In our interview with Damla Alışan, Alışan Logistics Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, we talked about many issues from technology to R&D, from social responsibility to sustainability. I wish you pleasant reading.
Hello, could you tell us about yourself and your career please?
I completed my high school education at Saint Benoît French High School, and thereafter I graduated from Department of Business Administration at Faculty of Business Administration of Istanbul University. Afterwards, I stayed in the USA for a while and continued my education.
I first started my career in the advertising industry. I worked as a manager for a while and then left the relevant agency. Since 1996, I have been working in our family business Alışan Lojistik A.Ş. And since early 2000s, I have been the Vice Chairperson of the Board of Directors of this company.
In fact, while planning my career at the time, I was thinking to concentrate on marketing, as was the trend in those years, and so I took my first steps into my career in an advertising agency.
Logistics concept did not exist at the time and therefore we started our journey in the industry as an international shipping company. I wanted to make an attempt to work in an industry that was deemed not very attractive for a woman in those years and I worked at all levels of our family business, Alışan Lojistik to reach my current position.
What would you like to tell us about Alışan Lojistik? What are the industries that you serve?
Alışan Lojistik was established in 1985 with the vision of becoming an international logistics services provider that empowers its customers with its innovative, flexible and integrated technological solutions in the local and global markets.
Today, our 100% “domestic” and “national” company has a self-owned 550-vehicle fleet and 1500 employees in more than 50 different locations throughout Turkey and it offers its customers operating in the chemicals industry, including hazardous chemicals, and fast-moving consumer goods, food, agriculture and many other industries, services such as international transportation, storage/warehouse services, dry bulk, liquid bulk, and energy transportation.
Alışan Lojistik meets the demands of its customers from A to Z with its integrated logistics services, which are also called “contract logistics” in the industry, and comes up with tailor-made solutions with high added value.
Could you tell us about chemical product logistics? What is the difference Alışan Logistics makes in this area?
What makes Alışan Lojistik stand out is the fact that we have been providing services mainly to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and chemistry industries, along with many others, for 37 years since the day we were founded.
So, we have substantial expertise and background in handling, transportation and storage of hazardous chemicals, one of the most important categories in the chemicals industry. Our investments always focus on this area, too.
We have also focused our investments on R&D, technology and digitalization, in order to design new business and operation modules that fit the requirements of the era we live in.
For example, we have also started to benefit from the cost, security and innovation advantages brought by the cloud system, by working with Microsoft Azure on five different migration routes consisting of database and application services migration, server project, document management and SharePoint security level increase, as part of our recent digital transformation journey. We expect to complete the process in 2022.
We know that R&D is important for your company and you are continuing your efforts in that area. Could you share some information with us about your R&D activities?
Our R&D Centers in Istanbul and Konya are constantly coming up with new projects on digital transformation and the effective use of technology.
Fast execution of business processes with zero error and in a way that meets high standards, through integration with customer systems, Artificial Intelligence, and advanced
Robotic Process Automation is just one of the goals these projects aim to achieve.
Are you working on any social responsibility projects? How do these projects shape your brand and affect your employees?
We have gathered our efforts in that area under a single umbrella project, which we call “Birlikte Başarıya Alışanlar” (“People of Alışan Achieve Success Together”).
This project brought us the Women-Friendly Brands Award this year. We also became the global award winner in the “Transportation & Logistics” category of “2022 Rise to the Challenge Awards” in “2022 Rise to Challenge” competition, which has 9 different categories and is organized by WeConnect International, an organization that brings women-owned global companies together.
Within the scope of this umbrella project and in line with the importance we attach on the employment of women, we have been the only logistics company that signed, and follow as guidelines the Women’s Empowerment Principles, one of the global and most important initiatives of the private sector, which constitute an initiative conducted globally by the United Nations and aims to ensure that women take part and become empowered in the economic life, in all sectors and at all levels.
Furthermore, we are also one of the first members of the Stronger Together Platform.
Women (white-collar + blue-collar) are actively involved in almost every stage of the supply chain, and if you ask me, I believe that they are more successful than men.
Taking inspiration from these initiatives, we acted as a trailblazer in supporting women’s employment in the sector again under our main umbrella project. For example, the first female stacking machine operator in the Logistics Sector came from our organization.
We will continue to lead the way with initiatives like that. On the other hand, as you know, women’s participation in business life is unfortunately still far behind the desired level.
For this exact reason, as a KAGIDER (Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey) member, we produce and/ or support projects that support women entrepreneurs, such as the “Kadın için Taşıyoruz” (We Carry for Women) project, primarily to support women entrepreneurs in our country.
With this project, we aim to encourage women’s participation in business life, especially during this difficult period, to contribute to their exports in terms of logistics, and to enable them to extend the borders of their potential as much as our own field of expertise allows.
In addition, we constantly keep on producing and/or supporting projects that also promote women’s education and training, again with our motto, “Birlikte Başarıya Alışanlar” (“People of Alışan Achieve Success Together”).
In line with this effort, we opened Ayşe Sıdıka Alışan Primary School in Gebze, where our company operates. We are developing support projects for girls in the eastern part of Turkey, with our project “Alışan Mutluluk Taşıyor” (“Alışan Carries Happiness”).
Last but not least, as the sponsor of VakıfBank Sports Club, which VakıfBank Women’s Volleyball Team, the team that has won the most international trophies among the teams in our country, is a part of, we make sure that we support women in sports as well.
We would also like to hear about your perspective on sustainability. What are the precautions you have taken in your operations in the sector for a more sustainable world?
We are very diligent about this issue because of our expertise in the chemicals industry. Therefore, first of all, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the chemicals industry has the second largest share in exports in Turkey, and the 2023 target of the industry is around 50 billion dollars.
Carriers should aim to achieve customer satisfaction by attaching importance to the environment and human health in line with the set laws and regulations, in order to provide the expected quality in dangerous goods transportation.
To this end, an examination of the industry would show that it is necessary to inspect the reliability of the services provided, with periodic checks and tests. Another way to ensure safety and increase the quality in the sector is to have well-trained and well-educated employees.
It seems that the “border carbon regulations” to be implemented by the European Union within the framework of the European Green Deal will oblige many sectors such as chemicals and logistics industries to make the necessary changes in terms of sustainability.
Within the framework of corporate citizenship, major brands will also prefer logistics companies that implement these regulations. As Alışan, we take this matter very seriously. We have also been conducting diligent studies for a long time for reduction of wastes and their disposal without harming the environment.
In addition, we added 70 latest model tractor type vehicles featuring Euro 6 engines with low carbon emissions to our fleet, which we had ordered last year. While we have been providing services to our customers since 2010; we have paid attention to implement the logistics practices that are the most suitable for environmental conditions, both within our own organization and within our business partners in the supply chain.
In 2005, we took the initiative to open the first tank cleaning facility that would operate at European Union standards and allow washing of tankers that carry chemicals, without harming the environment. Concurrently, we offered this facility to the use of the logistics and chemicals companies of our country.
Likewise, we have also made important contributions to the enactment of the relevant legislation. As a result of all these efforts, we were granted the ‘Environment-Friendly Facility Award’ by the ‘Turkish Healthy Cities Association’, which was established with
the support of the World Health Organization.
In addition, we have been heavily involved in the lobbying efforts on this matter for a long time. For instance, we are also the founder of KTTD (Chemicals Transport Vehicles Cleaners’ Association), and in order to continue to be an advocate of this important issue, we, as Alışan Lojistik, still actively take part in the Board of Directors of the association.
What innovations will you offer to the industry in the future? Could you evaluate the advantages that these innovations will bring to your company, the chemicals industry and Turkey?
We expect the market to grow and new domestic and foreign players to participate in the chemicals industry.
This will lead us and our competitors to improve our service quality and technological infrastructure. We plan to renew our fleet, fully comply with all international regulations,
and complete technological integrations in order to lead the way for all developments in this area, as we always do.
