POSCO has announced its financial reports at Investor Relation (IR) conference call on April 24th that its first quarter consolidated sales were up to 14.7 billion dollars and its consolidated operating profit was 1.4 billion dollars. The consolidated net profit was approximately 1 billion dollars.

POSCO’s consolidated profits indicates positive sign for both domestic and overseas

Reach to 14.7 billion dollars consolidated sales, 1.4 billion dollars in consolidated operating profit

Sales, operating profit and net profit has elevated by 5.2%, 9% and 10.9% compared to the previous year. This impressive achievement is done by the improvement of both domestic and overseas steel production and non-steel affiliates.

Non-consolidated sales of 7.7 billion dollars and 946 million dollars of operating profit.

PT. KRAKATAU POSCO, which is an integrated steel mill in Indonesia also turn into profit from the third quarter. Despite of decrease of steel bar and shaped steel plant from POSCO SS VINA in Vietnam, operating profit has increased gradually. This great performance of oversea steel subsidiaries gives positive indication of growth in sales.

Its non-consolidated sales rate has increased by 9.8% year-on-year to 7.7 billion dollars. Also, the proportion of the sales of World Premium products went up by 1.4% year-on-year to 54.9%.

Increased sales of high-value-added products, cost reduction, continued improvement of profitability, and the increased price of steel were the driving force of increasing operating profit margin from 1.8%p year-on-year to 13.1%.

Future is even brighter

POSCO expects that demand of steel will continuously increase on the back of steady restructuring of the Chinese steel industry and recovery of emerging economies. POSCO still also continue to secure financial soundness, reducing costs, and expanding high value-added sales.
All those efforts of POSCO brought impressive result of increasing consolidated and non-consolidated sales to 58.4 billion dollars and 27.9 billion dollars.

‘Future Vision Declaration Ceremony’was held on April 1, the 50th anniversary of POSCO, POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon shared his philosophies of the centennial enterprises and the new mission and vision

On April 1st, the 50th anniversary of POSCO, named ‘Future Vision Ceremony’ was successfully held. The main topic of the anniversary was not only celebrating 50th years POSCO’s efforts both industrial and social fields but also suggestion of future directions of POSCO, ‘Missions and Visions’ 

‘Unlimit the limt: Steel and Beyond’

POSCO is dreaming of KRW 500 trillion in consolidated sales in 2068, the 100th anniversary of the company.

On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, POSCO held the ceremony to declare its future vision, and announced the mission and vision as a global centennial enterprise at the POSTECH gymnasium at the 50th anniversary of POSCO on April 1, and announced its mission and vision of being one of the true global centennial enterprises.

The new mission of the global centennial enterprise POSCO, which POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon detailed in the form of his TED Talk, is ‘Unlimit the Limit: Steel and Beyond.’ This mission, which was finalized after a few months of intensive debate among executives, means that POSCO will capitalize on its past 50-year history of challenges to become a power in the future not only in steel, but also in non-steel areas.

To this end, POSCO is seeking to change its current revenue streams, in which about 80% of the group’s profits come from steel and steel-related areas, in which profits will come evenly from the top three core business groups, i.e. steel, infrastructure and new growth engines, at a ratio of 4:4:2. POSCO aims to see its consolidated sales reach KRW 500 trillion and its operating profits reach KRW 70 trillion in 2068, its 100th anniversary.

In addition to its primary business, i.e. steel, POSCO will concentrate on such infrastructure areas as trading, construction, energy and ICT were included, and such new-growth areas as energy storage materials and light-weight materials.

The vision, which was declared along with the mission, is ‘POSCO the Great.’ ‘POSCO the Great’ was the slogan that CEO Kwon used when he was first inaugurated as CEO in 2014 to revive POSCO which faced a crisis at the time. Now the slogan has become more systematic: Great Business, Great Technology and Great Culture. It means pushing the business structure, technology and organizational culture to the highest level.

As POSCO has contributed to the country and society through steel and educational patriotism, at a time when the company is celebrating its 50th anniversary and starting its march forward toward a centennial enterprise, it decided to conduct business that will repay the country in addition to declaring its mission and vision.

POSCO supports Youth

In return for the country’s unsparing support and the citizens’ enthusiastic support which made POSCO what it is today, POSCO opted to construct the ‘Youth Creativity Center’ (tentative), which features various contents, including the Science and Experience Center in Seoul Forest, located in the center of the capital city of Korea, and donate it to the nation.

The ‘Youth Creativity Center’ will become a learning center where youths, who will lead the country into the future, can easily understand the principles of technology and science through experience, and translate their creative ideas into reality.

Also, the center will have various concert halls and exhibition halls so that anyone can easily enjoy culture and art in everyday life.

If the international design competition for world-renowned architects is held this year, it will reveal its splendor as being the best science and culture complex in Korea.

The POSCO Center in Seoul, which was erected more than 20 years ago, now features a new product exhibition hall that will familiarize citizens with steel, and show customers the future vision of steel, and added a 30-seat PR video center. The product exhibition hall displays various industries demanding steel in the future, and state-of-the-art steel products, and allows visitors to experience the various uses of steel used in our everyday lives using the cartoon and touch technique in a fun way. At the PR video center, visitors can watch POSCO PR videos, and view a steel mill in 3D imagery.

Close to people 

On its 50th anniversary, POSCO, which has contributed to the growth of the country with steel, will air a TV ad, which reflects its will to transcend beyond steel, ‘50-Year Challenge and 100-Years New Dream’ until June 10, and the POSCO Art Museum in the first lower level of the POSCO Center will host the ‘Homage to POSCO’ exhibition until May 8. The artworks embodying the growth and rebirth of POSCO will be on display. Also, the POSCO Museum in Pohang will host the ‘Half-Century Video Records of POSCO,’ which introduces various images and historical materials which recorded its 50-year history of growth, until June 30.

In addition, until the end of May, POSCO will prepare an opportunity for the CEO and employees to communicate and harmonize with one another in Seoul, Pohang and Gwangyang with the aim of strengthening the solidarity among employees marching toward a centennial enterprise.

POSCO always stands with country 

POSCO’s 50-year history is in true sync with the history of the growth of the Korean economy. POSCO has never stopped growing for half a century since its foundation, and continued to turn profits without ever running into the red and still contributes to the economic development of the country.

POSCO was established in 1968, and molten metal was first produced in 1973. Its sales amounted to KRW 41.6 billion in that year, and increased 686 times last year to KRW 28,553.8 billion. Korea’s per capita GDP was merely US$ 198 in 1968, but it increased about 140 times in 2016 to US$ 27,539.

As POSCO grew and its steel production increased, domestic industries such as automobiles and shipbuilding continuously grew as well. In 1973, when POSCO started to produce molten metal for the first time, POSCO’s steel production amounted to 449,000 tons, but in 2017, it rose to 37.2 million tons. Likewise, Korea’s shipbuilding tonnage increased from 12,000 tons in 1973 to 23.5 million tons, and automobile production rose from 25,000 cars to 4.11 million cars.

POSCO has also grown remarkably in terms of technology. The FINEX technology, which replaces the modern blast furnace with more than 100 years of history, is an environmentally-friendly and economical innovative technology. POSCO independently developed and commercialized this. Also, in 2013, the company completed the construction of Southeast Asia’s first integrated steel mill in Indonesia. Just 40 years after POSCO owned the first integrated steel mill with the help of Japanese steelmakers in 1970, it grew so big as to build an integrated steel mill in a foreign country on its own, and transformed itself from a technological follower to a technological leader.

Also, POSCO sold 9 million-odd tons of automotive steel last year, which accounts for about 25% of its total sales, the largest proportion among major global automotive steelmakers and sellers. One out of every 10 cars sold in the world is made of POSCO’s automotive steel.

Smarter POSCO 

Recently, the company built its own smart factory platform called PosFrame, leading the smartization of the global steel industry.

In recognition of its excellent business performance, competitiveness and sustainability management, POSCO has been selected by WSD as one of the ‘world’s most competitive steelmakers’ for the past 8 consecutive years since 2010, and in the global sustainability management evaluation, it has been selected as an excellent company in sustainability and as the best company in the steel industry for the past 13 consecutive years, dating back to 2005. It has remained in this honorable position for the longest time in Korea.

With the performance increase in both steel and non-steel businesses in Korea and overseas, operating profit was highest it’s been in the last 6 years, and the operating profit to sales ratio was 7.6 percent. Year-on-year consolidated sales increased by 14.3 percent and operating profit and net profit increased by 62.5 percent and 183.7 percent respectively.

The total operating profit of POSCO’s non-steel businesses, which reached KRW 10 billion last year, also turned into a surplus. There was an overall increase in non-steel businesses including trade, energy, ICT, chemicals and materials, resulting in KRW 1.0927 trillion of profits, up KRW 1.0798 trillion from last year.

This is in line with POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon’s strategy to focus on group management by securing future growth engines and reforming non-steel businesses.

※ Total operating profit per sector

Indonesia-based integrated steel mill, PT. KRAKATAU POSCO, also generated a surplus for the first time since operations began in 2014. Mexico-based automotive steel sheet plant, POSCO Mexico, as well as India-based cold rolled steel corporation, POSCO Maharashtra, also achieved their highest operating profit, tripling the total operating profit of overseas steel business.

Moreover, separate sales and operating profit increased year-on-year by 17.4 percent and 10.1 percent respectively to KRW 28.5538 trillion and KRW 2.9025 trillion, and the net profit was KRW 2.5457 trillion.

Production and sales decreased year-on-year due to the repair and facility rationalization of Pohang Blast Furnace No. 3, but the sales ratio of World Premium products with better technology and higher returns increased to 53.4 percent, its higher ever.

Financial soundness was also saw improvements. POSCO’s Consolidated debt ratio decreased by 7.5%p year-on-year to 66.5 percent, the lowest since 2010. Separate debt ratio also decreased by 0.5%p year-on-year to 16.9 percent, constantly renewing the lowest record on a yearly basis.

POSCO also demonstrated a cumulative financial improvement of KRW 7 trillion with 150 cases of restructuring in the last 4 years, reinforcing the business structure as well as financial competency. Accordingly, this year the company expects to make more investments in new growth engines such as lithium and cathode materials as well as energy and construction in addition to renewing the facilities at its steel mills. Thus, there will be a budget of KRW 4.2 trillion for consolidated investment, an increase of KRW 1.6 trillion compared to last year. The consolidated sales target is KRW 61.9 trillion.

※ POSCO’s 2017 business performance

PT. KRAKATAU POSCO sold 1.7 million tons of steel in 2014, its first year of operation, then increased its sales to 2.8 million tons in 2016. The company’s annual sales volume has increased continuously, and its cumulative sales reached 10 million tons as of January 15, 2018. Last year’s tentative performance showed an operating profit of about USD 12 million, enabling the company to turn a profit for the first time.

PT. KRAKATAU POSCO, which began operations in December 2013, is the first integrated steel mill in Southeast Asia with a production capacity of 3 million tons. POSCO and Indonesia’s state-operated steelmaker Krakatau Steel invested 70 percent and 30 percent respectively.

PT. KRAKATAU POSCO is the only steel mill in Southeast Asia with a 3 million ton capacity.

As PT. KRAKATAU POSCO is POSCO’s first overseas steel mill, POSCO concentrated all the competencies of its group affiliates including POSCO E&C, POSCO Energy and POSCO ICT into constructing and operating the facility. After 4 years of hard work, PT. KRAKATAU POSCO is now the leading steelmaker in Southeast Asia.

Instead of resorting to imports, Indonesia can now procure high-quality steel products from  PT. KRAKATAU POSCO, greatly enhancing the competitiveness of Indonesia’s steel-consuming industries.

PT. Bukaka Teknik, manufacturing steel-frame structures, is planning to purchase 120,000 tons of thick plates from PT. KRAKATAU POSCO, and construct Indonesia’s first steel-framed elevated expressway, and PT. Kenertec, Korindo Heavy Industry’s wind turbine tower production subsidiary, will build wind power generators and wind turbine towers with PT. KRAKATAU POSCO steel for export to the US and Europe.

PT. KRAKATAU POSCO also plans to further reinforce partnerships with local steelmakers and increase investments in downstream industries to continue providing quality steel products to its partners in Southeast Asia.

Cover photo courtesy of Universitas Gadjah Mada.

Smart factories are bringing AI, IoT and Big Data to the manufacturing industry.

#1 How Smart Factories are Changing the Manufacturing Industry

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is bringing AI, IoT and other automated technologies into people’s lives and changing the way they live and interact with one another. It is also bringing about change in the manufacturing industry as more companies embrace smart factories to further enhance efficiency, performance and safety. Take a deeper look at how smart factories are reinventing the manufacturing industry.

SEE ALSO: How Factories Produce Steel- the Smart Way

POSCO GIGA STEEL also offers electric vehicle manufacturers a lightweight material solution.

#2 POSCO GIGA STEEL Increases Strength, Improves Safety in Autos

This year, POSCO GIGA STEEL set a new, industry standard for strength and formability for auto steel. The advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) is an automaker’s dream come true as it falls into the strongest category of steel commercially available today. Plus, its lightweight property makes it the perfect solution for manufacturers trying to design safe, high-performing and sustainable vehicles.

SEE ALSO: Ask an Expert: Has Steel Achieved Its Peak in Lightweighting?

Lithium-ion batteries are found in some of the most popular devices available today. (Source: BGR)

#3 POSCO’s Innovation Shapes the Ever-Growing Lithium Market

POSCO is the world’s 5th largest steel producer, but it’s got more up its sleeves than just steel. This year, POSCO developed game-changing technology that extracts lithium from water in just 8 hours to one month. Traditionally the task takes anywhere from 12 to 18 months. To add, the new technology can achieve a purity rate of 99.9 percent and increases the lithium recovery rate to over 80 percent.

Lithium is a central component in rechargeable batteries for electronics such as smartphones, laptops and most importantly, electric vehicles (EVs). Heading into 2018, POSCO is well-positioned to be an industry leader in a rapidly-growing market for EV batteries.

SEE ALSO: The Fuel of Tomorrow: Mining Lithium for Tomorrow’s Cars

POSCO CEO Kwon Ohjoon fires up Pohang Blast Furnace No.3

#4 POSCO Gets “Smart” with Pohang Blast Furnace No.3

In June, one of POSCO’s oldest and the world’s 5th largest blast furnace got a makeover with some added AI. After undergoing 102 days of repairs, Pohang Blast Furnace No.3 came back much bigger with an expanded furnace volume of 5600㎥, compared to its original volume of 3795㎥ from its beginnings in 1978. Plus, Pohang Blast Furnace No.3 now has smart sensors to monitor operations and detect malfunctions or accidents before they happen.

SEE ALSO: How to Make Steel with an Old(ie but Goodie) Blast Furnace

Ajay Telrandhe in Quality Assurance and Manish Kochar & Chetan Waghchoure in Sales talk to the Steel Wire.

#5 Ask an Expert: POSCO Leads India’s Growing Automotive Steel Market

POSCO Maharashtra is POSCO’s leading subsidiary. Three of their employees gave the Steel Wire an insider’s look into the company’s success, despite a challenging market environment and government restrictions. The team in India implemented positive changes in the company’s steel quality, production processes and customer service to become a leading solution-provider for their automotive partners.

SEE ALSO: Revving Up for Growth: India’s Automotive Market is In Full Gear

EVs, autonomous vehicles and shared mobility will drastically change the auto industry. (Source: Electrek)

#6 Ask an Expert: Electric Vehicles and the Future of the Automotive Market

Stephen Zoepf, executive director at the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford University, was the first speaker at POSCO’s 2017 Global EV Materials Forum. Zoepf shared his vision of what the future automotive market will look like and its implications for car manufacturers, suppliers and drivers. According to research, 60 percent of the cars in the U.S. will be running on electric batteries by 2030, and those cars will mostly be part of a shared mobility service. Traditional ways of car production, distribution and consumption will undergo massive change and companies will have to find ways to stay competitive in the new market dynamics.

SEE ALSO: The Forgotten Fleet: Looking Back on Early Electric Vehicles for a Better Future

Steel dresses from Naim Josefi’s 2017 F/W GANGS collection. (Source: Naim Josefi)

#7 Ask an Expert: Fashion Forward with Steel

Fashion designer Naim Josefi opened new possibilities for steel application with his 2017 F/W GANGS collection which included dresses made of elaborate steel sequins and laser-printed jeans. He is also known for his 3D-printed high heels that provide the perfect fit. The artist has a passion for fusing technology into his work and finding more sustainable ways to create beautiful clothes and says he will continue to use steel as a high-tech, fashion material.

Heading into a new year in 2018, the Steel Wire promises to be the best source of steel industry news and continue to provide exclusive, insightful and interesting stories.

Casa de Patricia is a non-governmental group that supports disabled children and provides welfare for the elderly, while ABC PECEM is currently helping 150 local, underprivileged children. Brazil CSP delivered KRW 3.6 million to the organizations for facility renovation and furnishings.    

Brazil CSP is a steel mill with an annual capacity of 3 million tons. It sits in the Pecem industrial complex in the state of Ceara, located in the northeastern region of Brazil. The company is a joint venture between POSCO and Dongkuk Steel and Brazilian mining company Vale.

In June, 12 participants completed a two-week introduction course, where they got to learn about POSCO’s history, Korean culture and POSCO’s overall operations. Then, they were dispatched to each respective department for hands-on work experience.

In addition, participants can also integrate Korean language courses with work. As a result, most participants have already taken their TOPIK, a Korean language certification test, and received their certifications.

To close off the six-month program, GMP participants took part in a workshop on December 7, at the POSCO Center to share their results and discuss ways to improve the GMP.

Pedro, one of the participants from POSCO-Mexico said, “This has been an invaluable experience and my. I have a greater understanding of POSCO’s operations thanks to the GMP, and I have gained a totally new perspective on business. I will highly recommend this program to my colleagues.”

POSCO is currently in the process of selecting 30 GMP participants for 2018, a sharp increase in the numbers of participants compared to 21 employees this year so that P-level employees can participate in the program. POSCO will continue to train exemplary employees and strengthen the competitiveness of overseas affiliates through the GMP system.

What’s more, manufacturing is no longer a rigid industry that produces uniform, one-sided goods. There is constant communication between customers and businesses for hyper-customization. Not only that, machines and products communicate within a smart factory, and factories exchange data with other factories. Manufacturing is no longer limited to production plants. Moreover, the data generated in the manufacturing process is combined with customer information, and a new service can be created. This combination of manufacturing and services is resulting in creation of added value. In the midst of such drastic change, how can companies stay competitive?

Staying Competitive Through Connection and Convergence

Global manufacturing companies are at the forefront of the 4th Industrial Revolution, as evident in their smart factories. A smart factory collects data generated from the production process using ICT technology, and the system controls all processes from material input to the final product. This has led to flexible production systems with the ability to make various products in one factory or to expand the range of products on the basis of connectivity. Typically, when a company builds a smart factory, it can improve productivity by 20 to 30 percent. A 20 percent improvement in efficiency in the manufacturing sector is a significant, outright increase in global competitiveness.

SEE ALSO: How Smart Factories are Changing the Manufacturing Industry

Siemens Electronics Manufacturing Plant incorporates robotics, AI and IoT to its production processes. (Source: Zawya)

If the productivity of a plant can be improved through smartization, it is important to also think about connectivity with the ecosystem that exists outside of the plant. Once a smart factory is built, all the data from customer orders to production and delivery are collected in a system via sensors. The customer, product and production data create meaningful connections with each other and provide extensive insight. Examples of added value creation through meaningful connections include hyper-customized goods, data-driven after-sales services to customers and collaboration among companies connected within the smart factory’s external ecosystem. Such advancements will lead greater product quality, production stability as well as shortened delivery times between value chain suppliers.

The Adidas Speed Factory and GE Brilliant Factory are examples of successful smart factories. Adidas customers choose the materials, colors and design of their sneakers, and have them manufactured and shipped within 24 hours in an automated factory.

GE has built a system that can produce all of their widely-diverse products in one factory. When the factory receives customer orders, it operates in a flexible production system which starts with the necessary raw materials, inputted by the automated scheduling system that controls the entire production process, including the final distribution system.

The Future of Manufacturing

Overall, the adoption of innovative changes in the manufacturing sector is likely to progress from lighter industries to the heavy industries, from B2C to B2B sectors. Small plants, quick manufacturing and B2C companies can more readily adapt to rapid technological and market changes. On the other hand, heavy industries like steel and B2B companies with continuous and heavy manufacturing, large production volume and numerous linked companies are likely to be slower to adapt to changes.

It is much more difficult for traditional, heavy industries to adapt to changes. (Source: Live Mint)

For example, adapting to the changes of the 4th Industrial Revolution in the steel industry may be slow, but it is inevitable. What’s more, the long-term adaptation process is more likely to be systematic and deliberate.

As a leading company in the global steel industry, POSCO is pursuing a long-term, systematic “Grand Design” to reinvent its systems to align with the changes of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

First, POSCO built a pilot smart factory in their steel mill, Gwangyang Steelworks, in 2015 that is currently in operation. The company used IoT to collect big data on site, analyze it in real time and build a smart factory that enables optimal control through AI and self-learning. As a result, the Gwangyang Steelworks is reaping the benefits of a smart factory not only in cost reduction but also in improved steel quality, minimized malfunctions and a safe and stable production environment. This year, POSCO plans to expand and apply smart factories to all of its production processes.

POSCO built a smart factory in Gwangyang Steel Mill.

Smart factory application throughout the entire steel mill will improve overall efficiency through a flexible production system. In addition, the factory will be able to respond directly to various customers in real time based on platform construction with customers within the connected ecosystem. The customized characteristics and design of the steel grade for each customer can be applied to production in real time.

SEE ALSO: How Factories Produce Steel – the Smart Way

Ultimately, a smart ecosystem that links manufacturing, processing and distribution with customer input will lead to a new, innovative ecosystem within the steel industry. In Europe, some companies are experimenting with material libraries and steel distribution platforms. The material library displays a variety of materials for customers to see, touch and test the workability and performance of the materials, and get information about the characteristics, design and delivery times through the order platform. Customers can designate the shipment date on the spot. This will be one of the new promising business models that steel and other material companies will strive towards in the coming future.

POSCO’s Grand Design includes a step-by-step approach to smart factories to expand the use of IoT, AI and Big Data in its production systems. To this end, POSCO ICT has developed PosFrame, a standard software platform that collects basic data of production processes and collectively manages, controls and analyzes the information.

POSCO uses its software platform, PosFrame, for data collection and analysis.

When the software becomes standardized and reliable enough to extend to other sectors, it will be applied to other business areas such as energy and construction, as well as to POSCO’s affiliates.

Manufacturers will have to take into account the heavy production environment, the slow industrial change cycle and the complexity of related industries and affiliates to implement the most effective, long-term, systematic upgrades to its production systems. This will result in a brand-new production and business model for manufacturing companies that will align with the new environment of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Cover photo courtesy of Sputnik International.

To start, POSCO’s Q3 consolidated sales amounted to KRW 15.361 trillion, its operating profit KRW 1.1257 trillion, and its net income KRW 906.6 billion.

It also noted that sales increased by 0.6 percent, its operating profit by 15 percent, and its net income by 71 percent QoQ. The figures reflect the improved performance of its non-steel affiliates, including its energy and ICT division, as well as the enhanced results of its domestic and overseas steel business.

To add, the improved performance of its principal overseas steel subsidiaries contributed to the overall increase in operating profit. The operating profit of its Chinese stainless steel production subsidiary, Zhangjiagang Pohang Stainless Steel, totaled KRW 53.8 billion, up 572.5 percent QoQ, and PT.KP, the integrated steel mill in Indonesia reported an operating profit of KRW 8.8 billion, marking a big turnaround. The operating loss of POSCO SS VINA, its shape steel plant in Vietnam, was greatly reduced.

POSCO’s separate sales increased by 1.7 percent QoQ to KRW 7.255 trillion, and its operating profit rose by 23.4 percent to KRW 721.8 billion. Its net income also increased by 43.3 percent QoQ to KRW 729.9 billion.

POSCO’s financial results continued to show improvements. Its consolidated debt ratio dropped down by 1.5%p QoQ to 68.1 percent, the lowest ever since 2010, and its separate debt ratio was 16.3 percent, the lowest ever in POSCO’s history.

Moreover, POSCO’s consolidated and separate sales projections increased by KRW 4.7 trillion and KRW 3.2 trillion, respectively, to KRW 59.5 trillion and KRW 28.8 trillion compared to its plans at the beginning of the year.

Steel demand looks to continue based on the restructuring of the Chinese steel industry, along with the anticipated robust growth of demand in emerging and developing countries. POSCO plans to make continued efforts to generate revenue by securing financial strength, reducing costs and increasing the sales of its high-value-added products.

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“Nowadays, all of the electrical instrumentation control facilities use a digital control system with Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) or Distributed Control Systems (DCS). At that time, the Cold Rolling Maintenance manager gave me the task of drawing up each of the 25 A3 pages of the equipment control block diagram by memory, in a month. It seemed impossible, but I did it faster than anyone.”

The training paid off. In his third year, he quickly detected a disconnection in the winding part of a motor during a daily inspection of the cold rolling mill, preventing what could have been a catastrophic equipment accident.

“As a result, I found the same defect in 5 other motors and repaired them in advance. It was the first time I was commended for my work and since then, I immersed myself in my work because of the rewarding experience.”

Milestones in Suh’s Career

There was plenty more to be commended for after that as Suh became a crucial member of the cold rolling mill.

In 1995, Suh was in control of the rolling equipment brought in from Japan at the Pohang Cold Rolling Mill 1. “I had special orders to figure out how to work with the brand-new equipment without any difficulties as soon as possible. For that to happen, I knew I had to be able to communicate freely with the Japanese supervisor. I spent all my free time outside of working hours learning Japanese. Soon, I was able to converse with the supervisor without any trouble. Of course, I was able to operate the equipment faster and better than anyone else.”

His passion for achievement continued. Starting from 1997, he became a member of a new development Task Force Team (TFT) for the the Cold Rolling Mill 1. Together the team achieved a processing speed of 2,150 mpm which was the fastest among all the steel mills in the world at the time.

Sheets of cold rolled steel

His next task was at Zhangjiagang Pohang Stainless Steel Co., Ltd., in China. It was the source of many problems for POSCO, starting with the vibrations coming from the payoff reel (POR) of the annealing and pickling lines. He tried stabilizing the base and frame, but the vibrations wouldn’t stop. He finally found the root of the problem: it was the oxygen that seeped into the hydraulic oil that caused the vibrations. Right away he installed an air vent and the vibrations stopped.

In 2001, Suh joined the Double Reversing Mill’s new line TFT and successfully completed the planning, design and installation construction of all the equipment. All that was left was the trial when they ran into issues. The Japanese supervisors couldn’t properly laminate the thinnest sheet of steel that was 0.05 millimeters as they insisted on using a roll gap to roll out the steel. Suh thought of a better way. He persuaded his team and supervisors to try combining the roll gap method with the stretch rolling method for better results. His idea was applied right away, to achieve the desired thickness.

Expertise in Cold Rolling

Suh’s numerous achievements coupled with his endless efforts to learn made him an expert in his field of cold rolling.

In 2006, Suh developed a technology called the Roll Force Mode to take care of plate breakage problems. From 2008 to 2009, Suh took successful steps to improve the welding machine for the annealing and pickling process. He achieved an error margin of less than 0.001 millimeters on all the welding equipment.

His latest achievement was in February of this year when his team completed the trial run of the cold rolling process 3 without any external support. The process of rolling Hyper NO had never been done before, so they had to try numerous times to find the most desirable settings for the equipment and the inputs. At the end of the demanding process, they were successful.

Working Philosophy/ Results

In 2011, Suh received the CEO’s Exemplary Award, and was named the Maintenance Man of the Year in 2013. When asked for his secret to success, he answered, “steady learning, deeply caring for the facilities and communicating with my colleagues. If I did not practice these three things, I would not be where I am today.”

Suh Gwang-Il on site at POSCO’s steel mill with his colleagues

Among his colleagues, Suh is known for his ability to identify different equipment and machinery by the sound it makes. It is this kind of practice, unending curiosity and genuine interest in his work that makes Suh Gwang-Il a true master.