Interview with Fatih Arıcan, Founder and General Manager of Yapıchem

In an interview we conducted, Yapıchem Founder and General Manager Fatih Arıcan discussed the company's vision and emphasis on technology.

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

I completed my undergraduate and postgraduate education in chemical engineering at Boğaziçi Üniversitesi. My first work experience was as a project engineer at PETKİM Aliağa facilities for 2.5 years. Subsequently, from 1985 to 2007, all my experience was in senior management positions at domestic or foreign chemical production facilities. The first 10 years of this experience was my management role at Deteks Kimya, which also brought the Sika company to Turkey. After deciding to end my professional career, I founded ARSAN Kimya Makine ve Dış Ticaret Ltd. to better utilize my many years of experience in the chemical sector and to supply raw materials and semi-finished products to various industries. We have made significant contributions to the building chemicals sector in this regard. Arsan's success encouraged us to undertake final product manufacturing, and in 2011 we established Yapıchem Kimya San. A.Ş. Six months after its establishment, in addition to our current factory in Istanbul Tuzla, we founded our second factory in Antep. Despite being a relatively young company, Yapıchem has established itself among important players in the sector.

Could you provide information about Yapıchem's establishment process and the stages it has gone through to the present day? Taking into account production facilities, machinery fleet and number of employees, as well as turnover and production volume data, what is Yapıchem's current structure?

Yapıchem does not simply use basic mixing tanks like standard additive companies perform by mixing batches; in addition, it operates many reactors in its facilities where it produces semi-finished products and raw materials. Currently, it has a total production capacity of 200,000 tons in two production facilities in single-shift operation. Our total workforce is around 50 employees. However, the quality of employees is far more important than the headcount. Approximately 20 percent of Yapıchem's personnel are graduates from Turkey's best universities. The Yapıchem brand has established itself as a trusted brand throughout Turkey and in approximately 10 countries abroad, becoming an important player that every serious company invites to tenders. In summary, Yapıchem is not a local company but has covered very significant ground on its way to becoming a national and international enterprise. We believe we are among the top 5 companies in Turkey in terms of concrete admixture chemicals sales.

What types of products does Yapıchem supply to which main industries? Could you provide information about Yapıchem's products, brands and services?

Yapıchem initially entered the sector by producing concrete chemical admixtures and selling them to ready-mixed concrete plants. Two years after its establishment, it entered the field of cement chemical admixtures, which requires more serious know-how and fiercer competition than concrete admixtures, and began supplying products to very serious cement companies. Finally, under the Yapıfine brand, it entered more niche products such as ceramic adhesives, floor coverings, waterproofing products, thereby completing almost the entire product range in building chemicals. In addition, Yapıchem, through ARSAN, its foreign trade company, not only sells final products but also exports semi-finished products it manufactures for use in concrete admixture chemicals to concrete additive producers in certain countries.

What kind of work do you carry out in the fields of innovation and R&D as Yapıchem? Do you have projects developed within the scope of university-industry cooperation, and if so, what are they?

As a fully domestically-financed national company, Yapıchem aims to develop more economical yet more functional chemicals using Turkey's current resources, while on one hand serving its customers well and on the other hand earning foreign exchange for Turkey. For this reason, since its establishment, it has attached great importance to R&D and production engineering. Instead of importing PCE (polycarboxylates), an essential product for next-generation concrete admixtures, the most important raw material in the sector, we became one of the first companies to produce it in Turkey. The most important difference in this regard is that we developed these products entirely through our own R&D power, not by purchasing technology or know-how like other producers. In this sense, we also developed several semi-finished products manufactured only by Yapıchem. We have received support from TÜBİTAK for 5 newly developed products. In addition, we have projects we work on jointly with KOSGEB and universities.

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

We have presence throughout Turkey domestically. Abroad, we conduct exports to various countries in the Middle East, Black Sea region, Balkans, and North Africa, either directly or through our distributors in those countries. The number of countries we export to has now approached 10. Our company, which attaches serious importance to exports, will increase this number further. While exports currently account for 10 percent of our turnover, we aim to increase this to a minimum of 25 percent.

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

Yapıchem's management has significant experience in large and corporate chemical industry. For this reason, from the first day of our establishment, we have shown the necessary care in environmental policies and are a company that holds the relevant ISO 14001 standard. We show the same care in occupational health and safety as we do in environmental matters. To date, there has not been even a minor workplace accident, and we regularly have our employees undergo health checks.

Can we learn your thoughts on the building chemicals sector in Turkey? What do you think are Turkey's advantages and disadvantages in this sector?

Turkey has one of the world's significant construction sectors due to both population growth and its geographical location. When one adds the government's infrastructure investments to these factors, the building chemicals sector is a sector with open horizons. In addition to these, when considering the needs of neighboring countries, the technical strength of Turkish industrialists places us in a very advantageous position in these regions as well. Turkey's most significant disadvantage in this regard is that basic chemicals required by the sector are imported. The sector is in a situation where it must import almost all basic chemicals, which is of such great importance.

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

Yapıchem's main objective is not to depend on imported raw materials and to produce these products as much as possible. Our future investments will be within this framework. In addition, Yapıchem receives joint venture requests from certain countries to produce under the Yapıchem brand in their own countries. These matters are being evaluated by our management.