Conversation with Turkish converter Egebant: İbrahim Hatipoğlu on Afera and sitting on the Steering Committee
Recently Afera Secretary General Astrid Lejeune caught up with Steering Committee (SC) Member İbrahim Hatipoğlu of Egebant Zımpara ve Polisaj Malzemeleri San. ve Tic. A.Ş., a Turkish converter of adhesive tapes representing Converter Members within Afera.
Starting tape converting in 1998
Egebant supplies industrial products to end users, particularly high-quality sandpapers to Turkey’s wood and metal industries and personal safety products. Since 1998, however, the Company’s main focus has been on converting single- and double-sided tapes from 3M and Sicad, with which it has long-term partnerships. Egebant also buys jumbo rolls which it coverts under its own labels Egebant and Sander.
Egebant’s head offices and main production facilities lie in Şekerpınar and Çayırova, an industrial area 50 kilometres outside of Istanbul within Kocaeli Province. The Company has also invested in the east of Turkey, creating employment opportunities with its new second factory in Şanlıurfa.
Coming across Afera industry standards
Mr. Hatipoğlu, who has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering (with a special focus on automotive) from Istanbul Technical University, joined Egebant in 1993 as general manager when the business was still concentrated on abrasives. He first came across Afera in the technical data sheets of adhesive tapes products. “When we were discussing products with our customers, we would receive standardised data for adhesives levels or other technical aspects related to Afera test methods,” he explained.
Becoming a Member
Egebant initially purchased the Afera Test Methods Manual (which is currently being updated for reissue in 2020), then became a Member of Afera 4 years ago. “After joining Afera, Egebant’s knowledge of the adhesive tape industry and our network greatly improved,” Mr. Hatipoğlu shared. “We started to follow the tape world much better and found new suppliers. It affected our business very positively.”
Mr. Hatipoğlu said his “favourite aspect of being part of Afera is convening with the leading actors of the European tape industry,” something of “great value to us”. “Attending the Annual Conference is very important to me as the manager of my company, but I am planning to have more employees from Egebant, especially my quality team and technical sales engineers, join Afera’s upcoming Technical Seminar and Tape College.”
On joining the SC
“Being a part of Afera’s decision-making leadership has been a very different experience for me,” Mr. Hatipoğlu continued. “Being on an international board and taking part in strategic discussions about our business needs and challenges has contributed significantly to my personal development.”
Where does Mr. Hatipoğlu see Afera in 5 years? “It will continue to grow as the meeting point for the European adhesive tape industry. Along with this, I appreciate the strong programme Afera is building around Competition Law compliance. This ensures a comfortable, neutral and fair environment in which to network with our peers and learn about growing our businesses.”
Current SC composition
| Representing | Company | Candidates | Until |
| Tape Manufacturer | Lohmann | Evert Smit | 9/2021 |
| Tape Manufacturer | Nitto | Dirk Pittoors | 9/2023 |
| Tape Manufacturer | tesa | Reinhard Storbeck | 9/2021 |
| Tape Manufacturer | ABI | Jacques Geijsen | 9/2020 |
| Tape Manufacturer | TBD | TBD | |
| Converter | Egebant | İbrahim Hatipoğlu | 9/2021 |
| Supplier | Loparex | Ian Grace | 9/2020 |
| Supplier | H.B. Fuller | Melanie Ott | 9/2020 |
If you are or know of an Active Member who is interested in joining Afera’s SC, please contact Afera Secretary-General Astrid Lejeune on +31 70 312 39 16 or send an e-mail here for more details about applying or nominating a candidate. Read Afera’s Statutes here.