Interview with Turgay Özkun, General Manager of Sika Türkiye

In an interview we conducted, Sika Turkey General Manager Turgay Özkun answered our questions. Özkun provided information about Sika's products and technologies, particularly in the adhesive and sealant sectors. [caption id="attachment_128658" align="aligncenter"] Turgay Özkun[/caption]

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

I was born in Istanbul in 1975. I graduated from Yıldız Technical University, Department of Civil Engineering. I completed a Master's degree in Business Administration at Yeditepe University. I entered the sector in 2002 by taking a position at İZODER. I began my career at Sika in 2004 and have spent 17 years there. I successively held the positions of Marketing and Technical Service Director, Business Unit Manager, and Turkey and Middle East Concrete Target Market Manager. Since 2018, I have been serving as the company's Turkey General Manager. Additionally, I serve as Chairman of the Board of the Admixture Producers Association (KÜB), Member of the Board of the Building Manufacturers Federation (YÜF), and Member of the Audit Board of the Turkish Construction Materials Association (Turkey İMSAD).

Could you provide information about Sika's founding process and the stages it has gone through to the present day?

Sika, a Swiss company with 111 years of history, operates in 101 countries worldwide with 300 production facilities. With 25,000 employees, it closed 2019 with revenue of CHF 8.1 billion. Although Sika Turkey has been operating officially since 1990, the introduction of products to the Turkish market dates back earlier. At this point, Sika Turkey, besides being one of our regional centers, holds a leading position in the building chemicals sector by being present in all product groups in the local market. Currently, Sika has 3 production facilities in Turkey and a total of 260 employees.

What products, brands and services does Sika offer particularly in the Adhesive and Sealant sectors? What types of products does Sika mainly provide to which sectors in these fields?

Sika's product range is so broad and diverse that it can meet solutions for almost every sector and application area. For example, we serve a very wide range from sealant applications of teak wood on boat decks to high-performance applications such as windscreen bonding for vehicles, from bathroom sealant products that we can use in daily life to adhesive products that can meet light to medium load capacities. Currently, one of every 2 vehicles produced in the world has its windscreen bonding application performed with Sika products. In fact, boat seam renewals are referred to in the market as "renewing Sikaflex." Our general understanding as Sika is to be a solution partner to our customers by properly communicating our high-standard solutions to them and making their lives easier.

Could you tell us about your domestic and export sales activities? What types of products do you sell to which regions domestically and internationally?

Sika is a very strong global organization with operations in over 100 countries. As Sika Turkey, we can support every part of Turkey through our regional offices and a strong network of distributors and applicators. In addition, the management of Sika organization in Northern Cyprus, Uzbekistan, Georgia and Turkmenistan is managed by Sika Turkey. Since each region has very different needs in terms of both climate and construction techniques, it is difficult to generalize. However, as Sika, our extensive product portfolio and technical experience that can provide solutions to all needs from foundation to roof makes us the first choice for users in our region.

What kind of work do you do as Sika in the areas of technology, innovation and R&D? Do you have projects developed within the scope of university-industry cooperation; if so, what are they?

Sika means innovation, I think that best describes our perspective in its simplest form. As a group, in our 2023 strategy, we aim for at least 25% of sales revenue from products we have launched to the market in the last 5 years. Additionally, sustainability principles in our new products, CO2 reduction, energy savings, efficient water use and environmentally friendly products are also among our priorities. While we have many products and solutions in this area, we will have new innovative products and systems such as additives for 3D model concrete production, new polyurethane technologies, solutions specific to modular structures, and weight-reduction adhesive solutions for the automotive sector. R&D is one of our lifelines and is seen as one of the most important resources that will carry the company into the future. The positioning of Sika Turkey as a regional R&D center is a great opportunity and source of pride for us.

Could you provide information about Sika's environmental policy and sustainability approach? What can you tell us about your work related to occupational health and safety?

We are guided by the motto "more value, less impact." To elaborate; we have adopted as our main strategy to add more value through more environmentally friendly and technological products and alongside this social responsibility projects, and to create less impact by reducing energy consumption, waste management and workplace accidents. We are moving forward with very strong steps on this path. At Sika, for the past two years, a rule has been introduced that if a new product is to be launched, it must be a more environmentally friendly product than the previous version. This acts as a catalyst for both the implementation of new ideas in our company and the emergence of environmentally friendly solutions. For example; no solvent-based materials are worked on within R&D. Or a product that would produce more waste to the environment is not considered even if it performs better. In particular, the importance of protective coating-type products that will increase the lifecycle in existing buildings is growing every day. With high-performance water-repellent materials, repair periods and lifecycles in ports can be increased up to two times. This prevents the additional use of our very valuable natural resources.

What criteria are prioritized when Sika's investment plans are formulated? Does Sika have investment plans for the coming periods; if so, what are they?

Sika continues to strengthen its leading position in specialty chemicals through inorganic growth through acquisitions, as well as organic growth worldwide. As Sika Turkey, following the acquisition of the ABC brand four years ago, we gained a strong share in the sealant and adhesive market. In addition, with the global acquisition of Parex two years ago, we continued to strengthen our position. In line with Sika's global growth strategy, acquisitions of companies whose philosophies and technologies are compatible with the Sika approach are planned to continue worldwide in the coming days. At the same time, our R&D and production investments will continue with new technologies and patents that we add to our portfolio every year.