We had a pleasant interview with Terralab CEO Mr. Ufuk Özgen, about the company and the sector. Özgen explained the company’s goals, criteria and R&D studies. Happy reading.
Would you talk about yourself and your background to our readers?
I was born in 1984 in Ankara. I completed my middle and high school degree at TED Ankara College. I graduated from METU, Chemistry department. In 2006 i have started my working life as service engineer and have been managing the company as the CEO since 2016. By completing the METU, Executive MBA program in 2019, I improved myself in terms of management and completed my academic education.
What would you like to say about your company? What is your success criteria?
Our company, which was established in Ankara,1997 by Chemical Engineer Bülent Atamer, is the sole authorized representative of many foreign manufacturers in Turkey and has four main product groups; Chemical Analysis and Environmental Analytics, Biotechnological and Chemical Processes, Surface and Material Characterization and finally Fluid Transfer. We provide solutions to R&D, quality control and inspection units of industrial organizations and laboratories of public inspection institutions.
Our company, which provides services with the sales of the products in its porfolio and after-sales service support, has more than 1500 installed devices throughout the country. We can say that making customer satisfaction a top priority since the day we were founded and approaching our customers’ problems with the awareness of a solution partner is the secret of our success.
Effects of the pandemic were very intense last year and such effects are still continuing. How was your company affected from this situation and what kind of measures did it take?
The effects of the pandemic were effective on us as in every sector and every company. Prior to our close follow-up through all aspects of worlds agendas, we have predicted the upcoming situations and as of March 2020, we started working from home by acting preventively before statutory measures and closures started. To be honest, we realized how much of a difference face-to-face contact makes in our business while working from home, and how efficiently we can carry out business processes when we are together.
Later on that year, we returned to our offices after taking the necessary mask-distance hygiene measures gradually. Within the scope of some measures that we still meticulously maintain, our priority is the protect the health of all our colleagues and their families.
Which sectors do you address? What type of products do you offer?
We define our product range under four main groups: Chemical Analysis and Environmental Analytics, Biotechnological and Chemical Processes, Surface and Material Characterization and lastly Fluid Transfer. Our company, which operates in sectors such as Environment,
Energy, Pharmaceuticals and Clinic, Chemistry, Materials and Metallurgy, Agriculture and Food, Mining, Biotechnology, provides solutions in these areas with more than 250 devices/products in its product portfolio.
What is the importance of R&D for Terralab? Could you tell us about your R&D projects that you have carried out recently?
Our company has always cared about R&D and took its first action in 2007 when it felt ready. Terralab R&D unit, which we started as a KOSGEB project, turned into a separate legal entity named TRL-Instruments as a “spin-off” in Terralab’s 10th year. TRL-Instruments, which started its work with equipment and process development activities on issues such as environmental protection and agricultural productivity, has continued as an independent structure since 2017, and is now one of the leading representatives of Terralab. It develops and manufactures online-TOC (Total Organic Carbon) analyzers, gas mixers, specially designed reaction and catalyst characterization systems, fermenters and bioreactors for small scale production. It has instruments/ devices and systems in more than 10 countries.
Terralab also contributes to its suppliers in the field of R&D in areas where it is not a manufacturer, with the new methodologies developed for the devices of our representatives which Terralab provides installation and training in the field.
If there is a social responsibility project initiated or led by your company, could you give us information about them?
Instead of dealing with social responsibility sphere independently of its main activities, Terralab has carefully monitored how it contributes to its environment in the processes and issues which it is a stakeholder and has sought ways to make difference in this direction.
In this context, being aware of the social circles it is in, it has adopted an understanding that adheres to ethical codes, has developed envirinmental awareness and takes care of the progress of its primary and secondary external stakeholders.
What are the precautions you have taken while producing for a more sustainable world? In this context, could you describe your company’s perspective on sustainability?
Environment, energy, material etc has always been a source of pride for us. To be able to respond to the analysis and measurement needs of our customers in many valuable projects that are eventually contributing to shape our future is a vanity. Being aware of the
fact that we consume the world’s natural resources in our own processes, we tried to implement them by including basic topics such as recycling and reuse in our company quality policy.
Could you tell us about your goals for the coming years? What innovations await your company in the coming years?
Celebrating its 25
th anniversary in 2022, Terralab’s future goals include maintaining our values that make us who we are; To maintain a sustainable structure that respects the satisfaction of its customers first, then its employees, solution partners and finally all its
stakeholder, adheres to ethical codes and basic human rights. Moreover, it is of primary importance for us to establish our growth trend on sound foundations and to establish new partnerships in this direction and to enter new markets. Strengthening our training processes/programs in order to ensure our own development and reaching an organizational structure that maximizes teamwork are, of course, the steps we need to take in order to reach our goals.
