An Interview with Arslan Bektaş, General Manager of Oltrogge Türkiye

We conducted an interview with Arslan Bektaş, General Manager of Oltrogge Türkiye. Bektaş provided information about Oltrogge's long-established history and its operations in Turkey.

Could you briefly tell our readers about yourself, your education and professional background?

My name is Arslan Bektaş. I was born in Yozgat on 01.09.1969. After completing primary school through fifth grade in Turkey, I moved to Germany in 1978 under the family reunification law that came into effect that year, joining my family and continuing my education abroad. After completing secondary school, I finished my vocational training between 1984-1987 at the Vocational Education Institute, specializing in Industrial Paint Application. In 1987, I completed a one-year apprenticeship in the paint shop at a company producing for the automotive and media sectors. I subsequently continued as paint shop supervisor at the same company until 2001. From 2001 to 2009, I worked as production manager in the paint shop division of another company in the same sector, responsible for all processes from A to Z and supervising approximately 200 personnel. After approximately 22 years of professional experience in this field, I began working as an expert consultant in 2009 at Oltrogge, analyzing and improving paint shops and production processes at various companies. During this period, my research revealed that paint shops in Turkey were unfortunately lacking in many areas. Following this, Oltrogge & Co.KG decided to open a branch in Turkey, and officially established the Oltrogge Türkiye branch in September 2011. Since that date, I have continued as the responsible manager (General Manager) of the Oltrogge Türkiye branch.

From October 2017 onwards, Oltrogge coating technologies will continue its operations in Turkey under the new name AS COATING Paint Systems Ltd. Co., without interruption, using the systems and specialized solutions of Oltrogge & Co.KG. Could you provide information about Oltrogge's founding process and the stages it has gone through to the present day? For how long has the company been operating in Turkey?

Oltrogge was founded in 1866 and initially began operations in the compressor and metal work sectors. This work continued until approximately 1905. In 1905, Oltrogge entered the paint shop sector. For approximately 90 years, it has been marketing the products of well-known manufacturers such as Graco and Finishing Brands (ITW) under its former name, and this partnership continues to the present. In 1980, Oltrogge responded to the need for application of two-component paints by conducting four years of research on automatic metering/proportioning and color-changing systems, resulting in the development of an excellent 2K mixing system as its own product. During this period, the company operates in five separate areas including machine tools, hardware, compressors and welding machines. It officially began operations in Turkey in 2011.

What types of products does Oltrogge primarily supply to which sectors? Could you provide information about Oltrogge's products, brands and services?

We provide products and services to the automotive, wood/furniture, heavy industry, plastics industry and media sectors. Our principal products include mixing systems: Regular 15, Regular 30, Regular 50, Regular 100 Pig system and PSG Polyester application systems. The services we provide include automation, engineering, consulting, spare parts and technical service. Oltrogge conducts R&D work in-house. As a project, Oltrogge has developed the Pig system to enable more economical use of chemical materials.

Could you discuss your domestic and export sales activities? What types of products are you primarily selling to which regions domestically and internationally?

We generally produce project-based, customized solutions for production processes. We serve all regions within Turkey. Our primary offerings are automatic mixing and color-changing systems and automation (robotic) systems. Internationally, we can mention the Balkans, Asia and Africa as regions, and we similarly supply automatic mixing, color-changing systems and automation (robotic) systems.

Could you provide information about Oltrogge's innovation, R&D activities, environmental policy and sustainability approach? What can you say about your work regarding occupational health and safety?

In the systems it has developed and in its R&D work, Oltrogge has always been guided by the principle of protecting the environment and worker health. Therefore, it has developed specialized solutions to minimize the consumption of chemical materials used in paint shops. In many of our studies, we have achieved savings of up to 70% in thinner consumption and 50-70% in paint consumption. By lowering VOC values in this way, we contribute to the protection of nature and workers. We place great importance on sustainability. Of course, this is only possible by incorporating current technologies into your production and achieving standard quality. We emphasize the importance of providing necessary training on occupational health and safety, planned and repeated training by specialists. We advocate that individuals or groups be designated within the workplace and that workers be monitored and supervised daily. Unfortunately, I believe there is an insufficient number of trainers and adequately equipped instructors in this area.

Could we learn your thoughts on Turkey's industrial paint, coating and surface treatment sectors? What do you see as Turkey's advantages and disadvantages in these sectors?

I believe that in Turkey, unfortunately, adequate information and clarifying recommendations are not being provided in this regard. I can say this easily based on my approximately 30 years of work experience in Germany. Consequently, due to lack of knowledge and experience, our manufacturing companies suffer significant financial losses. Looking at it by sectors, Turkey certainly has advantages, but due to the reasons I mentioned above, these can turn into major disadvantages. If there is proper selection and project planning, advantages are reflected as follows: reduced foreign purchasing costs and production costs, improved quality and a competitive market. The current disadvantages are: incorrect product selection, incorrect product recommendation, lack of knowledge, incorrect information transfer, sales-oriented thinking instead of proper diagnosis…

What criteria are prioritized when formulating Oltrogge's investment plans? Does Oltrogge have investment plans for the coming periods, and if so, what are they?

Oltrogge's investment criteria are shaped by factors such as technology level, knowledge and experience, which systems are being used, and market share by sector. Our investment objective is for a new system that is being considered and developed to be manufactured in Turkey in the coming years.