An Enjoyable Conversation with Ali Karamustafaoğlu

Asil Kimya Sales Manager Ali Karamustafaoğlu spoke with us in an engaging interview. Ali Karamustafaoğlu shared valuable information about the areas in which Asil Kimya operates, product groups and future objectives.  

First, could you tell us about yourself and your professional background so our readers can get to know you?

I was born in Istanbul in 1991. I graduated from Sabancı University with a degree in Economics. I then completed my Master's degree at Hult International Business School in Shanghai. After working at a pharmaceutical company in America, I returned to Turkey in 2016 and began working in the sales department of our family business, Asil Kimya. Since 2020, I have served as Sales Manager.

 

Could you describe your company's development from its foundation to today and the main sectors you serve?

Asil Kimya was founded in 1987 by my father Ahmet Karamustafaoğlu. Our company was established to supply raw materials used in paint production and subsequently began supplying products to many sectors including plastics and construction chemicals. In addition to distributorships we obtained from manufacturers in countries such as Germany, Sweden, South Korea, India and the Czech Republic, we started intensive product sourcing from the Far East and created our own brands. These products took their current form and continue to develop as a result of investment and research and development conducted over approximately 15 years in response to feedback and demands communicated by our customers.

You have an extensive product range. What are the products you supply to the paints and coatings sectors?

We supply many products for the paints and coatings sector. Our main product groups include Titanium Dioxides, Iron Oxide Pigments, Organic Pigments, Chrome Yellow Pigments, Carbon Blacks, Ultramarine Blues, Cellulose Ethers, Film-Forming Agents, Biocides, Fume Silicas, Rheology Agents, Wetting Agents and Defoamers, Surface Agents and Silicone Resins. In these product groups, in addition to distributorships of important brands and manufacturers such as Bayferrox, Preventol (Lanxess) Bermocoll, Precheza, Navpad, Berol and KCC, we have created brands well-known in our industry such as Titanox, Carbonex, Rheogel, Fumasil, TX, Panax and Silones. Our aim is to reach the optimum point in the price-quality balance.  

What do you pay attention to when adding a new product to your range? What conditions cause your criteria to vary?

As I mentioned, we partner with very important manufacturers in many product groups. Beyond that, we have brands that have been built over the years through great effort and have established themselves in our sector. Therefore, we are careful when adding new products to our portfolio. The greatest advantage we have in successfully marketing many products over 35 years is that we believe in these products ourselves. We always focus on products that achieve the optimum point in the price-quality balance. This is because one of our objectives is to take the companies we work with one step further and help them grow. Many firms have grown together with us over 35 years. This is a source of pride for us.  

What is the importance of research and development for a company, and what resources do you allocate to your R&D activities?

Although we are growing in exports as a country, we unfortunately are not at the desired level in producing high-value-added products. The most important way to improve this is through research and development activities. Companies must allocate a portion of their profits to research and development activities. If we can progress in higher value-added, more niche areas, we can make economic progress. Although we are not involved in production activities, we have an R&D center in Tuzla to test product stability and evaluate new products. In accordance with demands from our customers, we conduct tests in our laboratory before introducing new products, along with competitor product analysis.

What points do you focus on to keep customer satisfaction at the highest level and maintain the quality of the service you provide?

Customer satisfaction is the issue we value most within our company values. Of course, this cannot remain just words. Therefore, we have worked for years to satisfy our customers. In areas where we fell short, we paid attention to their feedback and improved ourselves. Currently, the point where suppliers struggle most is maintaining uninterrupted supply of products. We have achieved great success in this area since the pandemic. We have also received very positive feedback from our customers on this matter. Besides this, we try to respond quickly to our customers' demands regarding product development. Together with our sales team, we conduct approximately 40 customer visits daily and report on them. We also conduct visits with senior management and maintain close contact with our customers. We pay attention to responding quickly to demands and complaints and providing solutions. At the same time, we host our customers at our company headquarters and organize training sessions on our products.  

What are your objectives for the coming period?

Over the past 5 years, we have introduced many new products and started supplying products to different sectors. In the coming years, we plan to continue growing by supplying new products. As a result of our recent partnership with Nouryon, we have started supplying products such as Bermocoll, Berol, Duomeen, Amadol, Ethylan, Phospholan and Alcosperse. I believe that with these products, we will gain significant momentum in the additive group for paints and coatings. In construction chemicals, we will also add product groups such as powder polymers, starch ethers and air-entraining agents alongside cellulose groups. We have increased our export share from 10% to 20%. Our target for 2023 is to increase this ratio to 30%. We continue our work in new markets. Our ultimate objective is to become a global product supplier while continuing our growth over the next 5 years.