Energy costs represent a significant expense for the textile sector, a key driver of Türkiye’s exports. Currently ranked as the world’s fifth-largest producer in textile and apparel exports and aiming to enter the top three, the Turkish textile and apparel industry is strengthening its competitive position globally through digitalisation.
Erçin Temel, CEO of domestic technology company Cormind, said that the AI-powered factory operating systems developed by the company enable businesses to increase production by between 10% and 40% within the first six to 12 months. Based on field reports, he added that companies are also able to achieve average energy savings of approximately 15%.
Stressing that “data-driven production” is the key to giving manufacturers in textile hubs a competitive edge globally, Temel evaluated the sector’s growth vision for 2026 and beyond:
“The path to achieving our goals lies in strengthening flexible production capabilities with digital intelligence. To maintain its competitive advantage, the Turkish textile sector needs to make its factories smarter.”
‘We must enhance our geographical advantage with technology’
Recalling that Türkiye is within a four-hour flight distance of 1.4 billion people across Europe, Asia and Africa, Erçin Temel underlined that this strategic advantage alone is not sufficient. He offered the following assessment of the industry’s future:
“Türkiye differentiates itself from its competitors through its integrated production structure and speed. However, to capture the expected momentum after 2026 and move into the world’s top three, we must maximise efficiency. Using traditional methods, it is mathematically very difficult to raise our global market share beyond 5%. When textile manufacturers process every piece of data on their production lines and reduce their costs, they will become the strongest contributors to this national objective.”
Basic installation can be completed within one day
Temel noted that the European Green Deal alignment process and rising energy costs are placing pressure on manufacturers, saying efficiency is critical, particularly in energy-intensive areas such as dyehouses and yarn production facilities.
“You cannot manage what you cannot measure. We provide manufacturers with the ability to monitor and manage their production transparently from a single dashboard,” he said. Temel added that one of the main concerns among industrialists is lengthy installation processes, noting that thanks to Cormind’s ‘Plug-and-Run’ capability, basic installation can be completed and made operational within just one day.
