Dekoral Boya Chief Executive Officer Ziya Çankal spoke with us in an engaging interview. Çankal highlighted the importance the company places on sustainability and R&D, and provided information about Dekoral Boya's domestic and international operations.

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

I am Ziya Çankal. I am the founder of Dekoral Boya and the leader of the excellent team we have built today. I am pleased to be writing a new chapter in our story that began in 2000 with each passing day. Being one of the fastest-growing top 100 companies in Turkey's sector in 2020 is not a coincidence in this regard, but a result. Since our founding, we have worked toward innovation and novelty, and we add value to Turkey's future vision. While offering innovation in every step we take, we also ensure quality awareness at competitive prices. Rather than individual or corporate growth, we desire comprehensive, sustainable growth together with our business partners, partners, and valued customers. With a mindset that foresees the near future in the medium and long term, we wish to continue providing innovative solutions that support sectoral development... [caption id="attachment_150358" align="aligncenter"] Ziya Çankal[/caption]

Could you provide information about Dekoral Boya's founding process and areas of operation?

When we first touched a paint tin in 2000, we were dreaming of what we have today. Today, we are an industrial paints company that is both a manufacturer and distributor, with years of accumulated industry experience and a wonderful team. To provide comfort to our customers, we have removed boundaries in our service and continue to move forward with confident steps with the support of our partners. Within the framework of this progress, we decided to make investments with the knowledge and experience we have gained. By establishing Dekoral Boya in 2014, we took our place in the sector on the path to becoming an effective player. Our initial partners took us higher than expected in the sector. With this momentum, we started production operations in 2019 and created our own brand in 2020. In just 3 years, CORAL proved itself by standing out both in quality and the Dekoral Boya difference. Today, Dekoral Boya, with the CORAL brand and its partners, is your solution partner capable of serving every point in Turkey. Our name is our greatest reference.

Could you provide information about the products and services offered by Dekoral Boya? What sectors are among your target markets?

We continue to meet all kinds of needs of the projects being carried out and provide added value to the sector with innovative solutions. We house the dealerships of world-leading companies that set the direction for the paints sector, such as PPG, SELEMIX, SIGMA, ZINGA, MIRKA, and KARBOSAN. In this context, we approach our customers with the principle that "We do not just produce paint; we add quality, function, and speed to our work while providing comfort to our customer."

Could you provide information about Dekoral Boya's domestic and international operations?

During 2022, we began work on establishing a dealership structure in every region of Turkey, particularly the Central Anatolia Region. Within this scope, we established a dealership network in 15 cities. Among our targets is to increase this number to 30 by the end of 2023. For the foreign market, in the last quarter of 2022, we brought experienced colleagues from the sector into our organization, and we plan to export 20% of our monthly production by the end of 2023.

Could you provide information about Dekoral Boya's environmental policy and sustainability approach?

Taking into account the environmental impacts and dimensions that may result from our operations, we commit as Dekoral Boya to comply with current environmental legislation in identifying and managing environmental risks and other conditions that the organization is naturally subject to, preventing pollution that may arise in all production stages of our products by considering environmental impacts at the source, minimizing the effects of climate change by preferring sustainable resources, and ensuring the most efficient use of natural resources, and to continuously improve, develop, and review environmental performance with the contribution of employees at all levels.

Could we learn about the work you are carrying out in the field of innovation and R&D as Dekoral Boya?

In order not to ignore the raw material and energy crises occurring on a global scale, we are conducting R&D work on creating tinting machines that enable our dealers to produce all our sales products with minimum inventory to serve their customers, following the route of "Minimum cost, maximum efficiency." By the end of 2023, by establishing this system in all our dealers, we will take our place among innovative companies that set the direction for the sector.

What are Dekoral Boya's future investment plans? Would you like to share your investment priorities with our readers?

Among our investment plans for 2023 as Dekoral Boya, our first priority is to create a comprehensive quality control and R&D center to produce innovative products for the sector and to end the conventional understanding of products. Within this scope, by developing products that are not commonly found in the market, we plan to help increase business volume by offering more innovative products to our customers in terms of time, labor, and cost.