Scientists report that no equivalent material to cement with 100% equal technical performance has yet been found and can be invented in the near future. Therefore, given the continued growth of the human population, cement consumption is expected to increase even further. As a result, any work to reduce carbon emissions in cement production processes is of critical importance and the sector is moving towards the production and use of cement with lower emissions. I believe this is where we will see the biggest change.
Dr.Uğur Erşen Şenbil
Onbiron Endüstriyel Kimyasalları / Managing Partner
Could you define the position and mission of Onbiron Industrial Chemicals in the sector?
Onbiron Industrial Chemicals is closely aligned with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and the European Green Deal. Onbiron Industrial Chemicals, besides standard cement chemicals, develops innovative solutions that create excitement in the sector thanks to its continuous R&D works on innovative molecules and approaches. The knowledge and works of our employees with academic backgrounds, and business partners, combined with the experience of our employees who have been veterans of the sector for many years, creates an environment of trust as well as excitement among our customers. This point where we stand makes us very happy. Our mission is to develop innovative solutions for cement production with low carbon emissions.
Could you inform us about Onbiron Industrial Chemicals’ product portfolio?
Do you work on developing products that are focused on zero carbon goals, especially for the cement sector? We design our products by considering the needs of our customers and the decarbonization goals of the industry. In this context, we have product series that reduce the amount of clinker without sacrificing technical performance and quality, help reduce the water requirement at the concrete stage, optimize particle size distributions, and are specific to the type of mineral additive used. We design and offer these features individually or in combination as needed. In addition to our basic products for the cement industry, we also have special works and products for grinding all kinds of minerals.
We believe that specific R&D works should be carried out towards the zero carbon goal and progress should be made with innovative molecules and solutions that are different from conventional chemicals. In line with this belief, we established a new R&D company where we can develop new molecules by conducting scientific studies. In this company, located within a university campus, we work on new molecules with our staff of scientists with postgraduate academic degrees. At the same time, we develop joint projects with our valuable professors, receiving support from the scientific infrastructure of the university. We subject all solutions we develop to comprehensive tests at Onbiron cement and concrete performance laboratories and observe their effects. In this way, we reach innovative solutions that can reduce clinker and increase the use of mineral additives. We publish the results we obtain in the form of scientific articles and reports. We also have ongoing projects on national and international platforms towards the zero carbon goal.
What strategies do you adopt to ensure customer satisfaction and maintain competitive advantage?
We adopt and apply Porter’s 5 Forces model. We constantly track and analyze our customers, market, suppliers, products in the market as well as new ventures. We are conducting in-depth studies for each title. With these analyzes, we try to keep our finger on the pulse of the sector. This enables us to develop the right solutions for our customers and keeps us in an advantageous position in the competition. We explain our solutions to our customers before application, enrich them with their ideas and manage the process together. This creates trust-based satisfaction among our customers.
Our mission is to develop innovative solutions for cement production with low carbon emissions.
Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in the cement industry. Could you enlighten us about the actions and projects of your company in terms of sustainability and economic impact?
Sustainability has been an agenda topic for all sectors for many years, however, concrete steps have started to be taken in the cement industry, especially after the Paris Climate Agreement and the European Green Deal. We are striving to take the concept of sustainability out of the circle of carbon-reducing products to embed it in all processes of our company. In every our process, from selecting raw materials to designing products, manufacturing to supply chain management up to planning, we make choices that respect nature and all living beings. For more sustainable and low-emission cement production, besides our in-depth and comprehensive works as I mentioned in your first questions, we closely keep up with the global developments by attending scientific congresses and trade conferences on national and international platforms. In this context, we have ongoing projects and collaborations on a national and international scale. A project we have developed for low-emission sustainable cement production is under review by TUBITAK. We are talking with a foreign university for a project on energy optimization in cement production. We are working on calcined clay with one of the global cement producers. These are some of the projects we implement within the scope of sustainability.
What are your general views on the decarbonization processes currently on the agenda of the cement industry? How is the construction chemicals industry preparing for this change?
Cembureau and GCCA have published in-depth reports on the steps to be taken in the decarbonization process. We follow all of these reports and work in parallel with the steps that need to be taken. All stakeholders of the construction industry are aware that the most pressing issue is the zero carbon goal. Therefore, all stakeholders are striving to develop solutions in their own domains. I believe that sector stakeholders should come together and work together for all the solutions developed, and that we should be a little more courageous in trying these solutions industrially.
Where do you think the cement industry will evolve in the future? Where will you be in this change?
Scientists report that no equivalent material to cement with 100% equal technical performance has yet been found and can be invented in the near future. Therefore, given the continued growth of the human population, cement consumption is expected to increase even further. As a result, any work to reduce carbon emissions in cement production processes is of critical importance and the sector is moving towards the production and use of cement with lower emissions. I believe this is where we will see the biggest change. As Onbiron Industrial Chemicals, we aim to be the company that sheds light on this transformation with the projects we are working on and the collaborations we have made, and that pioneers the change with our innovative solutions.
What are your future plans and growth goals?
Although we are a 2-year-old young company, I think we have gained a significant share of the domestic market in a short time thanks to our scientific foundation and long years of experience in the sector. Our works as well as the excitement we have instigated in the sector play a big role in this. In the international market, we supply products to the world’s leading cement groups on a global scale in different continents. Among our future plans, we aim to become the market leader in the domestic market in the short term and to increase our share in the international market by focusing on our exports. Our investments continue in line with these goals. In addition to our commercial goals, we have set our goals to develop unique solutions that will create excitement in the scientific world and to bring these solutions to the sector. We continue to work passionately for all our goals.
As Onbiron Industrial, what are your expansion strategies in the coming period? Which geography is your strongest?
We are working hard to reach out wherever cement is produced in Turkey, touch every customer and develop solutions together. We have a different sales and marketing projection that we are currently working on. In the light of this projection, our expansion strategy will be further bolstered and our customers will feel us more at their side whenever they need us. Besides Turkey, we are already doing business in Africa and the Middle East. To make our presence permanent in these regions and increase our market share, we are both expanding our teams and launching strategic collaborations. In addition, we have taken important initiatives in the countries around Turkey and achieved good results. We aim to continue these successfully.
Could you inform us about Onbiron Industrial Chemicals’ culture and working environment, career development and training opportunities?
I compare our work culture to an industrial academy. We embrace every employee as a partner of the company and manage the company together. Just as academics come together in group meetings, share their knowledge, proliferate knowledge and try to reach a higher level of knowledge, we come together with our employees at Onbiron Academy, listen to everyone’s ideas and knowledge, proliferating exchange and enabling new ideas to emerge. In this sense, we have a work culture that is sharingoriented and creates a ground for new ideas. We make career plans by taking into account the background, skills and aspirations of our coworkers. We create plans by including them in the process, and focus on building a working culture where they have access to all kinds of internal and external trainings they need in line with the plans we have created. In the coming period, we will also have training programs in cooperation with universities, which we are working on it.
We explain our solutions to our customers before application, enrich them with their ideas and manage the process together. This creates trustbased satisfaction among our customers.
Could you introduce yourself to us? What is your areas of experience, your areas of interest and any other details about yourself that you would like to share?
I have been serving in Building Chemicals industry for twelve years. Since 2021, I have been the vice chairman of the technical committee of the European Federation of Concrete Admixtures (EFCA). I have a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, master’s and doctorate in materials science and engineering on cement and concrete chemistry. I have worked on cement hydration at the University of Siegen in Germany, and we continue to develop joint projects from time to time. I will soon start teaching at a university, which really excites me. I am also a musician, I mainly play guitar, and also other instruments but at an amateur level. One room of my house is a music and recording studio, I have six songs that I have released so far. Music is an important part of my life, even though I have little time for it because of my busy schedule. I do sport regularly. In addition, I like to travel and take a trip whenever I find a chance.
