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REASON FOR SPECIALIZATION

Mission: To be an institution that has a perfectionist understanding in terms of education, research, and information sharing, and brings together industry and academia, providing social development and benefit.

Vision: To add value to the country's economy through the production of information and technology, scientific, cultural, social, artistic, and sports fields, leading in Turkey and respected in the world, preferred graduates, and providing a social benefit by establishing maximum cooperation between industry and university. To be an international university that makes the best use of information technologies and has a lifelong education approach.

Economic Structure of Uşak Province

Agricultural activities, livestock and dairy products manufacturing, textile and leather products manufacturing, food products manufacturing, mining, and ceramic products manufacturing constitute the basis of economic life in Uşak.

There are 3 Organized Industrial Zones, 2 in Uşak and 1 in Karahallı. Considering that the number of Organized Industrial Zones in Turkey is 273, it is seen that 1% of the total Organized Industrial Zones are in Uşak. The Uşak Organized Industrial Zone, which was completed in 1994, has a size of 659 hectares. In the following years, Uşak-Leather (Mixed) Organized Industrial Zone was established in 2005 and has a total area of ​​313 hectares. Again in 2005, Uşak Karahallı Organized Industrial Zone was established on an area of ​​68 hectares.

Textile, leather, and ceramic industries are the locomotive in Uşak. These three main sectors constitute the great potential of the provincial economy. According to the 2016 Economic Outlook Report of the Provincial Directorate of Commerce of Uşak, the province of Uşak accounts for 95% of Turkey's capacity in terms of the number of blankets it produces, 97% of Turkey's capacity with the number of hydrophilic bandages, and 65% of Turkey's capacity with its coarse wool (straygarn) yarn production. It meets 15% of Turkey's capacity alone with its ceramic production.

As of the end of 2015, the number of enterprises registered in the Industry Registry Document System in Uşak is 1,401. Considering the production subjects of the main industrial facilities produced in the province, the production of yarn, raw and printed cloth, fiber, blanket, carpet, leather, and ceramics are the prominent fields of activity.

Leather, Ceramics, and Textile Industry Problems

It is one of the important centers of the textile, leather, and ceramic industries in Turkey and ranks fourth among the cities with the lowest unemployment according to the data of the Turkish Statistical Institute. The biggest problems of the industry in Uşak, which has an intense employment area, stand out as value-added product production, brand value creation, constitutionalism, and recognition. Considering these main data, sector problems related to specialization areas are explained below in detail under sub-headings.

Industry Issues for Leather

According to the 2007 data of the Uşak governorship, approximately 3000 people are employed in the leather sector and there are 300 workplaces. The sector, which has the capacity to process 50 million animal skins per year, continues its activities (Uşak Governorship, 2007). Today, it is seen that there are 100 leather processing companies in Uşak (Leather Mixed Organized Industrial Zone) and 14 shops and workshops in the center of Uşak, where leather garments are sewn and sold.

Although our province, which has proven its expertise in the field of sheep skin processing, has undertaken the most laborious and difficult process in the sector for years, the contribution of the leather sector to the economy of Uşak remains limited as it cannot produce clothes from processed leather; In provinces such as Istanbul, Izmir, and Antalya, leather garments, bags, etc. Companies that produce leather products earn much more than companies that process leather in Uşak.

Leather industrialists, who made great profits in the 1990s and early 2000s, could not make sufficient progress in terms of product and market diversification. The failure of a few firms attempting to produce leather garments has discouraged the enthusiasm for producing the final product. Being dependent on a single product (small cattle hide) and a single market (Russia) caused the leather industry in Uşak to go into crisis and the industry could not develop in this area. For these reasons, the number of leather processing companies decreased from 500 to 100 in 2007. As of today, there are 100 leather processing companies in Uşak (Leather Mixed Organized Industrial Zone) and 14 shops and workshops in the center of Uşak, where leather garments are sewn and sold.

The machinery park of the enterprises in the Leather Sector, which is one of the 3 main sectors active in Uşak, is generally based on old technology, and new technological facilities have started to be established in this area in recent years. However, reasons such as the high cost of new machinery in these facilities, the stagnation in the economy, and the high loan interest rates prevent enterprises from establishing advanced technological facilities.

Leather processing companies are working far below their capacities due to the decline in demand and long terms in collections, and some of them have suspended their production.

The continuation of the problems experienced in the employee-employer relations in productivity and human resources, the decrease in the interest of the sector towards educational institutions and the number of students, the increase in the shortage of qualified and unskilled labor in the industry, etc. problems are an obstacle to the progress of the leather industry.

In the workplaces of companies working on leather garment production, where they produce and sell; transportation, design and visual aspects are not suitable for their business development. It works seasonally 7 months of the year; 15-20.000 pieces of leather garments are produced annually in 14 companies with a total capacity of 50,000 pieces.

Insufficient physical and natural clustering in Uşak, not being able to be in big markets in the leather and products industry in marketing and sales, being dependent on a small number of markets, limited research and development activities in product and quality, limited branding, financing and financial structure in the leather and leather products industry. profitability, limited financial resources and high financing costs, limited institutionalization in market and sector conditions, unregistered production, unfair competition, inadequate import and domestic market management, inadequate product standards in the shoe industry, illegally imported products, the trade-production dilemma for the players of the sector. Changing climatic conditions for the entire industry are considered a threat to the industry. In order to solve these problems, as a university, we will have the opportunity to become an institution that steers the sector with the contributions of the Regional Development-Oriented Mission Differentiation and Specialization Program.

Industry Issues in the Textile Field

In Uşak, approximately 75% of the industry consists of textile companies. The city of Uşak attracts attention with its recycling sector, which has recently shown a natural clustering. Uşak province, which has become the recycling base with the slogan "We Produce Cotton Without Fields", has an important place in the recycling of textile wastes. Uşak alone produces 80% of the recycled fibers produced in the recycling facilities in Turkey. 65% of the fibers produced are consumed within the province, 10% are sold to other provinces in Turkey and 25% are exported (Uşak Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2011). According to the data of the 2015-2018 Turkey Textile, Ready-to-Wear and Leather Products Sectors Strategy Document and Action Plan prepared by the Ministry of Science, Industry, and Technology, the recycling sector in Uşak collected 365 thousand tons of domestic and foreign textile waste in 2011. produced recycled cotton (by shredding cotton products into fibers by combing) (Ministry of Science, Industry, and Technology, 2015). Again in Uşak, 120 tons of pet bottles are converted into fiber per day. In addition, according to the Uşak Chamber of Commerce and Industry Recycling of Textile Production and Usage Waste, Economic Effects report, 70% of the regenerated fiber produced by the tanning facilities in Turkey, 70% of the regenerated fiber recycled in the garnet facilities, and % of the wool recovered during leather tanning. 34% of the fiber, 38 of which is recycled from PET bottles, is recovered in Uşak (Uşak Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2015).

Despite having such a strong potential in the textile recycling sector, there are deficiencies in increasing economic inputs and improving competitiveness. It is needed to gain the brand value of the produced textile products, to increase the product variety, and to evaluate according to the quality parameters. In addition, it is another important need for the textile companies in the city to become institutionalized and have a professional management approach.

Industry Issues Regarding Ceramics

Our country ranks 9th in the world ceramic tile production order. Turkey's production in 2012 reached 280 million m² with an increase of 7% compared to the previous year. In line with the 10th Development Plan of the Ministry of Development of the Republic of Turkey, our country, which plans to be among the top 10 economies of the world, should make its growth continued in the ceramic industry, which is one of the sectors with the highest added value. In this direction, first of all, it is necessary to solve the common problems of the ceramics industry and to ensure the transition from low-tech products to high-tech products with higher added value in the industry. When the current problems of the ceramics industry are reduced to private, raw material, energy, and transportation problems come to the fore. The inability of each manufacturer to produce the auxiliary materials that the ceramic industry needs in common with their own means and the scarcity of manufacturers producing auxiliary materials are among the important problems of the industry. A sufficient number of sub-industries have not been formed around the production facilities. The lack of sufficient industry in the production of ceramic machinery and being dependent on foreign sources in this regard are among the weaknesses of the sector. Improving the bureaucratic processes encountered in the procurement of our rich raw material resources, which are used in ceramic production and which are in excess as reserves in our country, is important for the competitiveness of the sector. The ceramics industry is an energy-intensive industry. Nearly 30% of the cost consists of energy expenses. The energy prices in our country are considerably higher than the countries we compete in the world, and this situation negatively affects the global competitiveness of the ceramics industry. Since ceramic products are heavy in cargo, transportation costs are high. In our country, the transportation of ceramic products is mainly by road.

The lack of railway transportation with factory-port connection in our sector and the inadequacy of our ports are other factors that weaken the competitiveness of the sector. The ceramic industry uses approximately 60% of its installed capacities. If the unused capacity, which appears to be 150 million m² in coating materials and 65,000 tons in sanitary ware, is converted into production, the added value to be created in the sector is over 800 million dollars. With the return of unused capacities to production, export and competitiveness will increase and production costs will be reduced.

In the panels organized by the Uşak University Ceramics Research and Application Center within the scope of university and industry cooperation at Uşak University, as well as in the examinations made, one of the weaknesses of the ceramic coating industry in our region and our country is that they cannot create unique product surface designs due to technological inadequacies and lack of qualified personnel, It has been determined that they are foreign-dependent due to the absence of wall tile design centers. Italy is the leading country in Europe in ceramic design, determines the fashion, and the ceramic coating industry in our country usually buys product designs from Italian design companies, one of our biggest competitors in the industry, by paying high prices. As stated in the results of the 10th Development Plan Ceramics Working Group report of the Ministry of Development of the Republic of Turkey, the sine qua non of being a brand design. In this context, businesses operating in the field of ceramic tile in our region need to realize and customize the product designs that reflect their brand images in order to permanently increase the added value of the products they produce, their domestic and international market shares, and also reduce their dependence on foreign sources.

Turkish ceramics industry strategy document and action plan, T.R. Another important issue highlighted in the Ceramics Industry Report of the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology (2015/1) and the 10th Development Plan Ceramics Industry Reports of the Ministry of Development is Turkey's goal of becoming Eurasia's production base for medium and high technology products. The technical ceramics industry, whose size is estimated to be around 50 billion USD, is dominated by developed countries such as Japan, North America, and Western European countries. Since the production of technical ceramics, which has a higher profit margin compared to other ceramic products, requires the use of high technology and capital, the sector is quite close to new firm entries. Since the industry in our country is not developed, the application areas of technical ceramic products are very limited, and there are no companies with foreign capital in the technical ceramics sector in Turkey. Technical ceramic products are high-value-added products that emerge as a result of long-term R&D studies. Insufficient resources allocated to R&D by the manufacturers of the ceramics industry is another factor that slows down our entry into the technical ceramics industry. The lack of specialized customs for technical ceramic products and the inadequacy of GTIP numbers in terms of technical ceramic material type in import and export are other problems of the industry.

 

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