OSTIM DEFENSE AND AEROSPACE CLUSTER (OSSA) - A SECTORAL FORCE
OSSA was established on July 1, 2008, under the leadership of OSTİM. With over 300 member companies primarily based in Ankara, but also including Balıkesir, Bursa, Istanbul, İzmir, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Manisa, and Mersin, it employs nearly 10,000 people and represents over 50 different business sectors. The production of numerous end products and subsystems for land, air, and sea platforms includes R&D/design, software, composites, electronics, electromechanics, cabling, machining, sheet metal forming, surface treatment, testing/calibration, coating/painting, optical systems, hydraulic systems, machinery/equipment manufacturing, and unmanned systems.
OSSA, within the framework of cooperation, synergy, and collaborative competition, encourages its member firms to enhance their competitiveness through R&D, innovation, finding new markets, establishing export channels; developing international cooperation, gaining a competitive advantage, adapting to technology (digitalization), creating value (producing high value-added products), improving institutional and quality systems, specialization, creating roadmaps, and promoting domestic and national production, thereby creating significant synergy. It also continues its activities in the areas of developing strategies specifically for SMEs; organizing events to gain a competitive advantage domestically and internationally; organizing delegation visits; domestic and international promotion; representation and marketing activities; press and public relations; and carrying out technology transfer and joint projects within the scope of university-industry cooperation.
_TO INCREASE COMMUNICATION AND COOPERATION BETWEEN SUPPLIER AUTHORITIES AND MEMBERS _
OSSA brings together numerous institutions such as the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey's Defence Industry Directorate, the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Industry and Technology, the Ministry of Trade, the Force Commands, the General Directorate of Security of the Ministry of Interior, the General Command of the Gendarmerie, the General Directorate of Military Factories of the Ministry of National Defence, the General Directorate of Shipyards of the Ministry of National Defence, Municipalities, DHMI, SHGM, ASFAT A.Ş., Technoparks, Universities, TÜBİTAK, Ankara Development Agency, KOSGEB, DMO, Military/Commercial Attachés, and many valuable main industry companies such as Aselsan, BMC, BMC Power, FNSS, Havelsan, Katmerciler, MKEK, Nurol Makina, Otokar, Roketsan, TUSAŞ, TR Motor, and TÜBİTAK SAGE with our SMEs, thereby increasing cooperation and communication among its members; and ensuring the flow of information between the parties by conveying the capabilities, suggestions, and problems of the members to the authorities.
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION, REPRESENTATION AND MARKETING ACTIVITIES
Our Bronze Label certification, recognized by the European Commission as a testament to excellence in cluster management, and our cooperation protocols with sectoral clusters and institutions (Mexico - FEMIA, Russia - Aerospace Cluster of the Samara Region, Pakistan - Supreme Tecnocrafts, Malaysia - MAIA, France - Aerospace Valley), along with our memberships in the European Aerospace Cluster - EACP, European Enterprise Network - EEN, and European Cluster Cooperation Platform – ECCP, enable us to share important information with our members regarding various projects and requests abroad.
We participate in dozens of trade fairs and B2B events in many countries such as the USA, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Morocco, France, England, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, and Ukraine with our members, and we conduct meetings and factory visits with official delegations that we have organized in advance.
Organized by OSSA and supported by the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey's Defence Industry Directorate, our Ankara Defence and Aerospace Industrial Cooperation Days (ICDDA) events, held every two years, bring together participants from nearly 60 countries; Procurement/supply chain officials from institutions and companies such as AIRBUS, AZERBAIJAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE INDUSTRY, UAE SYSTEMS, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES MILITARY FORCES, BOEING, BRAZILIAN AIR FORCE, CERN, DASSAULT SYSTEMS, IGSS KUWAIT, KAI, LEONARDO GROUP, QATAR MILITARY FORCES, LOCKHEED MARTIN, MBDA, MEXICO FEMIA, NATO/NSPA, NAVANTIA, PAKISTAN AIR FORCE, PTC, ROLLS ROYCE, SIKORSKY, STELIA, UKROBORONPROM, THALES, and THYSSENKRUPP are meeting with SMEs and our main industrial companies in Ankara, and nearly 6000 professional registered bilateral business meetings are being held.
INSTITUTIONALIZATION ACTIVITIES
OSSA has contributed to the establishment of ERP systems for 35 member companies and to the AS9100 aviation standard certification of nearly 90 members through projects utilizing government support. OSSA also meets the training and consultancy requests from its members regarding SEO, business intelligence, monitoring and intelligence gathering on international tenders, quality systems, risk management, and intellectual and industrial property rights/patent processes.
Our goals as OSTİM Defense and Aerospace Cluster are:**
To increase the share of domestic production in meeting the needs of our army,
To make defense industry SMEs competitive in national and international markets,
To become the preferred sub-supplier through increasing collaborations and developing capabilities,
To enter international markets with the final products,
To create regional competitive advantage through sectoral specialization,
To transfer technology to SMEs by working with academics and universities,
To create a competitive advantage against foreign competitors with subcontractors whose capabilities are improving.
