On a manufacturer's website, purchasing teams first look for proof that the company can do the job: which processes it runs, its machine park, the materials and tolerances it can handle, valid quality certificates, capacity and reference sectors. Then they check whether they can reach it easily, through a downloadable catalogue, a request-for-quote (RFQ) form and an English version.
In organised industrial zones such as Gebze OSB (GOSB), TOSB, Dilovası OSB or Sakarya's 1st and 2nd OSBs, hundreds of companies do similar work. A buyer looking for a new supplier often builds their shortlist without picking up the phone, simply by screening websites. This article explains which questions your site needs to answer during that screening.
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What does a buyer look at first on a manufacturer's website?
A buyer first looks at what the company produces and which processes it runs. A generic phrase like "metalworking" is not enough; capabilities such as CNC turning, CNC milling, laser cutting, press-brake bending, welding, plastic injection moulding or surface treatment need to be listed clearly. Within the first few seconds, the visitor should see that their part can be made here.
This information belongs in a short summary at the top of the homepage, with a separate capability page for each process. Buyers usually arrive with a technical drawing or a parts list; what they want is to decide quickly who to send that drawing to.
- —Core processes: machining, sheet metal, casting, injection moulding, assembly and similar headings.
- —Secondary operations: heat treatment, painting, plating, packaging; in-house or through subcontractors?
- —Materials: steel grades, aluminium alloys, stainless steel, engineering plastics.
- —Batch size: prototypes, small series or high-volume series production.
How should the machine park and tolerances be shown on the site?
The machine park and tolerances should be shown as a concrete table: machine type, make and model, quantity, working envelope or capacity, and typical achievable tolerances. Buyers and supplier-quality engineers compare that table with the part's dimensional and precision requirements to judge whether the company is technically suitable.
Avoid exaggeration when listing tolerances. Stating what you hold consistently in series production, not the best value you reached once under ideal conditions, protects your credibility. List measuring equipment, such as a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) or profile projector, on its own line; quality teams care about measurement capability as much as production capability.
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Which certificates should appear on the website?
The website should list the quality, environmental and sector certificates the company actually holds and that are still valid. ISO 9001 is a baseline expectation in most purchasing processes; in the automotive supply chain IATF 16949 is common, and ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 are often asked about for environment and occupational safety. The scope and expiry date should be visible too.
- —Next to each certificate logo, the PDF of the document or a link to the certification body's verification page.
- —Expiry dates; remove expired documents immediately.
- —For automotive customers, a short note that you can prepare documents such as PPAP, FMEA and control plans.
- —Approved-supplier status with specific customers, mentioned only if the customer allows it.
How should capacity and references be presented?
Capacity and references should be presented concretely enough to reduce the buyer's risk while respecting confidentiality. Covered floor area, shift pattern, headcount and annual output show whether the company can carry the order. For references, naming the sector and part type instead of the customer is often enough and safer.
- —Capacity: covered area, number of shifts, monthly or annual output range.
- —Sectors: automotive suppliers, white goods, defence, machinery and other industries served.
- —Sample work: part photos and short project summaries, as far as confidentiality allows.
- —Exports: which countries you ship to and, if relevant, the share of exports.
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Why do the catalogue, datasheets and quote form matter so much?
The catalogue, datasheets and quote form matter because a buyer has to share what they find with their own team and request a quote quickly. An up-to-date downloadable PDF catalogue gives them a document to attach to internal emails. A quote form that accepts technical drawings brings in requests with the right information, without rounds of phone calls.
A quote form needs little more than part name, quantity, material, required delivery date and a file upload field; unnecessary mandatory fields make people abandon it. Stating how many working days a reply will take, and making sure the request actually reaches the right person, matters as much as the form design itself.
Does a manufacturer's website need an English version?
In most cases a manufacturer's website needs an English version. Many companies in the industrial zones of Kocaeli and Sakarya supply foreign-owned OEMs or export directly, and the person evaluating suppliers there may not read Turkish. The English version should be written by someone who knows the technical terms, not produced by machine translation alone.
English pages should mirror the Turkish ones, and the catalogue and certificate files should be available in English too. The language switcher should be visible on every page and take visitors to the same page in the other language, not back to the homepage.