Flokser Kimya Executive Board Member Ekin Tükek

We conducted a pleasant interview with Ekin Tükek, Board Member of Flokser Kimya, regarding the company's operations and innovations introduced to the sector. Tükek shared details of the R&D work carried out as part of their educational support activities.

Could you briefly tell our readers about yourself, your educational background and your professional experience in the sector?

I graduated from the Chemistry Department at Koç Üniversitesi. After completing an MBA at Barcelona European University, I pursued a second master's degree in Corporate Communications at Kadir Has Üniversitesi. Since 2010, I have worked in various departments within both Flokser Textile and Flokser Kimya. I currently serve as a Board Member at Flokser Kimya.

Could you tell us about Flokser's development process from its founding to today?

Flokser began production in the early 1980s in Istanbul with a 450 m² flocking workshop and expanded into numerous sectors including weaving, knitting, non-woven, technical leather, and chemicals (polyurethane), becoming one of Turkey's leading industrial establishments. Today, as one of Turkey's largest 500 industrial enterprises, we are positioned as a raw material producer and exporter in the textile and chemical sectors. Flokser Kimya, which commenced operations in 2006 with the production of synthetic leather coating polyurethanes for use in textiles, has become one of Turkey's leading system houses with a Ministry-approved R&D center, now supplying raw materials to many sectors.

What are Flokser Kimya's products and product groups? Which sectors do you serve?

As Flokser Kimya, we advance with the mission of offering products that prioritize customer satisfaction and standard quality, while being mindful of people, the environment and nature, and that make life easier. We provide polyurethane, polyurea, and polyester products and alternative solutions to the construction, slippers and soles, furniture, automotive, adhesive, white goods, and insulation sectors. Polyurethane use has a concrete positive impact on quality of life and user comfort of products. Polyurethanes, which are one of the foundations of comfortable, modern living, are durable and reliable. With advanced polyurethane technologies available within our company, we operate in rigid insulation (refrigerators, cold room panels, sandwich panels, spray, pipe insulation, decoration), filtration, integral (office furniture armrests, various auto parts, cables), footwear (slippers, soles, fusspets, occupational safety), molded foam, adhesives, binders, technical leather polyurethanes, and water insulation applications. We export to numerous countries including Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Russia, both through our dealer and distributor channels and through our sales offices.

Have you recently undertaken innovative polyurethane product work that will make a difference in the sector?

As Flokser, we expand our scope of action daily through our interdisciplinary working capability. As Flokser Kimya, which possesses the sector's first Ministry-approved R&D Center, we translate our superiority in design and innovation into our production capacity. Our R&D department, which conducts activities in synthesis and application laboratories, comprises chemists and chemical engineers with master's and doctoral degrees. With our team of specialists in each respective field, we aim to find permanent solutions specific to the chemical sector. As Flokser Kimya, since 2012 we have been ranked among companies that allocate the highest share of revenue to R&D in the R&D 250, the annual announcement of Turkey's R&D expenditures, and in the Research on Companies with the Highest R&D Spending in Turkey. According to the research, in 2017 we ranked 9th in Turkey with 9% of total R&D spending relative to total revenue. Today we are the first company in Turkey to produce bio-based coating polyurethanes that are easy to clean and harmless to human health. While implementing our innovative projects, we set trends and produce customized products for our customers. In line with our principle of continuous improvement and innovation, innovative perspective, and mission to lead the sector, we continue our work in both domestic and foreign markets through R&D activities. We produce polyurethane systems in different densities and hardness values used in slipper and shoe sole production. These systems, developed according to application areas and customer expectations, stand out as a highly preferred material in recent times in slipper and shoe sole applications. Our newly developed polyurethane systems, developed with emphasis on properties such as comfort, lightness and compression resistance, offer safer use compared to standard slipper products and provide manufacturers with lower cost opportunities. Ultra Lightweight PU Slipper, with its superior dimensional stability, offers 35% weight and 15% cost advantage in production efficiency according to different mold models available in the sector. While the Soft PU Slipper system stands out with its comfort properties, the Eco Slipper differentiates itself through high compression resistance and low mix ratio. At the same time, the lightweight and flexible PU sole system enables manufacturers to increase production efficiency with fast mold release time.

What are your projects within the scope of new technological trends?

We determined our objectives for the next 5 and 10 years through a workshop held at the beginning of the year. We aim to increase our production capacity through forward and backward integration and focus on creating added value. To this end, we have investment plans both domestically and abroad. We aim to enhance our capabilities by developing new products for different sectors in which we have not previously operated. Defense, industry, construction and durable consumer goods sectors are areas we are currently working on important projects. Our knowledge base, experienced team, network, prompt service delivery, effective distribution channels, and financing capacity stemming from being a reputable company well-known in the sector for years are reasons we take a step ahead and are preferred. We also work to preserve these characteristics and create more value for our stakeholders.

Recently, you opened a chemistry laboratory at Bahçeşehir İMKB Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School. Could you tell us about this project?

Since our establishment, we have conducted corporate social responsibility activities in many areas, particularly education, for the development of community and environmental life. Flokser Kimya's social responsibility policy, which draws attention to issues that need to develop within society, is based on a sustainability strategy within the framework of universal values. Within this scope, during the 2018–2019 academic year, we implemented the "Flokser Kimya Laboratory Project" and opened the chemistry laboratory at Bahçeşehir İMKB Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School on Friday, 22 March. Through this project, we aim to meet the school's laboratory needs and provide maximum benefit to high school students studying chemistry and wishing to pursue a career in this field, and to support schools and students wishing to engage in chemistry work. As of this academic year, students have begun taking classes both in the laboratory sponsored by Flokser Kimya and at Flokser Kimya's headquarters, and have started working on project topics provided by the company. We also provide them the opportunity to become familiar with an industrial establishment operating in the chemistry field, access internship and work opportunities, and observe and conduct experiments on certain curriculum topics in professional laboratories and production areas. We are currently working on our second school project.

Digital transformation is essential in our age. To what extent do you think the polyurethane sector has undergone this transformation?

We determine our future work by following developments in digital and industrial transformation. Industry 4.0 is a matter on our agenda. We monitor and control a large portion of our processes through systems. This also benefits us by allowing us to devote more time to new products and innovation. While our systems maintain order, they provide us with more data for analysis, supporting us in making sound decisions. Of course, ensuring the human resources to manage this transformation emerges as one of the most important priorities. To this end, we organize training and continuously develop ourselves to establish working methods suited to current and future requirements.

Could you tell us about your work in the areas of environment and sustainability?

As Flokser Kimya, in line with our sustainability understanding, we preserve our diversity and productivity for our continued existence. Among our objectives are contributing to social progress, improving lives through the solutions we offer to different sectors, and making the lives of our consumers easier. We attach importance to acting with a sense of responsibility toward future generations in the efficient and productive use of world resources, the common denominator of all humanity. We work with a lasting, sustainable, and transparent operation for the benefit of society. In all our activities, we adopt an innovative and sustainable approach, particularly in production activities of products that are mindful of human life and the environment. While doing all this, we are careful to provide benefits to the society we are part of through our social responsibility projects.