We Conducted an Enjoyable Interview with Ayla Çuhadaroğlu

# A Pleasant Interview with Ayla Çuhadaroğlu Odak Kimya General Manager Ayla Çuhadaroğlu sat down with us for an enjoyable interview on the occasion of the company's 25th anniversary. Ms. Çuhadaroğlu shared valuable information with us about Odak Kimya's operations, the products it offers to the sector, and the Innovation Days it organizes.

Could you tell us about your education and professional background so our readers can get to know you?

I graduated from Istanbul Technical University's Chemical Engineering Department in 1989. I have worked at two companies where I gained very valuable experience. I worked for three years as Chemical Process Manager at Profilo A.Ş. production facilities, followed by six years as Sales Manager at Tara Kimya. We founded Odak Kimya at the end of 1998.

Odak Kimya is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Could you share with us the founding story and the journey you have been through so far?

Odak Kimya was founded at the end of 1998 with the aim of providing color management solutions. We started by selling color measurement instruments in what we call industrial sectors—paints and coatings, plastics, automotive, and so on. In this regard, we partnered with GretagMacbeth, one of the world-leading companies in the field. In 2006, following the merger of Gretag-Macbeth with X-Rite, another strong brand in color measurement systems, the industrial sector's strong X-Rite and print and pre-press and textile sectors' strong GretagMacbeth product portfolios merged, creating a very powerful color management solutions provider across all sectors. We were tasked with adding another sector to our color management solutions each year, and by 2014, X-Rite color management solutions were serving all sectors. While we could deliver color management solutions across all sectors, with the goal of becoming not just a product supplier but a solutions provider in these sectors, we added complementary products that complete the solution in each sector based on color excellence applications. Our story started with a team of 3 people and now we operate with a team of 35 people across three offices—on the Anatolian and European sides of Istanbul and in Adana.

Which sectors do you serve and what product groups do you offer specifically for paints and coatings sectors?

We can count more than 10 sectors where color is important: paints and coatings, plastics, automotive, ceramics, packaging, printing, cosmetics, textiles, inks, photography, retail paints, and food. Therefore, we serve the aforementioned sectors. Odak Kimya, with its flagship brand X-Rite products and accompanying complementary solutions, provides solutions in color measurement, management and communication technology—from the product design stage, selection and measurement, formulation, communication, and helping users obtain the correct color on the first attempt in color matching. As of 2014, we began offering products for process color control with inline color measurement solutions. Today, Odak Kimya has become one of the leading companies in the sector through color excellence-based applications and innovations. The company works with many world-leading brands in color measurement systems, quality control software, formulation software, inline color measurement systems, color standards, online printing solutions, printing and proof papers, graphics monitors, light-proof control stations, dispensing machines, paint test equipment, and road marking paint test equipment. Odak Kimya also serves different sectors such as medical, defense industry, and airports with calibratable high-technology segment EIZO monitors. Specifically regarding the paints and coatings sector, we can list: X-Rite color measurement systems, quality control and formulation software, light cabinets, inline color measurement instruments, Inkmaker dispensing machines and industrial automation systems, IEC+ paint production solutions and engineering services, and Delta road marking paints and traffic signs day and night visibility test equipment.

Could you provide detailed information about the color measurement technologies you offer, and do you have any innovative products recently introduced to the sector?

According to psychological research conducted on marketing, purchasing decisions are made based on impressions formed in the first ninety seconds, and 93% of our perceptions are based on color. Color plays an 83% role in our purchasing decisions. For this reason, the importance of color as a quality control parameter increases every day. Therefore, all sectors must pay careful attention to color. Brands' perception management through color and the end user's impression based on color consistency have made color a critical quality control parameter. While color quality control can be performed with spectrophotometers in different segments, quality control software and formulation software, color formulas can be calculated with existing color pastes. Color can be measured non-contact, and inline solutions allow color quality control in the process. The most important point here is identifying and providing the correct solution based on application, tolerance, and workflow. The most innovative solution in recent times is being able to convert measurements taken with a spectrophotometer into data compatible with design software. Not just color, but appearance information and surface effects are transferred to design. This way, we achieve final color and appearance properties in the design software without having to make prototype products.

What points do you focus on to maintain your quality and provide good service to your customers before and after the sale?

Because the products we work with operate at high technological and quality standards, we believe we make a difference by providing service with a technically equipped sales and application (technical support) team. Our belief is that maximum service can be provided through correct configuration selection and recommendation, installation, training, technical support, and service and calibration according to manufacturer specifications for the products in our portfolio. We can say about the team we have built through investments made with this understanding: our difference is our "Equipped Team." At the same time, as an authorized service and calibration center providing local support gives great flexibility to both the sector and us. Due to the diversity of sectors Odak Kimya serves and its extensive field experience, the company also makes a difference through the consulting naturally provided to its customers. Looking at our field of operation, investments in the necessary equipment and training to maximize customer satisfaction in product sales, post-sale application support, service and sectoral training services are priorities. Through the development of complementary products in our product portfolio, our investments will continue in strengthening our identity as a company that provides solutions rather than just supplies products.

You organized Innovation Days in May. How did the event go for you and how do you evaluate its benefits to the sector?

Education has always been at our center since our founding. We held our first seminar in 2000. Our events continued until 2013. In 2013, in partnership with X-Rite, we named these events Innovation Day. From that day on, Innovation Day became the brand of our knowledge-sharing events. Our previous Innovation Day events were organized with one sector each year. This time, thinking it should be special for our 25th anniversary, we imagined organizing it for all our sectors and wanted to celebrate our 25th anniversary by sharing knowledge. Of course, since we could not organize this in one day, we held it over 3 days. Day 1: paints and coatings, plastics; Day 2: textiles; Day 3: printing, packaging, and paper sectors. Unlike previous years, along with color management solutions, we also invited our other business partners. Actually, Odak Kimya hosted and brought together sector professionals from leading companies in their fields with our sector's color professionals. Fourteen sector professionals, whom we ourselves had not seen together at the same time before, supported us in making this dream a reality.

As your company enters its 25th year, what qualities do you believe enabled you to achieve this success, and what would you recommend to new companies entering the sector?

During our Innovation Days event celebrating Odak Kimya's 25th anniversary, we were also celebrating our 25-year business partnership with our first partner, X-Rite Pantone. We were not aware of the big surprise awaiting us. Pantone, a color authority in color communication, announced the ODAK RED color at these Innovation Days after conducting the work it does annually to determine the color of the year with the Pantone Color Institute specifically for Odak. When selecting the color of the year, data from the past year must be taken to create a story behind it. The story of ODAK RED color defines the Odak team and its working style. "Dynamic Odak Red, the newly announced color, is a warm, vivid red tone symbolizing courage and virtue, infused with heat and energy. ODAK RED is a striking, bold red tone with radiant passion and excitement, with a strong presence that immediately catches the attention of its surroundings." My most general recommendation for new companies entering the sector would be to work with business areas you love and products you believe in, assemble a team that is technically competent, focus on long-term success, and remember that learning is a lifelong process.