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Toros Agri sets out for
Lean Management
The philosophy of Lean Management is predicated on decreasing
all waste within a system and striving to allocate all resources for a
greater level of value creation. Toros Agri aims to apply this philosophy
throughout its production process and improve the company’s opera-
tional processes while decreasing waste and perfecting all operations.
At the kickoff events held at Toros Agri production plants, blue-
and white-collar personnel autographed the symbolical “Lean Man-
agement Ball” and pledged to stand behind the process. For the next
three years, the road map will extend from Lean Production to Lean
Company, based on the culture of continuous development and im-
provement. All personnel will receive training regarding lean tools,
which will then be applied progressively to work areas.
Toros Agri has taken the first step towards “Lean Management” with the
kickoff events at three of its plants.
A TALKWITH SİNAN UZAN AND SELÇUK ERGİN ON TEKFEN VENTURES
Turkey is a sea, the world is an ocean
Tekfen Ventures has become in recent months a Tekfen Holding venture capital company, with the aim of investing in innovative technologies
targeting industries and businesses. The company will provide investment support to promising ventures at their early stages, which in turn will
provide new ideas, technologies, and products to construction and agriculture, Tekfen’s main businesses. We talked with the founders of the
company, Sinan Uzan and Selçuk Ergin, about entrepreneurship in the world today and about the aims of Tekfen Ventures.
Venture capital funds focusing
on technology are relatively new in
Turkey. How did this sector emerge
in the first place?
Sinan Uzan:
Venture capital com-
panies have been around for quite
some time now. The rapid growth of
the internet in the early 2000s and
high levels of profit attained by com-
panies such as Facebook in a very
short time drew the attention of the
investment world to this sector. Espe-
cially after the onset of a low-interest
rate phase in 2008, individuals began
investing in such companies and in
innovation in order to get better re-
turns. So even though the concept
existed previously, it became more
popular due to economic factors. In-
ternational corporations seeking prof-
itable investment opportunities also
became interested.
Selçuk Ergin:
This new struc-
ture emerged in Silicon Valley and spread
throughout the world, because with the new
trends and technologies, the world nowneeds
new business models. The venture fund idea
emerged during that period. The young gen-
eration has taken the lead with new models,
and they need money to put their ideas into
practice. And we at Tekfen Ventures decided
to seize these opportunities in the world of
venture.
There are other companies in Turkey
active in the same line of business. What’s
the difference of Tekfen Ventures?
Sinan Uzan:
Before answering this
question, we need to look at why it is im-
portant for Tekfen to be managing an in-
vestment fund. First of all, the company’s
name is a portmanteau of “tek” (as in
“teknoloji”; i.e. technology) and “fen” (sci-
ence). We would be doing ourselves a dis-
service if we refrain from taking part in the
world of innovation, because innova-
tion and technology are in the very
genes of our company. On the other
hand, construction and agriculture,
the two main businesses of Tekfen,
are comparatively the least digitized
industries in the world. It is of crucial
importance to keep apace of techno-
logical advances and innovations in
these areas in order to maintain our
strategic advantage and strength.
One of the main missions of Tekfen
Ventures is to locate the innovations
that will contribute to the develop-
ment of these two sectors, invest in
them, and reap the advantages not
only for our own businesses but for
Turkish economy as well.
Will you limit your search for
new ideas to construction and agri-
culture only?
Sinan Uzan:
These are our priori-
ties. For me, agriculture is the most exciting
area. There is a new push for innovation in
agriculture all around the world. Amazing
progress is being made in the use of remote
sensing in agriculture in the form of drones
and satellite pictures. There is a lot that we
can do especially in fertilizers and agricul-
ture. And five or ten years after that we fore-
see a very extensive transformation in the
construction sector. We expect innovations
that will increase efficiency in construction,