Do you remember Renault’s concept car, ‘EOLAB’ which was showcased at the 2014 Paris Motor Show and introduced in the previous series of our global blog? Running 100km with only 1L of fuel, this amazing car ‘EOLAB’ contains POSCO’s light vehicle steel plate. POSCO and Renault collaborated in the ‘EOLAB’ development project in order to lead the way of vehicle weight reduction throughout the automobile industry. Let’s take a look at an interview with the two key contributors of the ‘EOLAB’ project, Shin, Seung-jun, the Manager of Steel Solution Center and Dr. Lee, Hong-woo, the Principal Researcher of POSCO.
How Do You Feel About Promoting ‘EOLAB’ At The Paris Motor Show As A Partner Of Renault?
Dr. Lee: This year’s Paris Motor Show was a great opportunity to show the excellence of POSCO’s technology to the world. I believe that it was exceptionally special because the collaboration represented Renault’s firm trust in POSCO. Also, through this project, POSCO and Renault signed additional agreement to co-develop light vehicle body and automobile chassis solution for the next generation. Therefore, we are looking forward to establish the full range of EVI network in the upcoming future.
△(Left) Kim, Ji-yong, the head of POSCO Steel Solution Center, (Right) Remi Bastien, the head of research, advanced studies and materials at Renault
Manager Shin: As I participate in the project, I was able to experience the power of POSCO’s solution marketing. It seems that POSCO was able to create the positive results with its exceptional behavior to bestow devotion even to small components while supplying materials and application technology. I hope that this project could set an example for POSCO EVI activity and solution marketing so that it could contribute to the expansion of POSCO’s prospective relationships with client companies.
We Heard That The Worldwide Media Had Shown Their Strong Interests At The POSCO Booth. How Was The Overall Response Of The Press?
Manager Shin: During the promotion period, 103 journalists from 26 different countries had visited our booth and showed their fervent interests. They were especially interested in POSCO’s weight reduction materials. So, we displayed several cylinders of same volume but with each different steel materials so that they could take a closer look at our weight reduction materials. The journalist at our booth displayed interest in the weight difference of each cylinders. It was definitely an important opportunity to draw spectators’ attention to POSCO’s steel materials.
Could You Describe The Development Process Of The Spotlighted ‘EOLAB’?
The relationship between POSCO and Renault goes far back. In 2012, POSCO had signed a joint development agreement with Renault-Samsung. This year, POSCO participated in the ‘EOLAB’ production project with the French automaker, Renault. To be honest, there were quite many differences working with the local staffs of Renault due to the language and geographical difference between France and Korea.
However, these problems were easily solved as Dr. Lee flew to Paris for long-term stay during the project. Although Dr. Lee and I were far apart, our teamwork was more than excellent. As Dr. Lee collect VOC of Renault and send it to Korea, our research team and I would build upon the given data and suggest a solution to Renault. As you might know, there is a seven-hour time difference between Korea and France. I used to call Dr. Lee in Paris 4PM every day to check our work process and put plans into practice.
We Heard That There Was A Special Tip To Improve Job Performance. Could You Share The Tip With Us?
Dr. Lee: The cooperation with Manager Shin could be defined with two keywords: ‘Trust’ and ‘Conservation’. Manager Shin trusted me in terms of technical aspect and I trusted him with specific process management in return. I believe that this mutual trust contributed to ‘speed-up’ aspect which was one of the expectations and demands of Renault.
In fact, one of the aspects that I am proud of, is the ‘One-day feedback’ system. As Renault passed the VOC and other related issues to Manager Shin in the morning (afternoon in Korea), the Korean staff held an urgent meeting and were able to receive POSCO’s official response in less than 24 hours. I am sure that this timely reaction had a big part in the POSCO-Renault trust-building process.
Did you enjoy the stories of the key members of POSCO automotive steel plate EVI activity? The duo of Manager Shin and Dr. Lee really showed us a great harmony despite of distance and time difference. Until POSCO’s automotive steel plate is applied to every global automobile companies, POSCO markers will continue their efforts to expand POSCO’s presence in the worldwide spectrum.