Industry profile
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A Molino
Meeting at Molino (from left) Professor Dr Hikmet Boyacioglu, International Editor of Milling and Grain magazine, Abdullah Ghandoura, sales executive of Molino, Osman Alaykiran, general manager of Molino and Ahmet Yalcinkaya, Molino’s management coordinator
Staff and service at the heart of success
by Tom Blacker, Milling and Grain
s we know, Turkey is a developing country. What we might not know is that it accounts for over 20 percent of world’s flour trade in exports. Now supported by Konya Borsa, a new local market trading board, it is well positioned to accelerate both the means and ease of the county’s business operations for all customers, both domestic and international. As a major manufacturer and supplier working within the Turkish milling industry and meeting the needs of customers around the world, Molino is one of Turkey’s major drivers in milling development. Molino was formed in 1964 by industry stalwart Dr Omer Lutfi Alaybeyi, the son of Salim Alaybeyi who had established an original company in the 1950s which focused on wheat merchandising and bakery activities. After graduating from university in France in 1953, Dr Omer turned his attention to the production of milling machines and their ancillary equipment manufacture. Today, the company has over 54,000 square meters of open factory area and a massive 30,000 square meters under cover. “Our company successfully executes all steps from research and development to the establishment of turn-key factories. We are a leading company in our sector and we operated with professionally throughout and follow-up with dedicated after sales service,” says today’s Vice President Salim Alaybeyi, the son of Dr Omer Lutfi. Molino supplies all the equipment a miller needs to operate flour and semolina mills, grain silos, seed cleaning units, pulse sieving and packing plants, pneumatic and mechanic conveying systems, etc. “Our company defines its basic principles in all activities as low cost and high quality flour production,” he says. Customers come from a range of countries besides Turkey; from France to Syria, Morocco to Eygpt, from the Dominican Republic to India, especially Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Russia, Ukraine, UAE, Germany, Greece and Yemen. In April this year, Professor Dr Hikmet Boyacioglu MAG’s Turkish editor and I met with Salim Alaybeyi, Ahmet Yalcinkaya and Abdullah Ghandoura at the Molino headquarters in Konya, Turkey. This was my first visit for three years and it was great to return and discover what has changed. 78 | September 2016 - Milling and Grain
The importance of quality staff
“Staff are extremely important to Molino and our operations,” says Salim Alaybeyi. With over 250 staff, Molino has the flexibility to operate around customer needs. “Our staff are innovative and lead the way for technological solutions that are taken up around the world, all from the heart of Anatolia,” he says. International guests would have seen the prestige and heritage of this company’s traditional culture from the Konya region of Turkey when visiting its exhibition booth at IDMA 2015 in Istanbul, Turkey, there were local dance troupes and an Anatolian theme to their castle-like exhibition stand and where ‘çai’ (tea) was provided to all. In our conversation, Ahmet and Abdullah described how they had both recently returned from three months of business visits in Eastern Africa. This had been an inspiring time and very positive for their machinery and services across many countries and industries. They are the people who believe and display the way that Molino pride themselves on co-operating closely with customers. Customers’ expectations are surpassed because they provide so much more than just their machinery. From Molino’s research and development, to its wide know-how and advice all goes hand-in-hand with its success and all round care. The company is able to provide a general yet wide range of individual consultancy services. Whether it is on matters of access to finance, maintenance and upkeep of the mill or turnkey project, market knowledge or education and access. Whether it be logistics or project management, Molino focuses on providing a service to its customers from start to finish. For example, its staff speak many of the world’s major languages. In fact, their first machinery sale was to France in 1981 by their founder, Dr Omer Lutfi Alaybeyi. As reported by this magazine in a 2013, Dr Omer is an innovator. He was able to combine his vision with business. Serving the flour milling industry has now grown to incorporate serving other milling industry needs such as silos, seed cleaning, pulse sieving, packaging, pneumatic and mechanical conveying. With a 30,000m² space of factory floor in Turkey, and ISO9001 and ISO14001 quality management systems, Molino is a supplier that is of recognised international standing. A new website (www.molino.com.tr), set out to provide a user-friendly experience whilst keeping the values and unique position of Molino clearly identified.