Before thinking about the machine, anyone planning a plant should think about who will buy the blocks they produce. The machine makes the product, but the money comes from the customer.
Our customers' customer base usually consists of four groups. The first and largest is contractors. An apartment building or housing estate needs thousands of blocks, and a good relationship with a contractor can last for years. The second is building material stores and dealers. They buy regularly but in smaller quantities. The third is local people: those adding a room to their house, building a garden wall or a barn. One by one they look small, but in a town their total is far from negligible. The fourth is municipalities.
About municipalities and public works we can say this: many of our customers have bid in tenders and won work. These jobs are usually housing estates and paved sidewalks along roads. That is why it matters that your machine can produce interlocking pavers as well as blocks. Being able to make both products on the same machine by changing the mould means you can work both for private customers and on public projects.
Let us give an example from our own city. After the earthquake destruction in Hatay, a great deal of construction started in the region, and the need for blocks suddenly grew. We saw closely at that time that wherever construction picks up, blocks are always in demand.
One of the questions we are asked most from abroad is whether the market in Africa or the Middle East is different. As far as we have seen, there is not much difference. The production model and the customer circle of factories in Turkey and in Africa are the same: contractors, material sellers, people building their own homes and public works. The country changes, but the people who buy blocks do not.
Our advice: before ordering the machine, talk to a few contractors and material sellers in your area. Find out who buys how many blocks, from whom, and why they are not satisfied. A plant that starts out knowing where it will sell is one step ahead from day one.