Cengiz Gozukara

International apparel and textile executive with 30+ years building, scaling and leading sourcing, manufacturing, supply-chain and operating platforms across North America and Asia. Combines large-scale multi-site leadership with hands-on knowledge of how product, planning, sourcing, production, quality, inventory and logistics must connect to serve wholesale, retail and ecommerce channels. In Bangladesh, progressed from building TURNKEY's country sourcing/production operation from zero to Group Vice President leadership at Knit Asia, overseeing operating functions across 12 facilities within a 20,500+ employee group and US$120M+ annual business operations.

Experienced in greenfield factory setup, integrated textile manufacturing, P&L, international supplier ecosystems, ERP/KPI-driven management and organization design. Executive strength is designing the operating model, building the specialist teams and systems to execute it, and holding the organization accountable for measurable results.

Project-Based Construction & Project Management at BURAK CONSTRUCTION & SERVICES (2018 – Present)

Delivered project-based management across 15+ custom homes and major renovations, coordinating scope, trades, procurement, schedules, quality, budgets and client requirements while remaining positioned for a return to full-time apparel/textile executive leadership.

Group Vice President – Operations & Supply Chain at KNIT ASIA GROUP (2012 – 2017)

Led operating functions across a 12-facility vertically integrated network within a group of 20,500+ employees; annual business operations exceeded US$120M with approximately 120,000–125,000 garments produced daily. Led a multi-year operating transformation across production, PPC, Industrial Engineering, sourcing, quality, engineering and supply chain: diagnosed process losses and system gaps, delivered an initial 5–7% operating improvement, then used IE, time-and-motion studies, workforce training, machine/process upgrades and tighter material-utilization controls to raise cumulative overall operational improvement to approximately 17–18%. Redesigned end-to-end order and production planning to address chronic delays and heavy reliance on airfreight.

Recovered 2–3 weeks through tighter customer communication, approvals and pre-production readiness, then another 1–2 weeks through input/output balancing, line balancing, operator training and machine adjustments—reducing typical Bangladesh end-to-end lead time from approximately 3–4 months to 2–2.5 months. Improved labor-intensive garment efficiency by approximately 10%, with machine-intensive departments achieving improvements up to approximately 15%, while efficiency gains also reduced waste and related operating costs. Strengthened capacity utilization through better planning, work study, training and targeted equipment/process improvements.

Rebuilt quality governance to protect customer standards from production pressure: strengthened the Quality organization, introduced formal quality manuals and procedures, upgraded inline inspection and increased Quality independence and top-management visibility for faster, more objective decisions. Managed executive customer engagement and delivery for American Eagle Outfitters and Eddie Bauer programs; earlier group/customer exposure included Walmart and Primark.

Vice President – Global Sourcing & Production at TURNKEY CORPORATION (2007 – 2012)

• Established the Bangladesh country operation from zero and built a 20+ person organization covering merchandising, product development, sourcing, production follow-up, QC, technical support, compliance, administration and shipping.
• Built an extensive Asian sourcing ecosystem across Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan and other markets, including knit/woven factories, fabric mills, yarn, trims/accessories, printing/washing, subcontractors, testing/inspection and logistics providers.
• Led North American customer visits, product development, costing, negotiations, order placement, production follow-up and shipment execution; balanced price, margin, capacity, lead time, quality and delivery risk.
• Created office/warehouse infrastructure and in-house testing capability and worked with Intertek/ITS, Bureau Veritas and SGS for third-party testing and inspection.

Sourcing Manager at HAGGAR CLOTHING CO. (2006 – 2006)

Led high-volume apparel sourcing from Bangladesh/Chittagong and China, coordinating supplier qualification, costing, quality, compliance, schedules and delivery for North American retail programs including Costco.

General Manager at DEMIR GROUP – YADEM TEXTILE DIVISION (2002 – 2006)

• Held full P&L responsibility across manufacturing, finance, engineering, maintenance, procurement, supply chain, logistics, quality and commercial operations.
• Led an integrated knit, dyeing and garment platform of approximately US$80M investment scale plus turnkey garment projects, from technical setup and organization design through ramp-up and performance management.
• Used IE, planning and operating controls to improve standard times, line balance, output targets, methods, cost and leadership accountability; supported international market development.

Bangladesh Operations Leadership at TEB FASHION

Greenfield Assignment

• Set up a cut-and-sew apparel operation from zero for a European business, covering machinery, recruitment, operating systems, compliance, production readiness and ramp-up; combined in-house production with outsourced capacity.

Factory & Operations Leadership at INTEGRATED TEXTILE COMPLEX

• Managed an approximately US$150M integrated complex with about 2,300 employees across knit/woven fabric, dyeing/finishing, printing, knit garments, woven home textiles and shirts.
• Led production, engineering, utilities, planning, quality, warehousing and logistics; export programs included approximately 40,000 Hanes/Sara Lee T-shirts daily.
• Built broad technical command across the textile value chain, including yarn/fabric formation, dyeing and finishing, cutting/sewing, garment finishing/washing, quality and shipment - enabling executive direction of specialist technical teams.

General Manager at ORSA GROUP / ORSA 1

• Led manufacturing, P&L, procurement, supply chain, quality, maintenance, workforce and delivery; previously established production and quality controls for an international brand operation in Türkiye and later led factory readiness work for demanding global-brand requirements.

Early Career Leadership at LC WAIKIKI

• Worked across commercial expansion, chain/dealer development, design/model-room coordination, fairs and international retail trend tracking, providing early grounding in how product, market, channel and manufacturing decisions connect.

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Business Administration – Çukurova University, Tü