Zülfikarlar continues to keep its finger on the industry's pulse with its steadily increasing production capacity and range of activities since its establishment, while continuing to provide the best service to its customers.

Can you provide information about Zülfikarlar? Would you tell us about your field of work and activities?

Zülfikarlar, whose establishment dates back to the early 1940s, began its activities in Istanbul/Eminönü with chemical trade. Considering the needs of Turkey's developing and growing economy and industry, Zülfikarlar developed itself in line with emerging domestic and foreign demand and consolidated its activities under Zülfikarlar Holding. Today, Zülfikarlar Holding, progressing under the leadership of Türkiye Petrolleri and Turkuaz Petrol, which are influential in the energy market, serves the Turkish and regional economy together with Akça Kimya in chemical production and storage, Akdeniz Faktoring in the finance sector, Tesla Enerji in power generation, İz İnşaat in construction sector investments, and Trend lojistik, which carries out logistics activities within the group.

What are your product varieties?

Speaking for chemistry as Zülfikarlar, besides our caustic soda product manufactured at our Yarımca facilities, we conduct trade in many chemical raw materials to meet the needs of Turkish industry. Acid neutralizers used in food production, thickening agents and protective substances that make the product less susceptible to external factors, additives used in the textile sector to prepare raw materials before production, feed additives used in the animal husbandry sector, various raw materials used in the furniture and paints sector, and base oils used in the mineral oil sector constitute part of the product groups where we perform import, customs clearance, storage, sales and handling operations.

What is your perspective on R&D?

Innovative thinking and accompanying R&D work hold an important place in Zülfikarlar's internal company dynamics. Evolving and changing industrial approaches are forcing companies to make changes in this direction. Increasing competition pushes prices downward, and manufacturers can compensate for falling prices through new R&D investments resulting in lower costs.

What do you consider when determining your R&D work? What is the importance of R&D in your company?

As Zülfikarlar Holding, customer satisfaction is our most essential prerequisite. Therefore, all our innovations and R&D work are aimed at ensuring our customers do not face supply shortages while taking the right actions in this new industrial order. Our goal is to provide the right product to our customer at the right time and under the right conditions. We continuously improve this cycle to do better through our work.

What investments have been made in R&D? What do you base upon when making investments?

As Zülfikarlar, we are a customer-focused company and we shape and revise our improvement and development activities in line with their requests. Another aspect we consider when making investments is environmental sensitivity. Environment and people are important criteria guiding our research.

Can you tell us about your R&D work?

Since R&D work is part of our in-house activities, I cannot provide much detail, but we are conducting good projects for both the companies we work with and for the environment and people.

What services do you provide to your customer network?

Speaking about Akça Kimya, first and foremost, our dynamic and knowledgeable field sales team is in continuous contact with our customers. Our team analyzes our customers' demands 24/7 and shares them with our production and import teams. In addition, by offering them proactive solutions during manufacturing processes, we keep them continuously informed about product varieties. Our facility in Kocaeli/Yarımca works on customs clearance, storage and handling during the supply process of products needed by our customers. With its dock, tanks and filling ramps, the facility serves our customers not only in dry cargo but also in liquid cargo. With Türkiye Petrolleri and Turkuaz Petrol, which have recently joined our new structure, we meet with our customers through an extensive domestic distribution and sales network. Can you tell us about your quality policy? What is the importance of quality in achieving global growth? Since our first production, the quality perception, which has been on the agenda with the question "how can I do better?", began to settle on certain principles when the Standards Institute ISO entered our lives in the early 1990s. With each revision made, it became more embedded in our lives and is now an essential for companies. While control activities that showed themselves at the end of the process initially, after the 2015 revision, the entire process came under its influence. Companies are now focusing more on quality assurance perception that addresses the process in its entirety rather than quality control alone. As Zülfikarlar, we take this trend brought by the era into account and we closely monitor quality work both for our dynamics and for the values of the companies we work with.

What would you like to say about the sector? What are your views on domestic production?

As in every sector, in the chemical sector China is the latest player but the most powerful one in the game. With its high liquidity and manpower, it is rewriting the rules of the game. With renewed and developing transportation networks, the world is now smaller. Shipping times, which were previously considered an advantage in competing with China for Europe, are getting shorter every day. Today a train leaving China can be in Germany in 18 days and in England on the 19th day. Therefore, companies are trying new ways to compete with this new player. High quality is an important criterion in this competition, and the way to this is through R&D work and advanced technology investments. As a Turkish economy, we should continue on this path and continue our high-technology investments without interruption. The only way to compete with foreign companies in a global world is to produce high value-added products.

Can you provide information about your latest investment or technology?

With Türkiye Petrolleri Distribution Company, which we recently added to our group, Zülfikarlar's brand value and recognition have increased considerably. Our communication infrastructure is also being continuously strengthened with new investments to provide flawless service to existing operations. In addition, Seveso work conducted within the framework of environmental management systems and aimed at preventing industrial accidents continues at all storage and distribution facilities within the holding. Following the analysis conducted during the work, the existing operations are being revised and improved with the latest technologies brought by the era according to the risk situations that emerge.