A Look at the Heart of the Digital Transformation Journey from Pakten: The 12th Man of Industry Digitalization

Based in Gaziantep, Pakten Health Products Inc., a leading company in the medical, cosmetic, and cleaning sectors, views digital transformation not merely as a technological transition but as the company’s “12th man” working 24/7. During this transformation process, the company found solutions to its needs, such as machine data collection and production monitoring software, with the AI-powered Production Management System, ProManage MES software. Metin Tepe, Member of the Executive Board at Pakten, shared this process in detail during the “Experience Sharing from Digitalizing Industrialists” program.

Pakten’s Journey from Founding to Digitalization

Pakten Health Products was established in 2000 as the first diaper company in Southeast Anatolia and Gaziantep. Facing the challenges of being the first in a region where there were no hygiene-related products, raw materials, or even human resources, the company set out on a mission to bring an ecosystem to the region. Starting with the idea that “we must meet the need,” they grew with the support of important companies and experienced names. Today, completing its 22nd year with a product range including diapers, adult diapers, wet wipes, and liquid products, the company has achieved a corporate structure that ranks among the top 1,000 exporters and top 1,000 industrial companies as of 2022. Additionally, as a Turquality company, they benefit from state support and make significant investments as an R&D center approved by the Ministry of Industry and Technology.

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Why Has Digitalization Become a Necessity?

Pakten’s digital transformation process dates back almost 10 years. Metin Tepe states that the company has a young structure and was born into the digital age. The main goal of this transformation was to create awareness for the business. Fundamental needs such as knowing what you are doing, measuring it, and analyzing it, which are the first requirements for competition, paved the way for digitalization. The need to be equipped with emerging technologies, to integrate them, and to know what the technologies they had at their disposal did, what they could do, and their shortcomings or excesses led them to start working with Doruk. This 12-year collaboration proved how right the initial discussions were. The primary goal was to establish a production execution system within the company using an ERP-compatible MES system and to support the process with MES software powered by Artificial Intelligence.

A Major Leap in Productivity with ProManage: OEE from 66% to 80%!

On its digitalization journey, Pakten, in collaboration with Doruk, launched ProManage, an AI-powered smart production management system. Thanks to this system, they managed to increase their operational efficiency (OEE) from 66.5% to 80%, which is an excellent figure by global standards.

ProManage’s contributions were not limited to OEE increases:

• Root Cause Analysis: Weekly meetings are held to identify issues such as the causes of machine downtime and where it occurs using ProManage, and improvement efforts are undertaken.
• Efficient Resource Utilization: Improvements are made in many areas, from firefighting to human resources. Lean production techniques are implemented, such as the goal of doing a 10-person job with 7 people.
• Cost Reduction: Focus is placed on reducing primary cost items such as technology consumption, raw materials, energy, and labor.
• Financial Targeting: Improvements, trials, and R&D studies are conducted based on incoming information to achieve financial gains and set sound financial targets.
• Decision Support Mechanism: Digitalization ensures that data reaches managers instantly and is perceived by employees, transforming into continuous improvement activities. Metin Tepe defines this as a system that performs a “continuous check-up” of a business.

Challenges in Transformation and Secrets to Success

The digital transformation process is not easy. One of the biggest obstacles is changing people’s habits. Therefore, it is essential that the person in charge believes in the process and is committed and determined. After that, it is necessary to convince the team members and move forward with proper project management.

Metin Tepe’s recommendations:

• Good Research and References: Considering the experiences of companies that have made this investment before and reviewing the references and success stories of companies that will guide the process speeds up the process.
• Patience and Continuity: Digital transformation is a process and requires patience. Deficiencies that are not apparent at first may emerge later on, which may require new technology integrations (such as Pakten starting in 2010 and changing all its technology in 2014).
• Experienced Personnel: An experienced person in charge of the digital transformation project helps reduce costs. Although initial input costs are high, cost items decrease as the process progresses, and output costs become very low.
• The Importance of Human Resources: It is crucial that people believe in this work and take care. Thanks to systems such as ProManage, blue-collar workers are given targets and their performance can be measured, which makes them feel valued and increases their sense of belonging to the job.

Digitalization: Sustainability and Financial Returns

Digitalization is directly linked to sustainability goals, one of today’s most important topics. When seeking to collaborate with global customers, companies are evaluated based on criteria such as their sustainability initiatives, management vision, transparent and traceable structure, future goals, and human resources investments. All of these play a critical role in companies establishing long-term partnerships.

From a financial return perspective, although the initial investment cost may seem high, companies like Pakten can recoup their investment before the end of the year, or even faster. Digitalization is also a powerful marketing tool; customers invest in the company’s vision, not in buildings. These investments grow the company and bring long-term customers and partnerships.

A Never-Ending Journey and Recommendations for SMEs

According to Metin Tepe, the digitalization process is never-ending if you want to compete globally. Keeping up with global innovations and integrating them into your own organization requires constant effort. In Turkey, they continue their work with the goal of producing high value-added products. They are continuing their investments, particularly in ERP, and supporting this journey by evaluating requests from employees.

Addressing SMEs, Metin Tepe emphasizes that Turkey is an extremely adequate country in terms of business ease, profit, and opportunity. Therefore, he advises SMEs not to be afraid of growing and investing. While acknowledging that the search for order and stability is difficult due to Turkey’s young population average and rapid flow, he states that they should continue their work and investments without tiring, without getting bored, and without fear. He expresses his belief that we will see better and more stable days in our country.

Pakten’s great success shows that the digital transformation process contributes significantly not only to large companies but also to businesses of all sizes. Solutions such as the MES Production Management System and IoT-based data collection are essential investments for a sustainable future and global competitiveness.