A Very Enjoyable Interview with Ersan Bayraktar

BYCHEM Chairman Ersan Bayraktar Discusses TPU Production and R&D Activities

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

After obtaining my bachelor's degree in Business Administration from American College of Switzerland, I continued my graduate studies at Drexel University. I began my career at our family company MATA A.Ş. during my education, and after working for 30 years in the Marketing, Production and other departments of MATA A.Ş., I assumed the position of CEO. I joined BAYEGAN in 2016 and have continued to lead various projects. Since 2022, I have served as Chairman of BYCHEM. Outside of business, I have experience in water polo, which I started at Galatasaray Club and continued for 18 years, including with the national team. I have also participated in numerous yacht races both domestically and internationally for over 40 years, and I remain an active competitor in this field.

Could you share BAYEGAN's founding story and the sectors you serve as BYCHEM?

Founded in the 1940s through jute and paraffin trading, BAYEGAN today conducts supply, marketing, sales and distribution, production and R&D activities on a global scale in the petrochemical sector, with over 80 years of experience and an approach based on "quality is not a result, but an ongoing pursuit." With over 500 employees, BAYEGAN's operations reach 120 countries across 5 continents. The company defines its vision as leading sustainable growth in the petrochemical sector through an innovation, quality and technology-focused approach. [caption id="attachment_158271" align="aligncenter"] BYCHEM Chairman Ersan Bayraktar[/caption] As Turkey's largest supplier of polymers and chemical raw materials, BAYEGAN's mission is to expand its core business through infrastructure investments in the value chain; to invest in nature-based solutions and create synergy with added value and current activities; and to support global petrochemical supply responsibly. Considering local needs and ensuring seamless and effective distribution worldwide through strong supply chain management, BAYEGAN maintains a broad product portfolio across chemicals, polymers and engineering polymers, plasticizers and specialty products categories. Today, BAYEGAN brings together the world's major petrochemical producers with business partners of all sizes globally, and is focusing on R&D and production activities with its new subsidiaries for the sector's sustainable growth. BAYEGAN subsidiary BYCHEM will soon begin production as Turkey's domestically-owned thermoplastic polyurethane manufacturer with the highest capacity. At the facility established in a 35,000 square-meter enclosed area in Dilovası, Kocaeli, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and saturated polyester will be produced. The polyester, polyether, polycaprolactone and polycarbonate-based aromatic TPU products to be manufactured at the facility have applications across many different sectors. Within the facility, 25 specialists will work in the R&D Center located in a 3,500 square-meter area for new products and technologies. With 8 separate laboratories for extensive and specialized research, the R&D Center will also collaborate with various laboratory and university research units. BYCHEM's R&D Center will feature processes ranging from the analytical laboratory where chemical experiments are conducted to the end-product laboratory where customer simulations of products are performed.

As Turkey's first and only largest-capacity domestic thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) manufacturer, you aim to stand out. Could you discuss your investments in this field and TPU production capacity?

BAYEGAN is a market-leading organization that conducts global trade in many different polymer products—a large structure. Within this structure, we always possess the flexibility and expertise to provide comprehensive solutions to our customers. For example, when we approach a cable customer, we offer a holistic package from the copper material they need to plastic products and even additive materials. This competency is one of the most decisive factors in our customers' preferences. In our commercial activities, particularly in the sectors in which we operate, we have observed that polyurethane chemistry is very important. Polyurethane chemistry, a highly sensitive and specialized field, was the first high-value-added product that emerged when we decided to enter production. Briefly defined, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is a thermoplastic elastomer in which you can develop numerous formulations through different combinations of constituent monomers, enabling you to develop products with desired specific properties—either very high value-added or more commercial products. [caption id="attachment_158272" align="aligncenter"] From left to right: Ahmet Fazlı–Plant Manager, Bahar Durak Akkoyun–R&D Director, Ersan Bayraktar–BYCHEM Chairman, Kürşat Akıcı–General Manager[/caption] TPU, occupying a good position in the group between commercial polymers and high-performance polymers, is also known as an engineering plastic. Particularly well-known in the footwear sole sector, TPU finds significant applications in cable, pipe and hose applications, film systems, white goods, adhesive markets, textiles, high value-added automotive parts production, three-dimensional printing markets, and electrical and electronics sectors. We established a roadmap for our investment. In the first phase, we began with TPU investment. To synthesize such a sensitive polymer, we selected all our process equipment from equipment equipped with the latest technology. We will also synthesize saturated polyester polyols, which have an important place in TPU formulations, ourselves.

Could you convey the R&D and innovation activities you have planned? Particularly, how will you benefit from new technologies in production processes?

At our facility covering a total of 35,000 square meters, we have a three-story R&D Center occupying 3,500 square meters. We can say our R&D Center is an excellent polymer center, the likes of which are quite rare in Turkey. Our Center features; within our project pool ranging from standard projects to high-budget international projects, a specialized team that can conduct all tests required by projects using approximately 100 devices, and can generate national and international publications from these projects. Our team, which includes many graduates from basic sciences and engineering faculties and has completed doctoral and master's education, is particularly focused on signing projects with green solutions and sustainability themes as among our highest priorities. By launching our efforts for ISO IEC 17025 Laboratory Accreditation in parallel with our R&D Center, we will bring the reliability level of all tests we apply to our internal processes and the sector to the highest level. In our R&D Center, we will conduct our TPU, composite and polyester polyol experiments on pilot-scale lines, shaping technological requirements here and then transitioning to the production line—this will advance and differentiate us. Before TPU becomes a finished product, it undergoes and is processed through many different processes such as injection, extrusion, blown film process, and dissolution in solvent. In this context, we will set up pilot-scale versions of the same applications in our R&D Center, enabling us to identify and quickly solve possibilities we may encounter in customer processes beforehand. In this way, we aim to provide customer-specific, reliable solutions and conduct our processes rapidly and in a controlled manner.

Could you share the TPU sales activities you are targeting? Which regions do you primarily target for sales?

As BAYEGAN, we began our production activities with a commercial product such as DOTP in the plasticizer category and gained significant experience with this product. We are proud that our second production activity is the production of a niche polymer like TPU. TPU is a polymer involving extremely sensitive stages from raw material to finished product, and in this context, a high value-added material. Although TPU products are often perceived as a generic market, qualified and specialized product demands create a dynamic process for competing manufacturers with high competition. In this case, we primarily aim to establish a permanent place for ourselves in the market by introducing products we have developed in parallel with market expectations. Our greatest strength in achieving our goals will be to stand out with high value-added products we develop in our R&D Center. We closely monitor the needs, expectations and strategic initiatives of locomotive sectors and high-demand-creating industries in our country and in the global market. This enables us to be ready for possible scenarios and quickly develop products in special configurations. While providing the most accurate solutions to demand in our country, we will make moves in export markets to become both a global player and make significant contributions to the country's economy. Our focus and priority in export markets are Europe and America, which are leading markets for TPU.

What are the points BYCHEM will pay attention to in order to maintain customer satisfaction and quality?

We are aware that we have well-established and highly valued competitors in the market. Competing with rivals who have been in this business for many long years in the same field indicates that our path will be long and challenging. However, competition is also a phenomenon that keeps us engaged and is important for sector development. The most important point while competing is customer satisfaction and product quality. Here, our technical support team, expert in the field, will always be in contact with our customers. At the same time, we will have a specialized team dedicated solely to customer complaints, ready to provide 24/7 support whenever there is an issue with our products. Maintaining high quality standards in our products is very important to us. While maintaining high product quality, meeting our customers' expectations in areas such as competitiveness, flexibility, logistics solutions and technical support are the most fundamental elements of our working system. In this regard, BAYEGAN's knowledge accumulation in local and global markets, comprehensive and flawless supply chain organization, and business culture focused on creating solutions for customer needs differentiate us and bring success.

What are your efforts in the field of sustainability?

Sustainability is at the focus of our R&D Center's work. In this context, we place great importance on and support the development of formulations using bio/organic-based raw materials, as well as work on polymers with biodegradable-biocompatible properties. We will soon announce the important steps we will take in bringing these products to market. Additionally, on our production line, from the installation phase onward, we have developed innovative solutions that will make significant contributions to sustainability, particularly energy recovery. An important part of these solutions has already been installed at our facility, which is currently under construction, while the investment process for other solutions continues. By raising our renewable energy use to the highest possible level, we will achieve our sustainability goals within our company and BAYEGAN.

Finally, could you share your goals for the coming period?

To differentiate ourselves in specialized products and solutions, we have decided to use the BYFLEXX brand in our marketing activities, which expresses BYCHEM's production strength and flexibility. Our greatest goal is to operate at full capacity and quickly expand our investment, while providing all BYFLEXX TPU solutions that will meet the needs in the Turkish market, thereby contributing to the country's economy through import substitution. After the domestic market, our primary goal in the export market is to secure a significant share in Europe. Additionally, on a sectoral level, we aim to gain market share particularly in the medical and automotive sectors by implementing Aliphatic TPU work alongside Aromatic TPU solutions. As is known, TPU offers advantages over materials such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and TPE (thermoplastic elastomers) due to its superior mechanical properties, chemical resistance and UV stability. TPU's excellent abrasion resistance compared to PVC or TPE, higher durability, wider hardness options, and especially its recyclability are very positive attributes. For this reason, in the coming period we will particularly focus on the development and production of TPU composite materials. In this context, we will focus on solutions with improved conductivity, light weight and high heat resistance. With TPU, which has excellent recyclability properties, we aim to develop composites containing such polymers and contribute to sustainability and the green economy. I would like to provide a very current example in this regard: Today, the importance of electric vehicles is increasing, and TPU will have an important place in this market in the near future. Therefore, finding a place in the automotive sector with BYFLEXX TPU special solution compounds capable of complying with important standards is also among our main objectives as BYCHEM. Finally, we see that the most intensive use of TPU is in footwear production due to its high abrasion resistance. For this market, we intend to implement solutions in the future with lighter weight, further increased abrasion resistance, no loss of elasticity, and high heat and chemical resistance.