Interview with Tais Arp, director of technical-commercial advice at Comindex.

Comindex was born in 1959, but its origins go back to 1933, when Enrique Arp Hamer, an expert in chemistry from Germany, arrived in Spain with some synthetic resins to manufacture paints. How were the beginnings of this business adventure?

We are already in the third generation. The company started in 1933 when my grandfather, who was German, came to Spain and started selling synthetic resins to replace the naturally occurring rosin resins that were then used to make paints . The company as such was founded later, in 1959.

We are talking about a type of product that turned out to be revolutionary. Because?

There were no synthetic resins, it seems that everyone used resins of natural origin, and it was revolutionary because it was a material that was not common at that time and had better properties than resins of natural origin, and also better availability.

From there, how did you specialize in the distribution of specialty chemicals for different types of customers?

From the beginning of the company, we had always sought to work with chemical specialties and it is true that as time has passed we have adjusted it to the needs of each era. We have also completed the range of products with some added value commodities.

What aspects do your solutions affect? In what have they innovated or from what point of view are they pioneers?

The products we distribute are raw materials that are used to manufacture different materials, such as paints, inks, composites, etc. Then what they do is improve the characteristics of these materials, also helping to make the production processes more efficient. In this way we also contribute to sustainability, improving the durability of materials, making light materials with good mechanical properties possible, optimizing formulations, achieving energy savings in production processes, etc.

In addition to products, you offer technical advice and personalized training. What do these tasks consist of?

Our team of commercial technical advisors is specialized in different industries, has previous experience and advises with the products we distribute and with the formulations. And above all they help our customers in the development of their products and technical problems that may appear.

At the training level, we hold training seminars for clients, specializing in different topics and techniques, such as regulatory issues and market trends. Precisely on February 29, we will hold a virtual seminar on additives for construction materials and we will promote the face-to-face seminars that we will start in March.

This year marks 65 years of history, right?

The company as such was founded in 1959 and is 65 years old, but the history of the business we always say goes back 90 years, that's three generations. In these years we have been adapting to the challenges of each era, changing the range of products, supporting customers and suppliers and now also adapting to the growing regulatory requirements. We believe that the business model remains valid for many years.

What is your assessment of this route?

A positive balance. We come from a business that started with a personal representation, and right now we are a company with all these years of history and with 35 people. We are very proud and very grateful to the grandfather and the parents.

What milestones would you highlight or what facts are you most proud of as a company?

What we are most proud of is the fact that we are still going strong as a company and that we have decades-long relationships with customers and our supplier brands. We also have a great human team and more than 30 years of customer training with the seminars we do and we continue to have the confidence of the market.

What has been your growth during this more than half a century?

The truth is that we have been growing and I would say that since I joined we have been growing year after year. From the beginning with one person to now that we are 35, there has been a good evolution and also a technicalization and professionalization of the company.

And at workforce level, how many workers do you have and what profile do they have?

40% are technical specialists in product and market, that is to say they are the technical-commercial team, and then the rest of the team is oriented to guarantee service to customers (logistics, own warehouse, etc.).

What is your customer profile? Are these customers who have been with you over the years?

They tend to be pretty loyal, thankfully. We started in the paint industry and perhaps the customers who have had the longest history at Comindex are in the paint industry, but we sell raw materials and specialty chemicals to material manufacturers. They can be both paints and inks, adhesives, composite materials, thermoplastics, also cleaning products, etc. We are in a wide range of sectors.

Would you highlight any in particular?

An example that may sound familiar to readers is Titan Industries, which is now part of the Azko group, and with whom we have had a relationship for many years.

With so many years of travel you have passed through many different economic situations. What have been the most complicated?

Every crisis has been a challenge. There was the oil crisis of the 70s, the devaluation of the peseta in the 90s and the economic crisis of 2008-2009. Here we did notice a significant decline in the market, but we strengthened the team and continued forward. And now the pandemic of 2020. In the end, each era has had its challenges, we have had to adapt and propose different solutions without losing sight of our medium and long-term goals. And also without losing the focus, which for us is very important, of prioritizing customer service, team cohesion and the relationship with the market and supplier brands.

How do you think the current economic situation affects companies?

The situation is complicated. We always say that every year there is something new, there is a lot of uncertainty. Continued uncertainty is the norm and we have to live with it and adapt to an environment that is constantly changing. 2024 is not an easy year because on the one hand companies have wage regularization, due to the CPI accumulated in the years 2021-2023, interest rates also remain high, demand in general is contained and we have an international geopolitical situation complicated What affects us the most is the Red Sea crisis because it affects the transport of goods from Asia.

You are part of the chemical industry, which is under a lot of control right now. How are you doing?

There are many regulatory changes that are necessary and good, but they represent an additional cost to the company. Now, although it is a lot of work today, we are sure that companies that do not comply with these regulatory requirements will not have a future. We also have the climate crisis, which is a challenge to which it is essential that we provide solutions. In our case, trying to offer customers products of renewable origin, more sustainable and less dangerous for health and the environment.

What kind of regulatory changes are you referring to?

Many requirements are related to sustainability. For example, today there are many chemical substances that are being reassessed for their effect on health and the environment. Products that were not dangerous and are now reclassified as being dangerous, so either consumption must be reduced or they must be eliminated. This is often not seen as sustainability, but it is, because everything contributes to making the environment healthier for everyone.

And, as you mentioned, it involves a high volume of work...

Yes, there are industries that tell you that nowadays one of the main laboratory jobs is related to regulatory changes.

What are your short and long term goals?

Try to grow in sustainable solutions and consolidate in industries such as thermoplastics and the entire cleaning products sector. Also to consolidate the internationalization of Comindex in Portugal and Morocco, where we are already present but we want to grow more there.

You have been members of the MAV Cluster since 2015. Why did you join and how has it helped you?

We joined together to meet new companies in the world of materials, to keep abreast of trends and new technologies and to network.

What do you think is the potential of the association and how can it help companies in the country?

I think it is a meeting point for different sectors of the advanced materials value chain. It allows you to find out which projects the partners are involved in and if they can collaborate with each other and have access to aid, since in some cases it is necessary to have financial aid for the projects carried out by the companies.

We also highly value the conferences and sessions that are held because they allow you to meet other companies in a more informal and relaxed environment and the relationships are different in this type of meeting. Due to their content, they allow you to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of materials and the needs that are emerging in different sectors. The meetings we have with Clúster partners help us to create a relationship of trust both with existing customers and with new customers.