We had a talk about the today and past of Remsan, being the first Monolithic Refractory company of Turkey, founded in 1976, the branding stage launched in 1980. Our questions are answered by Mr. Faik Işıkçı, General Manager of Remsan.
This year you are celebrating your 43rd anniversary as the first Monolithic Refractory company in Turkey. Would you share with us the development progress of Remsan? When and how did your success story start?
The decision to establish Remsan was stemmed from the emerging need for the monolithic refractory material once our group companies Entes and Özköseoğlu was awarded with the slab ovens contract by Ereğli Iron&Steel Co. Founded in 1976 by Özköseoğlu Companies Group, Remsan was the firstin- Turkey monolithic refractory company which has been producing since 1978.
The materials produced entirely using the technology of American C.E. Refractories in the very first years of Remsan were introduced to iron&steel giants of our country such as Ereğli Iron&Steel and Iskenderun Iron&Steel, following which they were embraced profoundly by the industry. This made us to feel the pride of being the sole and only supplier of monolithic refractory to the iron&steel industry back then. In the subsequent years, the materials were introduced to giant refineries and petro-chemical plants of our country such as Tupras and Petkim, where our products again got their well-deserved attention, becoming a product choice in the industry. Remsan achieved the promotion and application of its materials in the relevant industry, making Remsan almost a synonymous of monolithic refractory.
Our penetration into the cement industry began with the turnkey contract of 1st Line Refractory Investment of Denizli Cement in 1994, followed by a success story involving over 45 investments delivered so far.
How did you manage to grow so much? Would you inform us about your new plant?
In parallel to increasing market demand and industrialization period of Turkey, Remsan launched the branding stage by 1980, and by the beginning of 90s Remsan has already bolstered its market position with the products based on not only formulations of American C.E. Refractories but also its own brands developed thanks to our R&D efforts. In 1993, Remsan modernized its plant in Ayazağa and aimed at producing to the world standards. The Full Integration works for our Silivri plant were completed in 2019 as part of the capacity expansion investment project.
To what industries do you serve?
As a company with 43-years of past track and self-proven production, Remsan has been a solution partners to all industries wherever high-temperature production methods are used. Below is a list of the industries in which Remsan provides services with its rigorous production dedicated to each firm, innovative approach, customer satisfaction and top quality production-service-marketing understanding:
- Iron&Steel industry
- Foundries
- Aluminum industry
- Rolling mills
- Refineries
- Petro-chemical plants
- Chemistry industry
- Cement industry
- Limestone industry
- Energy generation plants
- Ceramic industry
- Plants manufacturing any kind of boilers and ovens
Glass industry With what products do you support to cement industry?
- Concretes
- Low-cement and cement-free concretes
- Shotcretes
- Low-cement and cement-free shotcretes
- Abrasion-resistant concretes
- Insulation refractory concretes
- Mortars (binders and covering mortars)
- Any kind of precast ( tailor-made ) refractory materials
- Ceramic Anchors, Insulation Auxiliaries and Anchorages
Would you inform us about important projects in which you are involved and the products you use? What is the product that you trust most?
Entire host of our products that have been used in over-45 turnkey projects we delivered successfully for the cement industry have been produced thanks to experience and efforts of many years. While we see every each of our products with the same level of trust, a product proves itself if it is implemented at the right place and right method. Therefore, just like it would be impossible for a Ferrari car to reveal its real performance on the mountain roads, the same is valid for Refractory products which require “right place and right method” approach.
What is the rationale behind choosing right application to right project?
First, we conduct detail engineering and project design for the necessary refractory application. We evaluate the ambient temperature, heat transfer calculations, regional dynamics, and the effects of chemical and physical corrosions on the environment. Thus, we define the right application method deciding on which class of materials to be used and optimizing the chemical contents as per the requirement.
We also carry out application and drying stages after having produced the refractory materials and related auxiliary equipment. As a result, we evaluate entire process as a whole, both improving the product performance and offering the most economic solution. We try to apply this turnkey delivery approach across our entire management structure and project powered by our experience in projects we have delivered so far.
Compared to the past, what are your comments on the changes in monolithic refractories? Do you have works for new product or R&D investments?
Although refractory industry is an open sea, its technical recognition in the industry is almost little to none. Therefore, some formulaic ideas create difficulties for us to apply new advances in the monolithic technologies. Nevertheless, we try to take sure steps in our R&D works thanks to which we aim at offering a new class of products every year to the market for their likes.
What advantages does your company offer in regards to supply cycle and aftersales services?
We a special production structure built by us to meet urgent needs of all companies while seamlessly continuing our productions with an “always-prepared” understanding. Our R&D and Quality Control Laboratories are steered through a special system to keep abreast with this fast-pace. That is because why we offer our fast-pace in an equidistant manner to the benefit of all of our customers, as a guarantee of our quality. Likewise, our aftersales services adopt a tailor-made approach that is mapped to the demands of our customers.
What do you comment about the major problems of your industry? What do you suggest for solution?
Unstable foreign exchange rates due to the fluctuations tainted with an economic-crisis has lead to a chain reaction infecting across all companies. On the other hand, high levels of bank loan rates impacts negatively the financial needs of the companies slowing down the cash flow rate. In this period, consumers must embrace the fact that all we are in the same boat and define cash flow policies to protect the producers, which will eventually and in turn benefit all parties.
What are your comments about Occupational Health and Safety issues? What works do you have currently at your hand?
As a group companies we outsource our OHS requirements to a professional OHS company. In this context, the trainings provided enable us to keep always prioritized the OHS requirements for either production or application. All our works are done with the “human first” approach, a commonly shared goal and belief of all our companies.
