We conducted very pleasant interview with Flokser Chemical General Manager Ekin Tükek about the characteristics of her company. Ms. Tükek shared with us valuable information about company’s R&D Center, new practices and sustainable policies.
Could you please briefly tell our readers about yourself?
In 2009, I graduated from Koç University, Department of Chemistry. After completing my MBA at Barcelona European University, I completed my second master’s degree in Corporate Communication at Kadir Has University.
In 2021, I graduated from Istanbul University, Department of Cultural Heritage. I am currently studying Restoration at Mimar Sinan University.
Since 2010, I have worked in different departments such as purchasing, R&D, finance, human resources, management systems in our family companies. Since 2020, I have been working as the General Manager of Flokser Chemical.
Would you share the story of the establishment of Flokser Chemical and the changes it has been through until today?
Flokser started its commercial life in 1984 with wallpaper production in a 450 square metre workshop. It grew rapidly in the textile sector with the production of flock coated fabric and artificial leather and has been in ISO 500 since 1997. In 2006, we entered the chemical sector with our investment in coating polyurethane used in artificial leather production.
Since 2016, we have established the first ministry-approved R&D Centre in the sector, and we have adopted a production approach with high added value, environmental sensitivities and sustainability.
We have increased our production capacity over the years in order to meet the needs of our country for polyurethane, polyurea and polyester raw materials. With an annual production capacity of 100,000 tonnes, we have succeeded in reaching an annual turnover of € 130 million by exporting to more than 55 countries, mainly in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Russia.
Flokser Chemical is one of the leading polyurethane system houses in Turkey today thanks to its product quality and innovative solutions provided to its customers. With our main product groups of footwear, rigid foam, sponge and CASE, we offer solutions to our
customers in many different sectors such as building, construction, heating and cooling systems, furniture, insulation, defence industry and automotive.
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Ekin Tükek[/caption]
What are the product groups you offer to the polyurethane industry?
The insulation sector is among the areas where we are particularly pioneering. The best thermal insulation raw material in the world is currently known as polyurethane.
Polyurethane raw material is used in all areas where refrigerators, heater and cooler systems in our homes, roofs and facades of buildings, in short, wherever heat and water insulation is needed.
Another sector we serve is the shoe industry. Polyurethane is used in the soles of slippers and shoes in the shoe industry. Safety shoes, slippers and soles, soft and flexible inner soles in shoes are produced from polyurethane raw material.
Another sector is our flexible sponge systems. Our service area here is divided into two as furniture and automotive sector. In the automotive sector, commercial vehicle seats, steering wheel, gear knob and many shock absorbing parts that we do not see in the car can be produced with polyurethane sponge systems.
In the furniture industry, polyurethane sponge systems are used especially in office furniture, player seats and spare equipment such as armrests. Another main product group we serve is CASE. coating products and elastomer materials serve many basic purposes such as sealing, mechanical strength and waterproofing in various industries.
In our related product group, we contribute to the construction sector with our polyurea, epoxy coating, floor injection systems, marine glue and polyurethane adhesive systems.
We are also developing special ballistic polymers for the Defence Industry. We trade raw materials with our Flokser Trade structure as well. In summary, the raw material of many products frequently used in daily life consists of polyurethane.
We will continue to produce solutions that provide added value to our country and the world with our expert technical team and advanced technology R&D centre in every field
where polyurethane exists.
Could you please tell us about the characteristics of your R&D Centre and the innovative work you do in this centre?
As
Flokser Chemical, we have the first R&D Centre approved by the ministry in the polyurethane sector. At the same time, we are among the 250 companies with the
highest R&D expenditure in Turkey.
We are in the top 10 in the chemical sector in this list. Our primary goal is to offer products that will meet customer expectations to the sector. Therefore, we carry out “tailor made” based product development activities.
In addition to the existing sectors, we are also working on the development of different polymer materials in which we are not involved but in which we can use our polyurethane
production capability.
Among the points we focus on within the scope of R&D studies are water-based environmentally friendly products, polyurethane systems developed from polyols obtained from the recovery of PET, recovery of waste polyurethane foams and reuse in the production process.
Especially in recent years, our company has been working with many different organisations in order to contribute to the efforts carried out within the scope of reducing foreign dependence in the defence industry. By focusing on cooperation projects, we
continue to work on projects that have both strategic importance and targets in line with the mission and vision of our company.
Within the scope of the R&D Centre, we also carry out projects supported by the EU and bringing together universities and industrial organisations from different countries. Polyurethane system houses and shoe manufacturers carry out product development and
production processes by focusing on comfort and durability.
Soft slipper systems, one of our product groups that shaped the market in the past, were highly appreciated by users and the development in this direction led to the emergence of different needs.
With our experience gained from this product group, the R&D Centre found a solution to this search in the sector and introduced it to the market by combining the two extreme features provided by EVA and polyurethane in polyurethane.
In addition, we became the raw material supplier of armies in Europe with our Creanate 66-A / Creapol NT-801-B / Creacat NT-500-C product group with antifungal and antibacterial properties in the tender opened for the needs such as high boots, boots, sandals and slippers of millions of soldiers in Europe as of 2022.
You have commissioned your RPA application. Could you tell us about this application and its contribution to your production?
We have implemented our Robot Process Automation (RPA) application, which we have implemented with the importance we attach to automation and digital transformation,
to take the operational workloads on our colleagues.
With this software, we automated the processes by imitating human behaviour (seeing the screen, using the mouse and keyboard) in front of the computer. Our robot, which we call R2D2, works with us 24/7 just like an employee.
It takes the workload on us in daily processes and works with zero error. In particular, it uses its integration capability and continuously receives and gives information to SAP S4 HANA, Qlik Reporting and Microsoft Teams environments. Our R2D2 has the following
skills; running applications (SAP, Teams, Qlik etc.), ability to process files and folders, database reading / writing, giving and receiving information from internet pages, to
be able to use web service, ability to receive and send email, ability to make OCR.
Today, R2D2 currently imitates the movements of our employees. In the future, we aim to use artificial intelligence to make various predictions, speed up the operational process and minimise possible work accidents.
R2D2 makes our lives easier in many areas. We can give customs declaration processes as an example. R2D2 completed a job that would normally take 180 hours in a total of 2 hours. The estimated work performed by R2D2 was equivalent to 1 month of labour.
In addition, R2D2 is currently doing all of the daily reporting, facilitating SAP approval processes with Teams, and our friends receive information such as daily weather, food list, employee information and current card creation through Teams.
In the future, we plan to launch applications (ordering, order tracking, seeing account statements, offering suggestions, etc.) that will be used by both our customers and
customer representatives via WhatsApp.
Which topics does Flokser Sustainability Manifesto cover and how do you work for sustainability?
We established the Sustainability Department within the company and our first task was to prepare a master plan. In this plan, we have determined our goals and actions in line with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
We work with a sense of responsibility towards the world, our country, our company, our
employees, our customers and our suppliers, and with a permanent, sustainable and transparent operation for the benefit of society. We invest in knowledge, technology and people for our journey to the future.
We are constantly working to develop new ways of using materials and products that will add real value to people’s lives, and we attach importance to development in order to always take ourselves one step further.
With the dream of offering a better world to new generations, we always act with the awareness of “responsible producer” with the aim of preventing global warming by protecting nature and climate conditions.
We are conscious consumers as well as responsible producers. We deliver our Zero Waste project not only within the company but also to our employees and their families through volunteering projects.
With our volunteer community called Flokser Volunteers, we contribute to the education of children in disadvantaged regions; we produce animal shelter units from our own raw materials.
We support everyone within the company to volunteer in appropriate social and community activities that allow them to develop themselves. We aim to draw attention to the issues that need to be organised within the society by continuing our efforts in the fields of education, environment and cultural heritage, which are in particular in need of support in Turkey.
As an organisation, we contribute to the development of individuals through the social responsibility projects we carry out and play a role in the development and sustainability of local economies. As Flokser Chemical, we contribute to social progress by optimising lives and making the lives of our consumers easier with the solutions we offer to different sectors.
Would you like to share your recent investments and your future targets with us?
We have a new production facility in Mersin, Tarsus Organised Industrial Zone and a logistics centre investment in Istanbul, Hadımköy. We will ensure that both our new facility and logistics centre are LEED certified by designing them in a green building concept.
As Flokser Chemical, our goal is always to grow with R&D investments. With our new investment, we will both increase our capacity and increase our exports to 50% by focusing on high value-added products.
