We Conducted an Interview with Ekin Tükek

We conducted an enjoyable interview with Flokser Kimya General Director Ekin Tükek on the company's characteristics. Mr. Tükek shared valuable information with us about the R&D centers, new applications and sustainability policies.

Could you briefly tell our readers about yourself?

I graduated from Koç University's Department of Chemistry in 2009. After completing an MBA at Barcelona European University, I finished my second master's degree at Kadir Has University in Corporate Communication. In 2021, I graduated from Istanbul University's Department of Cultural Heritage. I am currently studying Restoration at Mimar Sinan University. Since 2010, I have worked in various departments in our family companies including procurement, R&D, finance, human resources, and management systems. Since 2020, I have been serving as General Director of Flokser Kimya.

Can you share the founding history of Flokser Kimya and the changes it has undergone to date?

Flokser began its commercial operations in 1984 with wallpaper production in a 450-square-meter workshop. It grew rapidly in the textile sector through the production of flocked fabrics and synthetic leather, and has been listed in the ISO 500 since 1997. In 2006, we entered the chemistry sector with our investment in coating polyurethane used in synthetic leather production. With our first ministry-approved R&D center established in 2016, we pioneered cutting-edge technologies in the sector while adopting a production approach that focuses on high value-added products, environmental sensitivity and sustainability. Over the years, we increased our production capacity to meet the country's needs for polyurethane, polyol and polyester raw materials. With our annual production capacity of 100,000 tons, we achieved exports to more than 55 countries, primarily Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Russia, reaching annual revenues of EUR 130 million. Today, Flokser Kimya ranks among Turkey's leading polyurethane system houses due to both its product quality and the innovative solutions it provides to its customers. With our main product groups of footwear, rigid foam, flexible foam and CASE, we provide solutions to customers in many different sectors such as construction, building, heating and cooling systems, furniture, insulation, defense industry and automotive.

What are the product groups you offer to the polyurethane sector?

The insulation sector is among the areas where we are particularly pioneering. Polyurethane is currently known as the world's best thermal insulation raw material. Polyurethane raw material is used everywhere thermal and water insulation is needed—in refrigerators, heating and cooling systems in homes, on roofs and facades of buildings. Another sector we serve is the footwear sector. Polyurethane is used in the soles of slippers and shoes. Safety shoes, slippers and soles, as well as soft and flexible insoles inside shoes are manufactured from polyurethane raw material. Another sector of ours is our flexible foam systems. Our service area here is divided into two: furniture and automotive. In the automotive sector, polyurethane foam systems enable the production of commercial vehicle seats, steering wheels, gear knobs and many impact-absorbing components not visible inside the car. In the furniture sector, polyurethane foam systems are used especially in office furniture, gaming chairs and spare equipment production such as armrests. We can define another main product group we serve as CASE. Coating products and elastomer materials serve many basic purposes in various industries such as sealing, mechanical strength and water insulation. Through our polyol, epoxy coating, floor injection systems, marine adhesive and polyurethane adhesive systems in the relevant product group, we contribute to the construction sector. We also develop special ballistic polymers for the defense industry. Additionally, through Flokser Trade, we conduct raw material trading. In summary, many products we use in daily life consist of polyurethane as raw material. We will continue to produce solutions that add value to our country and the world in every area where polyurethane exists, through our specialized technical team and advanced technology R&D center.

Can you describe the characteristics of your R&D Center and the innovative work carried out there?

As Flokser Kimya, we have Turkey's first ministry-approved R&D Center in the polyurethane sector. We also rank among the top 250 companies with the highest R&D expenditure in Turkey. In this list, we are in the top 10 in the chemistry sector. Our primary objective is to bring products to the sector that meet customer expectations. For this reason, we carry out product development work on a "tailor-made" basis. In addition to existing sectors, we are also working on the development of different polymer materials that we don't currently serve but could utilize our polyurethane production capabilities for. Among the areas we prioritize in R&D work are water-based environmentally friendly products, polyurethane systems developed from polyols obtained through PET recycling, recovery of waste polyurethane foams and their reuse in the production process. Particularly in recent years, our company participates in work with many different organizations to contribute to efforts aimed at reducing foreign dependence in the defense industry. We focus on collaborative projects and continue our work on projects with strategic importance and objectives aligned with our company's mission and vision. Within the scope of our R&D Center, we also conduct projects supported by the EU and bringing together universities and industrial organizations from different countries. Through our polyurethane system houses and shoe manufacturers, we conduct product development and production processes with comfort and durability at the forefront. One of our product groups that shaped the market in the past, soft slipper systems, were highly appreciated by users and this development led to the emergence of different needs. With the experience we gained from this product group, our R&D Center found a solution to this search in the sector by bringing together the two extreme properties derived from EVA and polyurethane in polyurethane and launched it to the market. In addition, as of 2022, in a tender opened in Europe for the needs of millions of soldiers for boots, shoes, sandals and slippers, we became the raw material supplier to European armies with our Creanate 66-A / Creapol NT-801-B / Creacat NT-500-C product group featuring antifungal and antibacterial properties.

You had deployed your RPA application. Can you tell us about this application and its contributions to your production?

We implemented our Robotic Process Automation (RPA) application to take operational work loads off our colleagues' shoulders, given the importance we place on automation and digital transformation. With this software, we automated processes by mimicking human behavior in front of computers (seeing the screen, using mouse and keyboard). Our robot, which we named R2D2, works with us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, just like an employee. In daily processes, it takes the work load off us and works with zero errors. In particular, using its integration capability, it continuously exchanges information with SAP S4 HANA, Qlik Reporting and Microsoft Teams environments. Our R2D2 employee has the capabilities of: running applications (SAP, Teams, Qlik, etc.), processing files and folders, reading/writing databases, obtaining/sending information from web pages, using web services, receiving/sending emails, and performing OCR. Currently, R2D2 mimics the movements of our employees. In the future, our goals include using artificial intelligence to make various forecasts for us, accelerate the operational process and minimize potential workplace accidents. R2D2 makes our lives easier in many ways. We can give customs declaration processes as an example. A task that would normally take 180 hours was completed by R2D2 in a total of 2 hours. The estimated human labor time for the work done by R2D2 equaled one month of work. Additionally, R2D2 currently performs all daily reporting, streamlines SAP approval processes through Teams, and colleagues obtain information through Teams such as daily weather, meal lists, employee information and customer card creation. In the future process, we plan to deploy applications through WhatsApp that will be used by both our customers and customer representatives (ordering, order tracking, account statement viewing, recommendations, etc.).

What topics does the Flokser Sustainability Manifesto cover and what work do you do for sustainability?

We established a Sustainability Department within the company, and our first task was to prepare a master plan. In this plan, we determined our targets and actions aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We operate with a sense of responsibility toward the world, our country, our company, our employees, our customers and our suppliers, and with a permanent, sustainable and transparent operation for the benefit of society. We invest in knowledge, technology and people for our journey into the future. We constantly work to develop new ways of using materials and products that will add real value to people's lives, and we emphasize development to always move ourselves one step further. With the dream of offering a better world to the rising generations, we always act with the consciousness of a "responsible producer," taking into account the protection of nature and climate conditions and aiming to prevent global warming. Beyond being a responsible producer, we are conscious consumers. We extend our Zero Waste project not only within the company but also to our employees and their families through volunteer projects. With our volunteer community called Flokser Volunteers, we contribute to the education of disadvantaged children in our regions and produce animal shelter units from our own raw materials. Within the company, we support all in-house personnel to volunteer for appropriate social and community activities that enable their development. We continue our work in the fields of education, environment and cultural heritage, which most need support in Turkey, and aim to draw attention to these issues by supporting topics that need to be addressed in society. Through the social responsibility projects we carry out as an institution, we contribute to the development of individuals, play a role in the development and sustainability of local economies. As Flokser Kimya, to contribute to social progress, we improve lives through the solutions we provide to different sectors and make our consumers' lives easier.

Can you share the investments you have made recently and your future targets?

We have a new production facility in Mersin, Tarsus Organized Industrial Zone and a logistics center investment in Istanbul, Hadımköy. We are designing both our new facility and logistics center with a green building concept to ensure they receive LEED certification. As Flokser Kimya, our goal has always been to grow through R&D investments. With our new investment, we will increase our capacity and, by focusing on high value-added products, increase our exports to the 50 percent range.