We Conducted a Pleasant Interview with Mr. Tulga Dal
Exporting to more than 40 countries in 4 continents, İba Kimya, with its strategy of being present in almost every sector, continues to grow rapidly. In our interview, Mr. Tulga Dal, General Manager of İba Kimya, gave information about the development process of İba Kimya and its current structure.
Could you please briefly tell us about your educational and professional background?
After TED Ankara College, I graduated from Middle East Technical University, Department of Chemical Engineering. I started my working life at Volkan Boya, which produces furniture varnishes and industrial paints. My first acquaintance with the paint production process and my discovery of the factory atmosphere is based on my first experience in 1995. After gaining three years of experience in wet paint formulation and production, I joined our family company, İba Kimya.
Could you please give information about İba Kimya’s history and milestones? What’s the current structure of İba Kimya today?
İba Kimya entered the sector in 1977 as a company that produces insulation chemicals. Founded by my father, İbrahim Dal, the company was engaged in the production of wood
paints and varnishes. In 1995, it decided to start producing electrostatic powder coating. In the world paint industry, powder coating has replaced wet paint with an increasing speed, and İba Kimya has achieved success by keeping up with this speed and has become a company that produces technology in a short time. Iba Kimya, which is our locomotive company today, also leads our group companies with more than 800 employees.
To which industries and with what kind of products does İba Kimya mainly serve? Could you please give information about İba Kimya’s products, brands and services, especially in the field of coatings & surface technologies?
When we look at the sectoral distribution, we see that white goods and architectural applications come to the fore. However, I should specifically point out that our goal is not to concentrate on certain sectors, but to be a company that serves all sectors in our product development efforts. However, our products, which we call Smart Coatings, which are in great demand especially during the pandemic period, have taken us one step forward in the market. To give an example, our hygienic coating called IBACLEAN, which we developed to be applied on hygienic surfaces and completed the international approval processes, is in great demand. Apart from this, our customers have very positive feedback about our Smart
Coating named IBAFAST, which can be applied at low temperatures in the face of increasing energy costs and provides economy in the facilities.
Could you please tell about your domestic and international sales activities? To which regions and what kind of products does İba Kimya mainly sell?
Today, İba Kimya has become a company with two production facilities in Turkey and one in Slovakia, with 400 employees. In addition to being the market leader in our country, Iba
Kimya, which exports to more than 40 countries in 4 continents, has shown a very rapid growth performance with its strategy of being in almost every sector. Although headquartered in Ankara, we reach our customers through our Regional Directorate, two in Istanbul, in Izmir, Kayseri and Konya. Today, where after-sales service is as important as
sales, our customers work directly with our Sales and Service Engineers. In addition, our dealers who have been working with us for many years in Bursa, Samsun, Adana and Gaziantep also serve our customers.
We are trying to grow with a similar strategy in the foreign market. We continue our stock and sales activities with our own companies and employees in Russia, Poland, Germany
and Slovakia, which we see as emerging markets. We think that the most important way to be accepted in distant geographies is to be local in those markets, and we structure our investment and business partnerships in line with this strategy.
Could you please give information about İba Kimya’s innovation and R&D studies? Do you have any projects that were developed in the context of university – industry cooperation?
We attach great importance and priority to our product development efforts, which we continue with the identity of the R&D Center. With our staff and laboratory infrastructure that we have strengthened in the past years, we are trying to respond to the demands of
our current customers more quickly, and we are working on new products that exceed the
expectations of the market. In particular, we give priority to the projects we carry out in cooperation with our customers. The success of laboratory studies in the powder coating industry and the customer’s trust of the developed product are only possible with effective field experiences. This further increases the importance of technological cooperation with users.
Could you give information about İba Kimya’s environmental policy and sustainability approach? What kind of works and studies are performed in the area of worker health and safety?
As İba Kimya, we aimed to leave a sustainable world where air, water and soil pollution is prevented, environmental protection awareness is provided and humane living is possible
for new generations. We adopt the principles such as complying with legal requirements in order to ensure economic, environmental and social sustainability, protecting our em ployees from work accidents and occupational diseases by taking occupational health and safety measures, recycling by reducing wastes from activity, preventing soil, water and
air pollution, reducing carbon emissions, generating our own electricity by utilizing solar energy. Our principles include energy efficiency, continuous improvement in quality, method
and technology, economic growth, ensuring information security, complying with the principles of business ethics, ensuring and improving the satisfaction of our employees,
customers and suppliers, supporting education, sports and athletes, and taking part in social compliance projects with the principle of voluntariness.
We implement the ISO 45001 management system regarding occupational health and safety. With a proactive approach; we aim to prevent work accidents and occupational
diseases before they occur. Together with our employees, we identify the dangers and risks arising from our activities and take actions to eliminate the risks. We control the working
environment and ensure that occupational safety measures are taken before starting work. Personal protective equipment suitable for the environment in which they work is delivered to all our employees. We organize periodic trainings to raise awareness about the risks they are exposed to and the precautions to be taken.
What are the priority criteria of İba Kimya when creating investment plans? Does İba Kimya have any investment plans for near and far future?
We see 2022 as an important year in which our new investments planned for capacity increase are realized. We will be on the move again to give our company an even more agile identity in line with the changing expectations of the market and to make the momentum we have achieved permanent. In our investments, we aim not only to increase capacity, but also to develop our technological infrastructure. However, on the other hand, we see the most important investment as the investment in human resources and we continue our work in this direction.
