We Had an Enjoyable Interview with Sertaç Sürür, General Manager of Azelis Türkiye

We conducted an enjoyable interview with Sertaç Sürür, General Manager of Azelis Türkiye, a service-oriented specialty chemicals distributor operating at high quality standards, discussing his professional background, the company's areas of activity, and the products and projects it offers to the paints sector.

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

I was born in Istanbul in 1970. I attended Kadıköy Anadolu High School, studied Chemical Engineering at Istanbul Technical University, and completed a master's degree in Business Administration at National University in California. I began my professional career in 1992. I worked at DSM for a total of 11 years across different business divisions, including 2 years in Switzerland and 2 years in the Netherlands. I also had 3 years of work experience in the United States. Following 3.5 years as Sales Director at Brenntag, 2 years at Ravago, and 1 year at Akkim, I took up the position of General Manager at Azelis Türkiye in October 2015. In general, I developed numerous business relationships and gained experience at multinational companies across a geography spanning Europe to the EMEA region, including North Africa, Russia and Iran. I am married and have two children. Could you tell our readers about your company's foundation and its development from its entry into the Turkish market to today? Azelis made a significant entry into the Turkish market by acquiring Tara Kimya A.Ş. in Istanbul in 2008. We are talking about an organization that has operated in the paints sector since 2008. In the last quarter of 2014, when the investment firm 3i, which held Azelis, was sold to another investment firm, APAX, Azelis entered a period of global change and development. We continue this approach today, bringing the global to the local.

Could you tell us about Azelis's areas of activity in Turkey?

Azelis is a global specialty chemicals distributor operating in 38 countries with more than 20,000 customers, specializing in the distribution of specialty chemicals. Azelis Türkiye serves in two main business units: Industrial Chemicals and Life Sciences. In Industrial Chemicals, we work in the areas of Base Chemicals, Coatings, Rubber & Plastic Additives, and Homecare & Industrial Cleaning, while in our Life Sciences department, we serve customers through our Personal Care, Food & Health and Pharma units. As the Turkish office of a global company, Azelis's main focus is Turkey. We want to grow organically and inorganically in both Industrial Chemicals and Life Sciences. In this context, while strengthening our current position particularly in Industrial Chemicals and seeking growth opportunities, we are targeting growth in the Life Sciences area with new suppliers joining us in 2016. We will grow in the Rubber & Plastic Additives sector through applications in synthetic leather, packaging, cables and masterbatch. In paints, we serve leading customers in the decorative paint, powder coat, polyester and resin sectors; in performance chemicals, we operate in the metal working fluids sector; in homecare and industrial cleaning sectors, we serve industry leaders. In Life Sciences, we supply raw materials to the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors. With products such as rheology modifiers, preservatives, sweeteners and coating agents, we actively participate in confectionery, dairy and dairy products, meat products, cosmetics applications and the pharmaceutical industry. We have been cooperating with some of the world's largest suppliers in their respective fields, such as CP Kelco and Lonza, since 2010. As Azelis Türkiye is a distributor, our priority will always be the Turkish market. Among the countries to which we export directly in General Chemicals, we can count the most important countries in the EMEA region such as Iraq, Egypt, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Could you provide information about your products and product groups for the paints sector?

We have water-based resins, pigments, special fillers, biocides and thickeners for the paints sector. Could you tell us about your R&D activities? We do not have production in Turkey, but Azelis has completely modern laboratories and R&D centers in many countries around the world that comply with high standards compatible with the environment and human health. Large R&D laboratories for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and emulsion systems are located in the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Bulgaria and China; we have two specially designed laboratories for the paints sector in Germany and the United Kingdom. Through our Application Development Unit in Istanbul, we provide application services and technical support to our customers in the Life Sciences area on product and formulation optimization, cost studies and preparation of alternative products.

Could we learn about your employee profile? Do you have initiatives to better serve your customers?

A large portion of our sales team consists of Chemistry and Food Engineers. In both our sales and technical support departments, we work with highly qualified professionals who are successful in their fields and fluent in at least one foreign language. As a global distributor and service provider, our most important asset is our employees. As we always emphasize, our customers are also our reason for existence. For this reason, we must maintain close contact with our customers regarding their satisfaction. We achieve this through both the experience and expertise of our sales team in the products they sell and by developing and maintaining close business relationships with our customers at all levels. Could you provide information about your company's vision, mission and quality policy? At Azelis, customer collaboration and business principles are at the center of all our activities. As a service-oriented specialty chemicals distributor operating at high quality standards, our entrepreneurial, innovative and dynamic approach is reflected in our business processes across global markets. To create new value, we consult with our business partners, customers and suppliers, and chart our roadmap accordingly. With our service provider identity, our primary business understanding is ensuring that the products offered by our suppliers reach our customers in the best, fastest, most reliable and highest quality manner.

Do you provide after-sales support to your customers? Could you briefly mention some of these?

Of course. To provide the best service to customers before, during and after the sale, we established an Application Development Unit in Istanbul. We maximize customer satisfaction through both this application unit in Istanbul and the strength we gain from expert technical personnel at Azelis's food, homecare, pharmaceutical and cosmetics laboratories worldwide.

What are your activities for environmental protection? Could you provide information?

Our company is extremely careful, sensitive and conscientious regarding health, environment and quality issues. From the international organizations we work with and the responsible business partners who stand out, we encourage our employees, customers, suppliers to remain open to continuous dialogue on environmental awareness, reduce resource consumption, continuously evaluate and attempt to reduce our environmental impact through necessary measures, closely monitor all legal matters regarding occupational safety, health and environment, and aim to achieve all of this voluntarily through the RC program in which we participate.

Given that our vital resources are currently at risk, the necessity for environmental measures has increased further. Does your company have activities in this regard?

One of Azelis's most important operating principles is to create, monitor and promote procedures compatible with the environment in chemical production and sales. At Azelis, which operates in 38 countries, all necessary inspections are conducted both locally and globally. These inspections extend from laboratories to some of our suppliers. The importance of the policies adopted can be understood through Azelis's internal SHEQ (Safety, Health, Environment & Quality) department and the Responsible Care® practice applied across all business areas. I would also like to note that we hold all necessary certificates and quality documents in Turkey, including ISO 9001. How did 2015 go for your company? Do you have new projects for 2016? Could you share them? Azelis Türkiye had achieved rapid growth in the paints sector since 2007. In 2015, due to both management changes and our parting ways with some of our suppliers, things slowed down particularly in our paints business unit. However, we are targeting to compensate for this with new customers and new products in 2016 and to resume our growth trend. We are already implementing many projects to achieve this. As a result of the cooperation between Lonza, a Switzerland-based company, and Azelis Global, we have become the sole distributor of Lonza in the Turkish market in the paints, food and cosmetics sectors. We specifically undertook the distribution of Lonza's world-renowned biocide products in the paints sector. With these products, we aim to both establish a presence in the existing biocide market and secure a position in new markets that will open due to the mandatory use of biocide products compliant with changing environmental regulations. In addition, we are entering the marine coatings sector, in which Lonza is a global leader but where we have not previously been active in Turkey, and we specifically aim to develop in the antifouling coatings sector that prevents organism formation.

Do you have a message you would like to convey to the sector?

When Azelis, within which was held the investment firm 3i, was sold to another investment firm, APAX, it entered a period of global change and development. In line with these moves, Azelis acquired Koda Distribution Group (KDG), one of America's largest, securing its place in the top 10 global distributor company rankings. However, the acquisition of KDG did not end the moves, and all necessary steps continue to be taken in line with the 2020 target to ensure presence and progress in both Turkey and other emerging markets. Our expectation from the paints sector is that we wish to see a sector where competition is based on quality rather than price. Furthermore, in Turkey, the system does not operate healthily throughout the supply chain from end users to manufacturers due to payment deferrals and extended payment terms. We are in a period in which a portion of companies active in the sectors is experiencing serious capital structure distortions. This could put many companies that could be considered in good condition under pressure in the event of possible market fluctuations that could stem from abroad. As Azelis Türkiye, we do not want to be part of this cycle that negatively affects the market, at least. For this reason, we want to support our customers, whom we often work with and regard as business partners, by providing cost-reducing and innovative products that will make them stand out in competition in the sector, high-quality service and products, and correct pricing. Save