(Analysis of Current Situation of Manufacturing Industry in Diyarbakır Province)

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims to reveal the R&D, innovation, employment, and export potentials of the companies operating in the industrial sector of Diyarbakır. Furthermore, potential solutions to prominent problems encountered in the sector are proposed alongside the obtained data with the aim of enhancing the effective use of resources and the development of the university-industry, thereby enabling local companies to create more added value which contributes to the development of the industry as well as the economy of the province and the country. Design/methodology/approach - Simple stratified sampling method was used by selecting businesses operating in the manufacturing industry in the province of Diyarbakır and having the records of the Diyarbakır Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Operational Capacity Report Records of the Diyarbakır Provincial Directorate of Industry and Technology. The research method is a quantitative descriptive research method. In order to determine the expectations and needs of the enterprises, as well as to profile the manufacturing industry, a survey-type data collection technique was used. In the light of the information obtained from the literature review, 50 questions were prepared. As descriptive statistics, mean ± standard deviation for numerical variables, number and % values for categorical variables were given and the results were explained. SPSS Windows Version 21.0 package program was used for statistical analysis of the study. Findings - Up-to-date data on the number, structure, production, capacity, employment, export, and vision of the enterprises have been obtained. As a result of extensive analysis, it was found that the enterprises could not create synergy due to lack of (smth and smth) cooperation, confined production with the limits of existing technologies, and recorded low export numbers due to their deficiencies in expanding their foreign market networks. It was also observed that the low rate of benefiting from the incentives and support provided by the government, and the weak universityindustry cooperation resulted in insufficient R&D efforts and more critically, a lack of innovation in the industry. Discussion - According to the results of the survey, although the enterprises operating in the manufacturing industry stated that areas such as iron-steel and metal goods, forest products, electrical equipment manufacturing, machinery and transportation vehicles, leather, and food could be suitable investment areas, today's reality shows that investment should be aimed at technologydriven and information-intensive products. Responses of enterprises to infrastructure-related problems also elicit debatable findings. This study acts as a reference source in terms of content and data for scientific research and projects to be carried out for the manufacturing industry of the province.