Tekay Kimya, whose founder was in the textile sector since the year 1972, has been providing service for the textile sector for 21 years.
Having come to a certain position especially in dyeing and printing, Tekay Kimya has the aim to maintain its place within the market and increase its market share more without compromising its quality standard. Tekay Kimya General Director Kayhan Yüksel shared the improvements made in the sector with us.
As being one of the leading companies of our sector, can you briefly tell us about your company and your works?
“In the beginning of last year we underwent a commercial change. We got divided into two companies as dyeing and chemicals. According to this, textile dyes and printing chemicals get to the customers through Tekay Kimya while textile chemicals through Tex-Tek company. But we only got separated in a commercial sense. Structurally there is no difference between Tekay Kimya and Tex-Tek. Our goal in that is to provide faster technical service to the factories. So there is no such thing that the person working at Tekay Kimya is only responsible for the dye while the person working at Tex-Tex is only responsible for chemicals. Tex-Tek company is a new company for us in name and commercially. Our goal is to get to somewhere in chemicals just like in dyeing and printing, and to decrease the costs via quality standards which is complained by the dye houses a lot. For this, we made a serious investment in terms of R&D.”
Can you tell us about the new products your company released into the market and their qualities?
“We have very detailed works in the subject of dyeing and especially concerning repeatability. One of the most important things in dyeing is to be able to dye without adding the same color each time. And to have that, we are choosing dye groups that will be affected by the changes of the conditions even though the operation conditions change and dye groups that are in conformity with each other. Thus we can increase our production efficiency in dyeing and also the dye houses can save money on water, time and energy by providing an advantage on washing. If we are to talk about each product of chemicals one by one, we can never end this interview. The important thing is to provide the standard quality and achieve the production of same quality each time. What we really focus on is the special chemicals that save water, energy and time. We have serious R&D works on that and the results we got from the dye houses in practice are quite positive.”
What kind of contribution do textile chemicals add in textile products? Where do chemicals stand in textile sector?
“There can be no dyeing without chemicals. In order for a dye to attach to the fabric correctly it needs the help of a chemical. Also, chemicals are important for fashion. The conducted chemical studies lead the fashion in terms of appearance and attitude.”
What should be done for environmental and human health? What does sustainability mean for you?
“Nowadays the environmental awareness is increasing in textile as well as in every sector and it should be so. If we want to leave our kids a clean world, we have to do this. Already, all the works we are doing are in parallel with this. All the raw materials we use and productions we make are in compliance with eko standard. The most important point here is the audit of all the companies that produce or just create mixes by the state. There is no equality as long as this does not happen. Sustainability is of course fundamental for future. In order to leave a better future for our children, it is our main duty to use the limited resources we have wisely and without destroying them, by reproducing them and using them without creating burden for the nature or others.”
What is the qualified staff condition of the sector? What are your views on this matter and what should be done?
“The new generation is not really interested in the sector and the reason for it is that they can find a less tiring job with same salary. Besides, textile is a business line that needs heavy follow up and unfortunately majority of the young people choose marketing branches; thus not having qualified employees for especially the lower positions, it causes much more problems to find employees in the future. The costs of employees can increase.”
When we consider the world chemical industry, where does Turkish chemical industry stand? What are the trends in textile chemicals?
If we say that Turkish textile industry is on the top list, then we are fooling ourselves. We still receive know-how especially from Europe; but of course when we look back there is big advancement. We will get to a better place but it is important that we get state’s support and incentive for this to happen. Unfortunately because these incentives are shared among the affiliates or other connections and people are favored, the companies that deserve it cannot benefit from it.“
How do you see the sector in the forthcoming period?
“Turkey is in a great place in terms of finishing part of the textile, and it will be among the leaders in terms of knowledge and experience in the future. Textile will never end in Turkey but I think people that give importance to brand and work really hard at it must get better in return.”
