Acra Machinery attends the Durma 50 Year Anniversary Celebrations in Turkey.
The Acra Machinery team recently attended the Durma 50 Year Anniversary Celebrations in Istanbul, Turkey.
Durma Makina
In 1956, Ali Durmaz began making machines for the textile industry. Through careful decisions and unquestionable quality, he grew his company to be the biggest manufacturer in Turkey, the biggest manufacturer of press brakes and guillotines in the world, and the largest exporter in Turkey.
With 150,000 square meters of factory space (and much more land yet to build on) in Bursa, Turkey, this is one of the most sophisticated manufacturing facilities in Europe.
Many people have copied the Durma concept, but none have been the pioneer in Turkey like Ali Durmaz. Ali began in metal working with his original manual hand shear and has since grown to engineer and produce Press Brakes, Guillotines, Turret Punches, Notchers and now Laser Cutters.
Displayed with the Durma family of machines was the range of Birlik machines, including curving rolls, plate rolls, section rolls (including full CNC) and more recently bandsaws.
Unfortunately Ali Durmaz passed away after a 4 year battle with cancer, but left behind a legacy of his life including schools which he funded and a strong manufacturing base in Turkey.
Durma Quality
The Durma motto “Your Partner; Today, Tomorrow and Forever” illustrates their commitment to quality both now and in the future.
Ali Durmaz was always proud that the first machines he ever made are still operating today. Every machine is built to the highest possible quality with no expense spared.
A factory full of various Okuma CNC machines including large bridge and bed mills shows extensive investment in the latest technology and practises.
All structural plates of every machine are stress relieved after fabrication and rough machining for total stability of critical dimensions.
When the fabricated frames are machined they are simply bolted down to the bed mill and milled in their fully fabricated state. There is no better way to build a machine. All components are prepared to exacting standards and once assembled all machines are put through a rigorous testing procedure. Nothing leaves until it’s perfect.
The Celebrations
When you have been manufacturing machinery for 50 years, it’s time for a celebration to commemorate it. 10 people from Acra Machinery including their customers flew to Turkey and landed on a Thursday morning.
Thursday was spent walking around Istanbul and soaking up the magnificent “organised chaos” that the city runs on. Everywhere something is for sale and with plenty to see the Acra Machinery team wandered around and took it all in.
After hours of sighting-seeing which passed like minutes and the team were completely lost and decided to catch a taxi back to the Intercontinental Hotel for some rest and dinner.
Saturday saw 8 bus loads of people heading to Bursa, the manufacturing centre of Turkey. It was here they were shown the factory and the hospitality of the Durmaz family. They were especially honoured to view the office of the late Ali Durmaz, which had been turned into a museum of his life.
They were similarly impressed with a tour of the factory, all 150,000 square meters of it and founs not a single thing out of place and a floor you could eat off. The factory was in full production during the tour, and the team watched as Turret punches, Guillotines and Press Brakes were assembled.
The shear size of some of the machinery and parts is incredible, an 8 meter 1000 tonne press brake being a good example.
A separate factory is used for the production of the Iron Workers, Corner Notchers and smaller hand shears. At the end of the tour, they were shown the new factory which had on display every size and style of machines that Durma produce, including a pair of 6 meter x 600 Tonne Press Brakes working in Tandem.
There was also a robotised cell producing boxes without the aide of humans, and turret punches like machines guns in the background, as well as the Birlik range of Plate Rolls and Bandsaws.
Constant Expansion
At the celebrations Durma unveiled their new Laser Cutting machine, called the Linear Series. In typical Durma style the machine is highly efficient, built to high standards and built to last. A new building had been erected to focus on the Laser Cutters and Turret Punches, which will also mean higher production factory wide.
With a target of 100 machines per year within two years, the Linear Series will be a well-known name in laser cutting very soon.
Extravaganza
On the final night in Turkey the team boarded a 150ft cruise ship for a cruise along the Bosphorus. In full ball gowns and dinner suits, 350 people viewed the shore line in opulence. When they arrived at the Palace, they were greeted by fireworks which led on to a night of amazing food and dance, including a 30 minute percussion solo mixed with modern dance beats by Turkey’s internationally renowned musician, Burhan Öçal.
Amongst 7 awards for longest and newest and top 5 distributors world wide, Acra Machinery's very own Jeff Beable was given an Honour Award for his support and kindness during the difficult period when Ali Durmaz passed away.
Jeff has had a close bond with the Durmaz Family for over ten years, and this was honoured in front of 600 international guests.
27-Nov-2006