Kan Metal - An Industrial Story

Fevzi Ali Kan, who was born in Merzifon in 1937, went to Ankara in 1954 after completing his education. Fevzi Ali Kan, who is trained in machining, is also talented in drawing as he is a technician graduate. After working in some short-term jobs, he entered the Türk Traktör factory as a worker. While working at Türk Traktör, Fevzi Ali Kan built a machine that produced gas stove nozzles upon order. For a while, he continued to build this machine at home when he had time off from his job at Türk Traktör. Fevzi Ali Kan, who went to and from the military, decides to do his own business. They partnered with an acquaintance who had financial means and in 1958, a small shop named "Kan Makine" was rented. They continue to make a revolver machine and a gas burner nozzle machine in this small shop they keep in Scythians. After a short while, they gradually took over the work that Türk Traktör had outsourced. During this period, Fevzi Ali Kan's brother also comes to Ankara and starts working at Kan Makine as a partner.

Growing rapidly with the work of Türk Traktör, "Kan Makine" moved to a new location of 1000 square meters towards the end of the 1960s. Kan Makina, whose business volume increased in this new location, started to produce automotive spare parts for various tractor factories, especially Tümosan and Otosan. During these periods, there are periods when the company produces with 50-60 employees.

A new shop is opened in Ankara.

In 1973, Fevzi Ali Kan and his partner decided to leave. During this period, Fevzi Ali Kan and his brother decided to work in Istanbul. They come to Istanbul and look for places, but when they cannot afford the places they look for, they return to Ankara. They started working by renting an 80 square meter shop in Ankara Yeni Sanayi. Kan Makina continues to produce sub-industry products for tractors in this new shop. After a short time, business increases again and they rent the shop next to them and increase the number of employees. As the number of jobs increases, some jobs begin to be outsourced. Especially welding works are outsourced. They even send parts to brothers-in-law in Merzifon via newspaper cart. The parts welded there come back with the newspaper cart. In years when sub-industry business is busy, the company also produces presses for a while. After making about 15-20 presses, a three-storey building is built in a separate place for this work. However, after a while, the pressing business was abandoned and the production of sub-industry and tractor parts returned.

The second generation begins to take charge.

In the early 1980s, the second generation started to work at Kan Makine. Gürcan Kan, born in 1966, left high school in the first year and came to his father and started working. Stating that he and his brother have been in the shop since they were children, Gürcan Kan said, “My brother was born in 1962. We both grew up in the workshop. My father didn't want us to do much work so that we could study, but we loved work. My brother is a graduate of METU Department of Business Administration. He did not come to business immediately after graduating. He worked outside for a long time. "I didn't attend high school and came to the shop," he says.

Some time after Gürcan Kan's arrival at the workshop, his uncle decides to leave the company. Thereupon, Fevzi Ali Kan sells his share in a shared flat to his brother and builds a new production machine for himself with this money. He puts the new machine on the ground floor of the shop. They do Kan Makine's work during the day for about 5-6 months, and in the evening they work with this new machine until 11-12 at night. Stating that they made pressing and welding type parts with the new machine, Gürcan Kan said, “In those years, there was no one making the combine harvester spare parts we make today in Turkey. It was imported from Germany. My father had researched this before and told my uncle, but when my uncle said not to do it, he gave up. We worked day and night together with our foreman to put the work in order. When the business reached a certain level, the conditions of the shop became inadequate. The space was tight and we needed a lot of electricity. Thus, in 1981, we kept a separate shop in OSTİM. Of course, when we came here, there was no such thing as OSTİM. There was mud everywhere; There were no roads or buses. We had one car. When my father bought the car, we were left on foot; My father when we bought it. "We managed like this for a while," he says.

Rasp Bar manufacturing begins.
Fevzi Ali Kan keeps a shop in OSTİM, but there is only the machine he made himself and a welding machine in the shop. They do not buy any materials from the shop they share with. As they earn money over time, they buy the necessary machines. Kan Metal started manufacturing rasp bars in 1982 with its new machine. Since batör llamas were not produced in Turkey in those years, the prices were quite exorbitant. The incoming material usually does not arrive as desired. While Kan Metal continues to manufacture rasp bars, Gürcan Kan enlists in the military in 1986.

Kan Metal continues to manufacture rasp bars, but this work is seasonal. Even though the harvest is late in the northern countries, it is difficult to reach there and enter the market. The 1990s were the years when Kan Metal started exporting. Stating that they first exported to Syria, Gürcan Kan said, “At that time, it was forbidden to take money out of Syria. A Syrian buyer comes to the shop; He would take money out of his shoes and trousers and place an order. We were novices too, we didn't know how to export or what the legislation was.

"We slowly started to learn the business. We were generally sending goods to Arab countries," he says. Kan Metal filled the gap created during the summer months with the agreement it made with Tümosan in 1993. Tümosan officials met with Fevzi Ali Kan and asked if he could produce a part that was not made in Turkey. Fevzi Ali Kan, who took the sample, starts working on the production of the part. A new hydraulic press is purchased for production, but this press cannot do the job. Thereupon, they purchase a press from the Machinery and Chemical Industry Corporation. This press gives positive results and they make the first samples and send them to Tümosan. Once the samples are accepted, an agreement is made for 150 thousand pieces per year.

“What are we doing here?”
Continuing with Tümosan's orders and the production of rasp bars, Kan Metal participated in a fair abroad for the first time in 2005. Stating that they decided to participate in the Hannover Agricultural Machinery Fair, Gürcan Kan explains his first fair experiences as follows: “We had never attended a fair until then. We didn't know how to do it. We applied by filling out the form online. They told us there was a place and we could join if we liked it. But we didn't even know what would be liked and what would not be liked. We would have liked it if they had placed it in front of the door. When I went to the fair with my brother, we were intimidated. I remember saying to my brother, "What are we doing here?" The fair was very big and our stand was in a very remote corner, in a bad place. We didn't even have a brochure. We only brought combine harvester parts, two llamas and two cranks. But even in that situation, we found customers. They wanted to buy a piece that we took to the fair. We talked to the customs officer, he said 'you can sell it'. The man asked the price, I said 350 Euros. He said okay and handed over the money. I said I only wanted five Euros. When he asked why, I told him that money was not important and that if he liked the piece, he would want a new one anyway. I said, 'Just give it a thumbs up'. That money is still in my wallet. He took the part and left, and we did a lot of work for that guy afterwards.”

Despite all his inexperience, Kan Metal attracts attention and makes business connections in this first fair he attends. Thereupon, he begins to participate in all the major fairs of the world related to his sector. Stating that they have accelerated their international fair and export activities due to the stagnation in domestic business, Gürcan Kan said, “We want to establish a sales leg abroad in the coming period. "There are different companies we are talking to about this," he says.

"If it hurts, do it, if it doesn't, don't do it!"
Fevzi Ali Kan, the founder of Kan Metal, passed away in 2005. Stating that his father was always a person who loved his job throughout his working life, Gürcan Kan said, “My father used to say, 'If it hurts, do it, if it doesn't, don't do it!' My father was a very hardworking and meticulous person. That's why when we said 'it should be done this way', there would definitely be a reason. If he didn't like something, he would immediately say so. "That's how I learned it from my father," he says.

Gürcan Kan becomes the head of Kan Metal after his father and takes over the business. However, stating that things were not easy, Kan said, “During our period, the situation of the industry in Turkey was very bad. Nobody was doing work for the factory. We were saying among ourselves, "No, son, how do we do business?" After my father passed away, things got a little harder. I've been searching for my father a lot. 'How can I do this, how can I handle this?' I don't forget what my father always said: "Work in jobs that will make you money, do not do anything else." Because Kan Metal went through a very difficult period in the 90s. Our orders were interrupted, we could not receive orders for 2 months. We did business with several companies in those years, but we did not receive our receivables for 6 months. At that time, we wanted to export abroad, but my father prevented this by saying 'they won't pay'. After I lost my father, I said 'let's see' and tried it, today we are exporting abroad. But as my father said, if we work with a customer, we definitely get paid in cash,” he says.

The third generation took over.

After the second generation took over the business, the business grew even more and Kan Metal moved to its 1500 square meter factory in 2012. The third generation also enters the business and continues the family business. Today, Kan Metal also has customers abroad. While Kan Metal continues to grow and develop, the basic philosophy of the family is business ethics, honesty and quality.