Interview with Yusuf Doğru, General Manager of ACC Kimya

We conducted an enjoyable interview with Yusuf Doğru, General Manager of ACC Kimya, about his professional background, product groups and services.

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

I was born as the youngest child in a family I consider myself fortunate to belong to, in a beautiful village of Malatya with abundant greenery and mountains. After completing my primary, secondary and high school education in Malatya, I graduated from the Department of Chemistry at Istanbul Technical University in 1997. When I work, nothing escapes my attention. I know no illness, intensity or fatigue. ACC Kimya Sanayi, a company that conducts customer-focused operations and places customer satisfaction as its primary priority, has extended its domestic strength to international markets with this principle. Following the path of my father, who taught me that a word is a bond, I am someone who works by following his diligence as an example. From my graduation to today, I have always moved according to my position in my professional life, trying not to leave anyone in the lurch or disappoint them. In the fields where I worked, I tried to deliver double the performance expected of me. Since I started my professional life, I have worked on pigments and pigment pastes. Taking on responsibilities in these processes taught me to analyze the fields where I worked very well, enabled me to get to know people. This also allowed me to find solutions in the face of all kinds of problems and to respond to all kinds of needs in this field. From this perspective, education does not end as long as blood flows through the veins. When we established our own company, my philosophy was realized in line with the values I received from my father, and with two friends I value highly, we laid the foundations of ACC Kimya in 2010 through idea, heart and business cooperation. Our basic principle is to work and ensure that work is done in a work environment based on being happy, at peace and loving one's job. We are now trying to take the place of the people who raised and educated us yesterday. We hope we also light the path for successful people.

Could you tell us about ACC Kimya's development process since its establishment?

To do this, I must first briefly mention what stages our team has gone through, and then touch on its establishment and development. ACC Kimya founders have reached this point by working in all stages from production processes to sales networks in the companies they worked for, learning, developing and renewing themselves. The aim for these three young people is; both to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have learned in their own company and (I think most importantly) to play with colours, which is what they do and know best, and to navigate the world of colours. Our sector constitutes the most challenging part of existing production processes. The first thing seen after every production and found to be faulty is colour. For this reason, it is a separate source of happiness for us to do this work, knowing full well these challenges for over 21 years, and to overcome this work. ACC Kimya, from its establishment in 2010 to the present, has captured very good momentum and has begun to become a serious force in the market. Despite encountering many crises, raw material shortages and supply-related difficulties since our establishment, we have placed our market share in the top positions day by day and increased our product range and customer base. We are preferred nationwide for the service and product repeatability we provide. ACC Kimya Sanayi, which conducts customer-focused operations and places customer satisfaction as its primary priority, has extended its domestic strength to international markets with this principle. I remember the joy we felt when we conducted our first laboratory work, our first production and received our first order at our establishment, and I think it is important in showing where we would come from.

Could you tell us a bit about ACC Kimya's product groups and the sectors it serves?

At first glance, ACC Kimya appears to be just a company that manufactures products for the paint industry. However, the reality is not like this, which can be understood from the diversity of sectors we work in. We are a company that has succeeded in becoming a brand by supplying raw materials to paints and coatings sectors. Besides this, we supply products to a wide range of companies from textiles to plastics, building chemicals, and floor applications. This diversity is growing every day. We perceive nature by seeing, hearing and feeling it. For our sector, nature is a real colour palette. From this perspective, ACC Kimya, with its PRPCOLOR brand, produces and sells pigment paste raw materials for all kinds of coloured applications we have seen in nature. ACC Kimya's product groups; with the PRPCOLOR brand, we produce water-based, solvent-based, universal, tinting, polyurethane, solvent-free and solvent epoxies, pigment pastes suitable for liquid masterbatch systems and conduct R&D work and special product productions according to the needs of companies or the market. Our products are used for colouring purposes in all water-based paints and all types of applications, textile sector, alkyd-based paints (Rapid and synthetic), industrial and acrylic paints, cellulosic paints, road marking paints, plastic-rubber PVC products, polyurethane and epoxy coatings, in short, all areas we see in colour.

Can I learn about your sales network and customer satisfaction philosophy along with after-sales services?

We need to divide our sales network into domestic and international. Domestically, we have dealers in virtually every region of Turkey, and we also sell directly to regions where we don't have dealers. Being located in Istanbul provides us with significant advantages in reaching different geographical areas. We have shipments to the European side and outside the province every day of the week. For our international sales, we conduct them with our own team, to distributors or manufacturing companies depending on the country and country position. Being an Istanbul-based company again provides us with great advantages in terms of international suppliers and for us. International customs clearance and shipments are cost-heavy expense items in today's conditions. Since we care about our customers and ourselves in this regard, we are in a position to respond to all kinds of needs without disadvantaging anyone within the framework of mutual understanding. As you understand, the human factor is a fundamental element in the production process of the products we make. Therefore, there are and will be shortcomings, mistakes and problems. This is an unavoidable process. However, managing this process well is one of the most important stages of the work. While managing this process, minimizing these disruptions or problems is very important for us. From our establishment onwards, with our R&D and production-focused work, we prioritize customer satisfaction through services we provide to businesses in line with their needs. With this solution-oriented understanding, we have set the goal of always advancing ourselves and our customers further and being a trendsetter in the sector. All organizations we serve are valuable to our company. Whether they buy 1 kg or 1000 kg. All complaints from our customers, whether they stem from us or not, are immediately evaluated, solutions are quickly concluded with our laboratory unit and all details are shared with our stakeholders.

As ACC Kimya with the slogan "You Dream, We Add Colour," we will continue to serve our valued customers without compromising on quality along this path.

How was 2018 and what do you want to do for 2019, and is there a new project you would like to share with us?

Our most important goal for 2019 is to work more closely with our existing customers. As a company, the quality of the work we do is more important than the quantity. For this reason, we are a company that knows how to be satisfied with less. Knowing that the references of our existing customers, the diversity in our product range, and our infrastructure for special colour and special product production will take us further, we work with all our strength and accumulated experience. In 2017 and until the third quarter of 2018, our operations proceeded with serious growth momentum as planned and we reached our targets. However, the recent known process particularly disrupted some balances in the domestic market. In the international market, the infrastructure of which we built over many years with hard work, 2018 was a very meaningful and full year. Within 2018, we carried out and successfully completed a very important TÜBİTAK project that we thought was very important and that we would put into operation in the coming years. Now we are trying very intensively to channel this product to the market. In 2019, our progress with fast but sure steps in both R&D and production will continue. Especially with our product range in tinting systems and the TÜBİTAK project, we are in the foreground and we will continue our efforts with all our strength to make ACC Kimya and PRPCOLOR brands not only a brand in the Turkish market but also in the international market. In this sense, in March 2019 at the Nuremberg-European Coatings Show 2019 fair, we will meet with customers or distributors from all over the world. We invite everyone reading this interview and whose path leads to Nuremberg, Germany in March to our booth for a warm chat and tea or coffee. This fair will bring us one step closer to our goals.

What is the reason or reasons for your participation in international fairs?

As a company, we have been present at domestic fairs since our establishment. I am among those who believe these organizations are meaningful in terms of brand awareness and their value in the eyes of customers. Both the dialogues with domestic and foreign customers at these domestic fairs and our love of our work have developed us. For this reason, by participating in international fairs, we aim to capture this prestige in these global markets, produce products at European standard without compromising on product quality and contribute added value to our country. We managed to set some differences in Turkey. We want to show this different approach and service understanding to foreign countries as well. I believe those who work with us will not regret it because of the variety of products, our speed, quality and most importantly technical support. Thank you to those who contributed to us, to those who trust and support our company, to our families and to the ACC Kimya family.