Interview with Çağrı Bülbül

In our interview, Bestek Sales and Operation Manager Çağrı Bülbül provided us with information on their sales activities and the products they offer in the fields of adhesives and sealants.

Could you please tell us about yourself and your professional background?

Hello, I'm Çağrı Bülbül. I work in Bestek Company as Sales and Operation Manager. I graduated from Bilkent University with a degree in International Relations, then I received my master's degree in MBA from Bilkent University. I have been working in sales for 17 years. The first five years, I was in the oil-energy market, then I moved to the industrial adhesives and tapes business. Today, I have been in the adhesives market for 12 years. I had the opportunity to work at tesa tape and 3M, which are innovative and pioneering companies in the market, as a sales engineer, key account manager and sales supervisor. Although my education is in business administration, working in a sector related to chemistry and engineering has been and continues to be a different experience for me. Our products complement each other since they are cross-linked, like pieces of a puzzle; therefore, we are able to work in several markets such as defence, aerospace, automotive, appliance, construction, solar and furniture, among others, to fulfil customer needs. So, I can say that at Bestek, I have the opportunity to learn and develop myself together with our business partners every day.

Could you please provide information on the history and areas of activity of Bestek?

Bestek was founded by Mr. Özgür Ertekin, our General Manager, in Ankara in 2004. Initially, Bestek started as a 3M distributor for the personal safety division. Within a few years, Bestek signed a distributorship agreement for the 3M adhesives and tapes division. We have extensive geographical coverage in the Anatolia Region since our company was founded in Ankara. As Bestek grew and new business opportunities emerged, we opened our Istanbul office four years ago. Therefore, since 2018, from Istanbul to Trabzon, from Izmir to Adana, from Antalya to Ankara, we are able to sell our full product range in every corner of Turkey. Today, in Ankara we operate a facility of approximately 2,000 m², where we can convert raw materials into end products through converting and slitting. At the same time, in our management offices in Ankara and Istanbul, we focus on managing our business in line with our targets: getting closer to customers, serving them faster and being more effective for them. Bestek represents five well-known brands in the industry: 3M, our priority brand, Lohmann, Fischer, Weicon and Enimac companies are our business partners. We try to be active in every area where production and industry are present so that our bonding, mounting, fixing, masking, surface protection, sealing, potting, temporary or permanent tape and adhesive applications can be sustained properly.

Could you please provide information on the products and services you offer? What are your target industries?

Starting from 2021, our company added new brands to its portfolio while our 18-year-old business partnership continues to grow with 3M. Thus, we increased the quantity and variety of our products so that we could better serve our customers and increase the number of potential customers. What have we accomplished so far? In addition to 3M's adhesive and tape, electrical and electronic, construction and architecture, and defence and aerospace products, we offer double-sided tapes from Lohmann, a 170-year-old German company. Furthermore, we sell chemical and steel anchors, adhesives and sealants, and firestop products from Fischer, also a German partner. Lastly, we signed a contract with Weicon, which offers structural adhesives, anaerobic products for fasteners and screws, sprays and many other products. Since we are very active and experienced in the tapes industry, we signed a contract with Enimac, an Italian machine manufacturing company, two years ago. Enimac machines are mainly for packaging, box and envelope producers who want to laminate tapes more easily and quickly onto their products. With all these partnerships, our target markets are quite diverse, and I can clearly say that there is no market or segment that we cannot address. In 2021, we obtained ISO EN 9120 aerospace quality certification, which differentiates us from our competitors. Therefore, one of the most important markets for us became the aviation and defence industry. We are proud that we supply many products to the Turkish defence industry to support the production of unmanned aerial vehicles, aircraft, armoured land vehicles, guns and rifles, ships and boats, radio sets, among others. Apart from these, we work with appliance manufacturers, renewable energy companies, and automotive and railway OEM and tier companies. We are also well known in many other markets such as signage, furniture, lighting, power supply and electronics markets since we work with many leading producers in these sectors for many years. Since we primarily focus on industrial users, we try to understand the needs of producers, then we select the most appropriate products to match customer needs in an effective and efficient way. Therefore, we maintain contact not only with purchasing and procurement departments but also with R&D and engineering teams to conduct trials and demonstrations together with our customers, and then, once our customer has decided on a product, we try to supply it in a cost-effective and rapid manner. Our business model is more than a sales company; rather, we try to be a solution provider and problem solver. This is our motto for the growth path.

Could you inform us about your domestic and international sales? To which countries and regions does Bestek export its products? What kind of products do you sell?

We have three regions in Turkey: Aegean, Marmara and Anatolia. Each region has its own geographical coverage. We supply tapes and adhesives to almost every city in Turkey. In addition, our desire was to start export activities, but we were not active in exporting until 2021. At the end of 2021, we also started exporting to Israel, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Our goal is to increase the number of these export destinations in the short and medium term.

Could you please inform us about the innovation and R&D activities conducted by Bestek?

We base every innovation we undertake on customer needs. We purchased new lamination and converting machines in response to our customers' increasing demand. We not only slit tapes but also laminate liners and convert jumbo rolls. Although the pandemic forced us to postpone our plans, in the short term we are planning to invest in a slit-rewinding machine so that we will play an active role in an area where we have not been significantly involved so far. Moreover, we are also working on innovations on the sales side, not just the production side. We are working on a new CRM system that will allow us to manage customer demands and needs through an online platform.

What are Bestek's investment plans for the future? Could you please tell us about your investment priorities?

First of all, we plan to increase the number of employees, especially sales personnel, because we focus on better customer service and faster customer contact. Currently, new recruitment processes have already begun for the Anatolia and Marmara regions. I believe that the most important investment is the one made in people since employees are the face of a company. Therefore, our investment priority is people. Apart from that, we have completed our trademark procedures for our own brand, Bestech. If everything goes as planned, in the third quarter of 2023, we will launch sales of our brand. This will be a major step for our company. In addition, we always emphasize the importance of exports. Both Bestek and our country need exports to grow. Therefore, we also plan to expand our production facilities and equip them with new machinery. All these plans are based on our desire to export to more countries, especially Africa and the Turkic Republics, since we believe there are greater business opportunities. Efficiency and innovation in production will enable us to optimize thousands of products in our range so that we can identify goods suitable for export and focus on exporting them.