rotor-Pin system. Product outlet – bead separation is provided by Wedge Wire type screen, so it can work with a minimum of 0.2 mm beads and, in special cases, 0.1 mm beads. Due to the system structure, it operates in "circulation" mode. The machine has an internal circulation pump. The minimum circulating product amount is 0.25 liters. With this minimum capacity, it can easily be used especially in sample pigment tests. This structure currently has one of the lowest grinding chambers.

Our product quality and technology are machines that can easily compete with those of our competitors, and sometimes even outperform them in terms of performance.

 

What are the strategies you apply to determine customer expectations?

Creating customer loyalty is much more important to us than gaining market share. Even though we are in the industrial sector, we prefer to use relational marketing methods. We divide our customers according to their sectors. And we determine our strategies accordingly.

What efforts do you make to build brand awareness?

We work with an agency that dominates our sector. We plan our marketing strategies at least one year in advance. In addition to traditional advertising channels, the trade shows we will participate in, visits, domestic/international advertising activities and much of their content are already determined. There are many companies that want to sell our machines in the international market and make agreements in this regard. As I mentioned above, creating customer loyalty is more important to us. However, we are planning to make an "Exclusive Distribution Agreement" with a company that has a strategic position, will greatly increase our brand awareness, and whose working discipline we have closely observed.

Could you tell us about your R&D activities?

We take a proactive approach focused on productivity and identifying risks in advance. We continuously monitor developments in products of our European competitors. Our product quality and technology are machines that can easily compete with those of our said competitors, and sometimes even stand out further in terms of performance. The feedback we receive from our customers confirms what we say.

What do you do in your spare time, and what are your hobbies?

I place importance on sports. A healthy relationship between mind and body starts with sport. I do puzzles. I love being close to nature.