One of the most knowledgeable people in the lubricants industry is İliya Yofoğlu. Being in this sector for ages means witnessing the changing and fading values throughout the years. We made an interview with İliya Yofoğlu to listen to his experiences, company history, and feelings about the sector.
What is the establishment date of Yofoğlu Lubricants? Can you give us brief information about the company?
Our company was established in 1951. This business, launched by my father, has been serving in the lubricants industry for 66 years. We are selling the products of foreign companies since 1951, and we also started producing lubricants under our own brand.
Yofoğlu Lubricants is a prestigious and deep-rooted company producing, filling and packaging special and supplementary chemicals that we formulate and develop, and also a multi-brand distributor.
How did you get in this business?
Actually I am in this sector since I was a child. I used to come to the company during my summer holiday since I was 7, and I used to come and go every day whenever my school is on holiday. I started to commute every day after graduating from high school. I slowly took over the work that I was already in since my childhood. I can tell you that I grew up in this industry.
What has changed since then? We would like to hear your observations.
Unfortunately what I observed in this sector for years is not so good. We have lost many values as humans, and we are still getting worse. Virtues such as valour, keeping your word, honesty are nowhere to be found. Actually the sector is deteriorating and vanishing every passing day. We can find the products, which we buy from companies, for even 20 percent lower prices in the market. This deeply affects us.
How many brands do you sell and what is your own brand?
Our company sells the products of all lubricant manufacturers. Our product range is one of the largest in the sector. Besides, we manufacture and sell our own brand –Dynamic Kote.
We know that your company attaches great importance to quality in trade and production. Which certificates do you have in this regard?
We hold the Quality Management System ISO 9001:2000, quality certificates of Turkish Standards Institute, and lubricant manufacturing license. The company was the first in the sector to have the ISO 9001 Quality Assurance Document in 2004, and it consolidated its quality assurance with AQA ANAB ISO 9001:2000 version. After receiving the ‘Document of EIA is not necessary’ in 2006, we started lubricants manufacturing with 1st Grade Non-Sanitary Enterprise License and lubricant manufacturing license. But we stopped our production and cancelled our license a few years ago.
For the mineral, synthetic and full-synthetic engine oils that we manufacture in our plant abroad, we closely follow the OEM engine manufacturing technology and never compromise on quality with imported package additives. Our “responsible service approach” comprises of high storage capacity, effective service support before and after sales, high quality products, compliance to ethical and legal principles.
