General Manager of Belgin Oil, Bülent Araslı: “We aim for sustainable growth with high added value”
With nearly 70 years of experience, Belgin Oil, a prominent lubricant, and grease manufacturer of Türkiye and nearby geography, instills confidence in the sector. The company, known for its high-technology production facility, world-class R&D center, and fully equipped accredited laboratory, contributes to the Turkish economy through its production capacity and product quality.
We had a pleasant conversation with Bülent Araslı, General Manager of Belgin Oil, about production facilities, upcoming projects, and future goals.
Could you tell us about Belgin Oil’s position in the industry?
Belgin Oil began operating in the industry in 1953. Today, in our factory at Gebze Organized Industrial Zone, we continue to operate as one of the country’s largest manufacturers of lubricants. We are a part of the European Lubricating Grease Institute (ELGI), the Union of the European Lubricants Industry (UEIL), and the Technical Association of the European Lubricants Industry (ATIEL). We have a world-class R&D center that can meet the needs of the industries to which we provide products and services, as well as the ability to rapidly diversify and develop products. New products developed as a result of our R&D studies account for a sizable portion of our annual return. In addition to providing services for our company, our advanced laboratory is an approved laboratory for TSI measurements.
Which market segments does Belgin Oil serve?
We continue to manufacture in five major product groups: metalworking fluids, industrial lubricants, motor oils, greases, and marine lubricants, and we supply the market with over a thousand products. Belgin being our master brand, we produce motor oils under the LUBEX brand and grease under the GRESON brand. With our productivity-focused approach and the studies we conduct in our R&D Center; we continue to be the leader in the Turkish metal working market. Generax SE, for example, our metalworking fluid product that can be mixed with water, is an environmentally friendly plant-based metalworking fluid that does not contain mineral oil. It is formulized with an additive content containing strong dispersers along with corrosion, foam, and microorganism preventive chemicals. Our product can be safely used for iron, aluminum, and copper-based materials. Since it can be degreased easily, it reduces the cost of subsequent degreasing processes. Furthermore, since it does not contain mineral oil, it is an environment-friendly product that facilitates the disposal of emulsions used in treatment facilities.
Do you offer services that increase your business partners’ preference for you?
With Engineering and Post-Sales Technical Services, we provide sustainable added value to our business partners’ production processes. Our industry managers and specialists assess the situation through field visits and direct the business partners to the most correct solutions and products that increase operational productivity. We also offer certified technical training to the employees of our business partners through our specialists. In our company, with our high-technology projects developed with years of experience and knowledge, LUBRIVISION and LUBRIVISIONBOX, we significantly contribute to our business partners’ operational productivity.
Belgin, which produces metalworking fluids, industrial lubricants, motor oils, greases, and marine lubricants, expands its product range by focusing on R&D studies.
Could you please elaborate on the origins and benefits of your LUBRIVISION and LUBRIVISIONBOX projects?
As technological development has accelerated and competition has increased, all industrial institutions have begun to focus on predictive and preventive maintenance practices to reduce unit production costs and become more competitive in the market. Innovative approaches were included in the agenda to reduce the loss of production caused by unplanned downtime. It is becoming increasingly important to closely monitor the equipment in the critical phases of the production and oils used in the equipment. Accordingly, we created LUBRIVISION, a digital oil analysis monitoring system, available to our business partners to strengthen our customer focused approach, which we have been internalizing for years. LUBRIVISION is a safe, quick, and user friendly digital oil analysis monitoring system with internet access designed to increase the company’s operational productivity, reduce downtime, production loss and maintenance costs and optimize machine and equipment reliability.
Another project by us, LUBRIVISIONBOX, is a high-tech device that measures the most critical parameters in metal working fluids in real-time, manages the system by maintaining optimal parameters through simultaneous interventions, and enables you to monitor and check your system automatically. It is capable of performing one or more central system management as well as product management. In this regard, it comes to the fore as a practice that is making a difference in the industry.
How was 2022 for Belgin Oil? What do you anticipate for the company in 2023?
Following the 2-year COVID-19 pandemic, the war between Russia and Ukraine that began in the first months of this year quickly brought several new and costly problems. Sharply rising energy and commodity prices, supply disruptions, significant increases in logistics costs, and disruptions are the most visible consequences of the war, and they have created significant uncertainty for the future. As Belgin Oil, we achieved the goals set for 2022 in these rigors affecting both Türkiye and the rest of the world. We hope to maintain our growth in 2023, as we did in 2022. We will continue our work on many innovative products and services that will be needed not only today but in the future by closely monitoring industrial requirements.
Belgin Oil, which has two important brands named LUBEX and GRESON, attracts attention with its innovative projects such as LUBRIVISION and LUBRIVISIONBOX.
One of the most important and leading aspects of our company’s strategy is export. We export our products to more than 50 countries. We are expanding our teams to constantly improve our export by establishing long-term and permanent relationships. We intend to strengthen our position in existing markets and expand into new markets in the future.
Despite all negativities, Belgin Oil managed to reach its growth and export goals for 2022. The company is looking forward to 2023 with hope.
About Bülent Araslı
Bülent Araslı, who received an MBA from Boğaziçi University after graduating from METU’s Business Administration Department, began his business career in 1982 with Çukurova Foreign Trade and then with MAN Truck & Bus companies’ foreign trade department in 1985. In 1986, he began working for Kordsa Global (Sabancı Holding A.Ş.), where he worked for the next 30 years. After assuming several administrative responsibilities, he was appointed Marketing Sales Director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa Regions in 2000. Between 2005 and 2009, he managed Interkordsa GmbH and Kordsa GmbH in Germany, as well as Interkordsa USA in North Carolina, USA as the Global Business Director, and General Manager. Between 2010 and 2016, he was the Vice Chair in charge of all global sales of Kordsa Global’s products. Araslı has been working as the General Manager in Belgin Oil since January 2017.
