"Model Factories" will be launched in 10 cities in order to facilitate the transition of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to Industry 4.0. These Model Factories will enable the digital transformation of facilities and will bring competitive advantage to SMEs.

The first step has been taken for the project, which will enable SMEs to achieve Industry 4.0 technologies and compete with the world.

The new-generation factories, of which the first was established in Ankara with the support of the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology, will be followed by 10 more cities, including Istanbul, İzmir and Bursa.

Public and private sector representatives who came together on the issue provided a road map for the future aspects of the project. These Model Factories, which will improve the shortcomings regarding efficiency in factories and businesses, will provide a great advantage to SMEs.

Ministry officials said they will focus on the digital transformation of SMEs, noting that this will contribute to the efficiency and digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises, especially SMEs, with the Model Factory project. "We will also provide applied training and consulting services with the Model Factory that will play an important role in improving the productivity aspects of our businesses," they added.

A space was also assigned in İzmir for the Model Factory, which will enable SMEs to compete globally. The representatives of the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology, the Ege University and the Aegean Region Chamber of Industry (EBSO) came together and discussed the details for the giant facility to be located within the Ege University Campus.

EBSO Chairman Ender Yorgancılar stressed that the Model Factory Project plays a key role in SMEs' expansion to the world, adding that they discussed the project in full detail and that the project will be realized as soon as possible.

Anil Yılmaz, Director General of Productivity at the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology, stated that the Model Factory, first of which was established in Ankara, will soon begin to operate in İzmir.

"We aim to open 10 model factories in three years in Turkey. These centers will continuously develop in cooperation with universities. The public-industry-university partnership will reveal very fruitful results in the Izmir model," Yılmaz said. "The first investment and operating capital of the Model Factory will be met by the ministry and EBSO. Ege University will provide scientific support in addition to the area allocated on its campus."

These centers, which offer applied training and consultancy services around the world under the name "Model Factory" or "qualification center," have been operating in various countries since 2001. Model Factories aim to test and teach participants everything required to make a plant more efficient in a real production environment, by increasing the knowledge and skills of employees in lean manufacturing, digital transformation, product development, energy efficiency and other issues.

Cam Merkezi, which operates in the industrial glass manufacturing sector, is taking a brand-new step towards Industry 4.0 with the new mega factory in Manisa. The new factory, which will serve on an indoor area of 30,000 square meters on 64 acres of land, will bring many firsts to the sector. The new plant will partly start production in the last quarter of 2018 and cover all the requirements of the market with an automation-intensive production park, meeting all the needs of digital transformation by moving to Industry 4.0. The company will combine the production of white goods, interactive information displays and commercial cupboards with the Yorim brand in the new mega plant. Speaking of the company's new investments, Semavi Yorgancılar, the chairman of Cam Merkezi, said that they have been in this sector for 44 years. "We listen to our stakeholders and the market carefully, analyzing their needs accurately. We commissioned our second factory in Bolu last year. We will begin production on our mega factory in Manisa before the end of 2018," he added.

Yorgancılar also noted that their company has 700 employees and five factories with exports exceeding $50 million. "In the last quarter of 2018, our glass and door production for commercial cupboards will start in our mega factory. Immediately after that, our new white goods line will be commissioned," Yorgancılar said. "Our new factory, which covers Industry 4.0 applications, has completed its digital transformation and will serve with online production and monitoring lines, [and] will be one of the modern production faces of our country."