The POSCO Charter of Corporate Citizenship states the following: “We nurture a robust business ecosystem with business partners.” For that purpose, it continues, “We support client success by providing the finest products and services.” This is why the three POSCO employees have been getting together outside of work.

l POSCO’s Exceptional Client Support Service

HAPIS Co., Ltd. has been receiving hot-rolled steel from POSCO and producing ‘Lightweight H-shaped steel’ since 2010. ‘Lightweight H-shaped steel’ is used to reduce weights in construction, machinery, and other structures. Since it is manufactured by welding three narrow hot-rolled steel into an H-shape, welding technology is of most importance in product quality. At HAPIS, the technicians do the welding themselves, but most of the time, they utilize welding equipment called a ‘high-frequency welder’.

▲ CEO Jong-Ee Choi working with a high-frequency welder.

Despite being an SME, HAPIS was the second major manufacturer in the domestic lightweight H-shaped steel market. However, over the past decade, domestic demand has declined by more than 50%, and the struggle to compete with the market leader hasn’t been successful as well. These factors have led sales to diminish. HAPIS tried to overcome this by pioneering overseas markets in Japan, the United States, and so on but failed to meet the required product quality. HAPIS CEO Jong-Ee Choi said that it felt like he was on a dead end.

“10 years of product development is relative, but not so short. I collected all the books by my own and read and studied, but it seemed that the last puzzle was not filled. I felt like I was on a dead end.”

▲ CEO of HAPIS Co., Ltd., Jong-Ee Choi

CEO Choi spoke out his difficulties to the POSCO Marketing Office, “I want to export lightweight H-shaped steel, but the quality isn’t as good as that of competitors’. What should I do?” Suggesting a solution to this question wasn’t easy, but the following three months brought about things that made up for the last decade.

POSCO’s Joon-Ho Lee and Ho-Jin Kwon — both in charge of HAPIS at the POSCO Construction Steel Materials Marketing Office — set out for the project immediately. On comparing the competitors’ lightweight H-shaped steel products with those of HAPIS, the difference was apparent. The weld bead* of HAPIS products wasn’t as neat as the competitors’. If the bead isn’t neat, not only does it harm the appearance, but it can also cause corrosion when the product is painted or plated — thereby resulting in issues with the durability of the product. *Bead: An elongated strip of metal that is formed along the weld when welding steel

Since lightweight H-shaped steel is produced with a high-frequency welder, the importance of equipment maintenance was obvious. The Marketing Office concluded that this was the key to resolving the issue, and soon requested help from the Maintenance Technology Department of Pohang Works. That’s how a field engineer and an expert technician from Pohang came all the way to Pyeongtaek. Working on this project from September to November, their three months were quite intense.

As a result, by November, even a non-expert could identify a significant change in the quality of the lightweight H-shaped steel produced. When overseas buyers visited, they were surprised at the reformed outcome.

▲ The lightweight H-shaped steel weld bead condition of HAPIS Co., Ltd. — before the solution (left), after the solution (right).

CEO Choi said, “When you mention the service of a steel company, it’s usually about handling claims after the product is supplied. However, from my experience, POSCO’s service is different — and exceptional. A/S stands for after-sales service, but this word would be unsuitable for POSCO’s service. POSCO helps in developing the product, maintaining equipment, and it even finds customers for the products. Just like the innovation in our product quality, I could see that POSCO’s support service had also changed tremendously.”

l The Tenacity of HAPIS Sparked a Fire

This support service was special to POSCO too, since a high-frequency welder doesn’t exist in POSCO. How could POSCO utilize equipment — that they have never dealt with before — and completely transform product quality in just three months? POSCO Newsroom sat down with POSCO’s technician, engineer, and marketer at HAPIS to listen to their stories.

Q. How did the solution for HAPIS begin?

Mr. Kwon: HAPIS wanted to extend its business abroad. POSCO introduced HAPIS’ products to overseas buyers, but it didn’t work out well at the time due to quality issues. At the Marketing Office, we decided to go for another try after enhancing the quality.

Q. Why did both a technician and an engineer come together?

Mr. Cho: When the Marketing Office ask us for support, we arrange the best experts and visit the site. This time, we had to deal with unfamiliar equipment, a high-frequency welder. So we needed a technician to understand the equipment, and an engineer to theoretically verify the given solution and establish a process. That’s why technician Kim, a veteran with more than 30 years of experience in the field, and I, an engineer, have been dispatched here.

Q. Could you see any possibilities when you first came?

Mr. Kim: Actually, I was worried at first. Because there are only a few places in Korea where high-frequency welders are used. I had only seen it a few times at other client companies before, so I didn’t have much information. However, when I came here and met CEO Choi, he showed me a tremendous amount of data that he had collected while studying himself. This data was his tenacity. CEO Choi then showed me the competitor’s products. To be honest, I felt a strong urge. If someone could make it, so could we. I wanted to try it even if it didn’t seem possible.

Q. Even though you were enthusiastic, it must have been quite a challenge.

Mr. Cho: Our seniors went through a lot. They had to start everything from scratch. They found books in the library, translated them, studied them, and continued to exchange information with CEO Choi. There are some people who rely fully on POSCO and just wait for support but Mr. Choi was different. Mr. Choi continued with his research and provided the data to us. Seeing him was a huge motivation.

Mr. Kim: Many people say, ‘With 30 years of experience in POSCO, you must know everything in a glance.’ But in reality, this isn’t easy. Since the solution we provide must lead to benefits that customers can feel. Especially, in this case, we had to deal with high-frequency welders that weren’t our specialty, so I was quite worried. But I put in all my effort into this project because the Marketing Office told me that if the weld bead is revised, this client will make significant progress.

l The Real Solution Starts Now

Q. It looks like you’ve come up with a solution.

Mr. Kim: Many factors affect weld beads like the amount of electric current, the welding angle, and so on. Each factor was thoroughly diagnosed and tested. When you melt the upper and lower surface to affix it in the H-shape, a burr* is created at the melting spot. By purging** this part, we were able to tidy the bead surface. In the past, the welded steel was cooled with water-soluble coolant, but we assumed that this harms the product quality. We are currently testing this hypothesis, but we think that since the coolant is also water, its decomposition — into hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) — interferes with weldability. Further details are the client’s core technology, so I can’t tell you more. (laughs)
*Burr: a thin, fin-shaped surplus that is formed when processing metal
**Purging: A method of blocking the inflow of oxygen using antioxidant gas to prevent oxidation of the welding spot during welding.

▲ Lightweight H-shaped steel produced by HAPIS

Q. So is the solution done?

Mr. Kwon: No. In fact, it’s just begun. The perfect solution would be the standardization of the product. We have succeeded in producing a product with the desired quality. And now we have to make sure that this continues. For example, when producing 100 products, all of them should be of this same quality. That’s standardization. If this is accomplished, the client can continue to make products with this quality without us. Our marketing must then find a market so that the products could be sold to more places.

Q. Improved product quality will lead to increased sales. Are there any other expected effects?

Mr. Cho: High-frequency welders use a lot of power, but after applying the proposed solution, we could see that the amount of electricity used was reduced. If we can weld with less electricity than before, it can reduce production costs. Currently, HAPIS pays 30 million won per month for electricity, and if the power usage is reduced by 10%, it can save the labor cost of one person per month.

l The Challenge Extended to High Strength Steel

The work on standardization is still on progress. But these pioneers don’t plan to stop here.

Q. Now that product quality has improved, what plans do you have for the next step?

Mr. Choi: In the past, I wasn’t fully sure about our products. I was aware of the weakness in our products, so I couldn’t actively venture into the export market. But now I have full confidence in our products. Some time ago, a foreign buyer visited, and he was surprised to see the improved quality of the bead. He said that if we showed this welding on high strength steel, he would like to place an order. So, with POSCO, we are looking for a solution that meets the needs of buyers from other countries.

Mr. Kwon: Each country has a different and strict welding evaluation criteria. To meet each requirement, we will supply POSCO’s finest steel materials and research welding technology that is appropriate for high strength steel. We got the quality we aimed for, so we will be supplying samples to the overseas buyers. We will join forces with other POSCO affiliates like POSCO International to help HAPIS make the deal.

Q. It must have been hard for you to go back and forth from Pohang to Pyeongtaek. How does it feel now that you’re almost done?

Mr. Kim: It’s too early to answer that question. As I told you, we still have a long way to go. (laughs) The last time we did a tensile test with CEO Choi, the results came out well, and Mr. Choi held out his hand for a handshake without a word. At that time, I realized how important this was to HAPIS. The past three months were a challenge for us too but I have to say, I could feel a sense of accomplishment too.

Mr. Cho: We’ve supported solutions to more than 30 clients this year. Some companies don’t have engineers like HAPIS, so they have no place to ask for help. Our team was organized to resolve these clients’ difficulties and share a win-win with POSCO. There are many tasks ahead, but we will do our best as HAPIS trusts us.

Mr. Kwon: POSCO’s marketing doesn’t end with selling steel. It’s also our job to support our clients who buy our steel products so that they can sell more. The clients who get our help respond by changing their steel to POSCO steel. It’s really rewarding to build trust with each other and see sales increase. As the domestic steel economy has been staggering for a long time, we will spare no efforts to support SMEs strengthen their competitiveness, and find places in overseas markets.

It is no surprise that POSCO is collaborating with various business partners — such as client companies, affiliates, and so on — to create a stable steel business ecosystem. POSCO is contributing to various aspects like product development, equipment maintenance, and market development. Since these areas are the most challenging to SMEs, and can’t be achieved in a short period of time. ‘Shared Growth’ and ‘Solution’ are some of the most used words across all POSCO departments.

POSCO hopes that HAPIS will successfully accomplish the tasks that lay ahead and succeed in the overseas market.

Aware of the current situation, POSCO provides customized consulting of specialists to resolve problems or issues, which are liable to show up in SMEs. POSCO has been offering this service to its direct client companies, and now it has gone on to extend this service to the clients of its client companies as well. The reason why POSCO is interested in these secondary and tertiary business partners, is because POSCO is looking at the overall ecology of the steel industry, and finding ways to strengthen it. Hence, introducing another service of POSCO — ‘Maintenance Technical Support for Secondary Client Companies’

‘HK STEEL’ is a client company of ‘Hankum’ — one of POSCO’s client companies — and is currently producing ultrathin materials for automotive seat belt spring. Following Hankum’s recommendation, HK STEEL applied for POSCO’s maintenance solution, and POSCO stepped in more than willingly. POSCO Newsroom met with the CEO of HK STEEL and POSCO’s maintenance support team in charge, to discuss the technical support provided.

▲ HK STEEL is POSCO’s secondary client company.

l How Did POSCO’s Help Come So Far?

HK STEEL, located in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, was established in January 2002. It is an SME with 15 employees including the CEO. The steel purchased from Hankum goes under secondary processing here and then sold to ‘Autoliv’ and ‘Asan Precision’. As seen here, HK STEEL doesn’t do any business directly with POSCO. Yet, it could still benefit from POSCO’s maintenance technical support. How was this possible? Let’s find out.

▲ HK STEEL CEO Hee-kwon Kim

“We have been purchasing primary processed steel from Hankum for 30 years. Recently there was a problem with the facilities in our company and when I talked to Hankum about it, they informed me of POSCO’s maintenance technical support. At first, I thought our company wouldn’t get the support since we do not have a direct partnership with POSCO. But POSCO accepted our request and agreed to take a look at our facilities. POSCO mentioned that secondary clients were POSCO’s clients too. So we asked POSCO for an overall inspection along with solutions regarding equipment — such as maintaining the horizontal level of the rolling mill, the operational status of the hydraulic plant and how to maintain it, the power quality, and so on.”

Hee-kwon Kim, CEO of HK Steel, said that working on technology development and facility maintenance is difficult due to lack of personnel and fund. That’s why POSCO’s support — complimentary help from experts — is like a blessed rain after a long drought for him.

“There are five or six companies that produce products with just one or two rolling mills, here in Ansan alone. All the CEOs of the companies tell me that whenever there are technical problems, it is because they are short on funds. But then again to solve the problems, they need more funds. It’s like a vicious circle. For SMEs, equipment maintenance is an incessant issue. I was quite worried as well. But now that POSCO’s experts have taken over, I can’t be more reassured.”

POSCO’s service doesn’t end in just maintenance technical support alone. Kim also added that POSCO meets with Autoliv — a client company of HK STEEL — and Hankum every quarter to discuss products.

“Our company produces springs for automotive seat belts, and there are some researchers who give us advice at POSCO. Along with these experts, we discuss quality with our client companies. Not just that, POSCO also analyzes the product and sends the report back to us. Thanks to POSCO, both our company and our client companies are in a win-win situation with more competitive products.”

Mr. Kim added, “For the manufacturing industry — including the steel business — to break through the current staggering economy, large companies and SMEs need to work together. In this sense, POSCO is doing great things by expanding the solution program to SMEs, who are in much need of it. With this help, SMEs can grow more and this would eventually boost the manufacturing industry. So I wish that other SMEs would also get to know about this solution program.”

l “It’s a Great Pleasure to be of Help”

Four field experts from Pohang Works were at work when newsroom visited HK STEEL. This time they were staying for two days to look into the maintenance. Newsroom met with Technical Manager Tea-young Huh and Consultant Young-gug Kim — who both have over 30 years of field experience. They are ‘field’ experts assigned here with the essence of POSCO’s 51 years of technology. They’ve been going around the country and sharing their skills and experience.

Q. What are you helping with HK STEEL today?

Mr. Huh: I am in charge of the PLC (Power Line Communication) control and the drive that runs the motor. I am inspecting the maintenance control so that it runs stably and doesn’t affect product quality.
Mr. Kim: I am in charge of the entire power distribution system — a system that receives electricity from the power plant and distributes it — and this time I will examine the quality of the electricity that HK STEEL uses. If electricity supply isn’t stable, several problems might appear so I check several factors, like the power factor, harmonics, transformer load factor, breaker protection devices, and so on, with diagnostic equipment. After inspection, a report of the current status follows and if there is any improvement needed, we provide technical support.

Q. How was your inspection? What solution did you give?

Mr. Kim: Before the actual consulting, We came here and took a look at the facilities around two weeks ago. We also asked what HK STEEL needed. They said that they had a problem with the rolling. The quality wasn’t as good as it used to be. Today after inspecting, I saw that the alignment of the rolling mill was slightly dislocated, and there was a problem with the Automatic Gauge Control (AGC) — a thickness control system. This may sound simple, but these are subtle errors that are hard to find by just looking, without any expert equipment or knowledge. The problem is that these errors can cause degradation in the quality of the end product.
Mr. Huh: We’ve readjusted the mill alignment and made sure that the control system works accurately. Accordingly, the flatness of the steel will get better which will, in turn, enhance product quality. I hope this would help boost the client company’s sales as well.

Q. You must have visited a lot of SMEs. Have you had any memorable experiences?

Mr. Huh: Last year, I visited a client company in Gimpo. Its factory was submerged due to a big flood that year. The company didn’t have a specialized person in charge of electricity, and the plant manager managed the electricity by himself. After the flooding, the whole factory experienced a blackout and nobody knew how to power back the electricity. So they brought in a technician and it took three days to get the line working. After this incident, our team visited multiple times to draw an electric schematic diagram of the plant and number the panels.
Mr. Kim: I remember that one too. There was a big typhoon that next year too and caused another problem with the electricity supply. However, at that time, they looked at the electrical schematic diagram that we gave them, and they could bring back the power easily, minimizing the downtime of the plant. Drawing the electric diagram — that could be easily understood — was quite a challenge because it is usually hard for non-experts to comprehend. I had to travel back and forth from Pohang to Gimpo several times because of that, but when I got a call from them saying that it helped a lot, it was all worth it.

Q. The CEO of HK STEEL mentioned that the service doesn’t end with just maintenance technical support alone. What’s more?

Mr. Kim: e are trying to solve the weaknesses and chronic problems, that our client companies experience, with POSCO experts. In addition to maintenance technical support, we provide solutions in various areas such as marketing, safety, energy, IT, and so on, which means that our support contributes to the growth of our client companies, not just in resolving problems.
Mr. Huh: We try to help in all areas possible if it is of help to our client company’s business. I think this could be the cornerstone of the POSCO vision — ‘Building a Better Future Together’.

Q. What does this project mean to you and what are your future goals?

Mr. Kim: Now that I can share my experience and skills where it’s needed, I feel that I’m really contributing. Whenever I resolve client companies’ problems and see them thrive, I am so happy for them. I believe that my role and mission is to aid client companies for a better future together.
Mr. Huh: I expect the credibility between POSCO and client companies will increase through these support programs. I learn a lot myself through these POSCO maintenance technical support activities, too. I would like to work on providing more solutions in the future as well.

‘Maintenance Technical Support for Secondary Client Companies’ program is part of POSCO’s efforts to help SMEs facing this reality. POSCO spares no time and effort on the mutual growth of POSCO and all its client companies, business partners and suppliers. Through this, POSCO hopes to strengthen the steel industry ecology and make sure that POSCO steel becomes products of the highest quality for consumers.

POSCO continues the pursuit of global dominance in energy steel market by participating in the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), the world’s top technology fair.

▲ POSCO exhibition booth at OTC in Houston, Texas – from May 6th to 9th, POSCO participated in the world’s top offshore tech conference showcasing the company’s World Top Premium (WTP) products.

The four-day conference kicked off on May 6 in Houston Texas. OTC draws over 2,000 companies and more than 60,000 visitors every year. For industry participants, it provides an excellent opportunity to showcase cutting-edge technology for offshore drilling, exploration, and environmental protection . The meeting also offers venues for industries to identify potential clients. POSCO has been attending the OTC for twelve straight years.

Taking forward the company’s ‘Business with POSCO’ principle, POSCO jointly hosted the exhibition booth with its client companies, who specialize in offshore resources. For the first time in the OTC 2019, POSCO is also organizing a customer-invitation seminar aimed to promote mutual growth with its customers. The seminar is scheduled to take place on May 8.

This unprecedented seminar is set to showcase POSCO’s World Top Premium (WTP) products and its technology and is open to engineers and all affiliated personnel from major energy and EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) sectors. The forum expects active knowledge and technology sharing on POSCO’s WTP products that will help boost the competitiveness of POSCO and its customers.

Among POSCO’s many products, high value-added steel plate products such as cryogenic high manganese steel, wind tower steel, and extremely thick steel plates for offshore structure are expected to draw visitors’ interests.

One such product is POSCO’s cryogenic high manganese steel which received IOM (International Maritime Organization) approval in December last year. The demand for high manganese steel is likely to grow as the market for LNG carriers expects growth because LNG is being recognized as one of the eco-friendly energy sources. POSCO’s wind tower steel was used in Hornsea, the world’s largest offshore wind farm in which its excellent durability and corrosion-resistance were duly recognized.

POSCO will also showcase PosMC (POSCO Mega Caster), extremely thick steel plates for offshore structure – by far holding the world’s top spot for its thickness. Developed exclusively by POSCO, the PosMC is capable of producing slabs of up to 700 mm in thickness, which means the company can supply steel plates of up to 233 mm in thickness.

Furthermore, POSCO’s client companies –TK Corporation and Chang Won Bending Co., LTD.— will showcase heavy-wall welded pipes and pipe fitting , both produced using POSCO’s steel plates. The seminar attendees will have the firsthand experience to observe POSCO’s steel from materials to its final products.

▲ POSCO’s exhibition booth at OTC main conference hall

POSCO opened a brand-new website dedicated to industry promotion, client services, and much more.

The new site just launched on Monday (http://product.posco.com) featuring detailed reference on the company’s various steel products.

The ‘POSCO Products’ site consists of six categories: Industries, Products, Mega Trend, Application Technology, Media, and Customer Support which aim to make technical products information more accessible for the general public and their clients.

‘Industry’ displays various steel products of everyday use through the following sub-categories ranging from automotive, construction, shipbuilding to home appliances.

‘Products’ provides comprehensive information on POSCO products like hot rolled steel, cold rolled steel, steel plate as well as the products of affiliates: secondary battery materials (POSCO Chemical), color coated steel sheet (POSCO C&C), stainless steel (POSCO International), electrical steel and processed steel plates.

Under ‘Mega Trend’, ‘Neo Mobility’ features sustainable future modes of transportation like EVs, whereas a ‘Mega City’ unveils a futuristic city with long-span bridges, mega-tall buildings, and modular housings. Through ‘Eco Energy,’ the last sub-category of ‘Mega City,’ visitors can browse products related to sustainable future energy like wind and solar power.

The site utilizes creative visual contents like informational video footage to explain specific features of POSCO’s products, which promotes a more comprehensive understanding for the visitors. There is also a virtual exhibition which gives a 360-degree view of the company’s steel products. Rather than a simple list-up of their products, the site guides the visitors through the original application of storytelling approach and 3D-visuals. These contents can be found in ‘PR Movies’ under the Media section.

The ‘Virtual Tour of Products,’ also nestled under Media category, provides a replica of the POSCO Global R& D Center located in Songdo. With the ‘Virtual Tour,’ visitors are just a few clicks away from the Songdo as they virtually navigate various spots of the R&D center.

The new website also demonstrates POSCO’s constant endeavor to improve their client relations – it allows more prompt response for POSCO customers by providing specified channels through which they can send their inquiries about the specific category of their interest so that their question can be promptly directed to the relevant department.

Meanwhile, through the establishment of the new website exclusively dedicated to product promotion, the company seeks to actualize their management principle ‘Business with POSCO’ to advocate for mutual growth with POSCO’s partners and clients. The site is also likely to be utilized to expand the sales of POSCO’s World Top Premium (WTP) products.