One of the many highlights at Turkey-based Makersan’s booth at Busworld was the keypad controllers for luxury coaches with which the driver can control many applications like reading lights, fog clearance, cooling fan, TV. According to Oktay Pehlivanoglu, Global Marketing Director, Makersan, all the above operations can be done with four cables for 20 keys instead of 60 cables for 20 keys.
He shared: “In the CAN version, we only have 4 cables and we are supporting with our controller high amps. We can help control the beam lights; we can also control low amps like LED lights. We are providing the OEMs the flexibility with this and also presenting HMI controller embedded in screen. It is IP 67 submersible and water resistant and can have a good scope for the Indian market as, even if by mistake they get watered, while the bus is being cleaned, the key pad controller would not be damaged.”
Another display was the start-stop regulator that helps save battery power. “When you turn on the ignition the starter motor drives too much energy from the battery. The system having low voltage may make another device run out and reboot again. With the new device of start and stop regulator, we solve that problem. The start-stop regulator supports the high current requirement and balances power, keeping a standard level for all the other electronic devices to function and not reboot,” he explained.
Even though Makersan is quite strong in the European market, the company wants to be accessible to many new OEMs that participate in the show. “What we expect from this mega European show is to reach others who have not yet worked with us. We want to reach out to body builders like Marcopolo who are strong in South America and a few others who are strong in Africa, Central America, etc. We have the experience of working with global OEMs like MAN, Volvo, Irizar, Mercedes, Scania, Iveco and all the Turkish bus and Coach manufacturers. Europe is our key market and contributes to 70 per cent of our sales volume and Turkey makes for 20 per cent while the remaining 10 per cent comes from India and other countries,” informed Pehlivanoglu.
Known also for its latches and handles, Makersan had innovation in this product line as well. They presented the micro indicator switches so that the driver is aware of the opening and closing of the door. “Most European drivers would want to just close the door and open it without getting out of the bus. This button, put together with pneumatic piece, locks and unlocks the door with the push of a button and will be pretty useful especially for opening and closing the luggage doors in luxury coaches,” he shared.
Operating from its Turkish facility in one shift, Markesan can easily expand and accommodate one or two more shifts as per the market requirements. “Operating at 70 per cent of our capacity, we are approximately a Euro 10 million company and have all the required technology that includes tooling, machining, plastic injection, electronics, software, metal forming, welding amongst many others. We also have enough land area to increase our production by ten times to meet the rising requirements,” he concluded.