On February 6, the center manager of POSCO-CDPC, Tae-hyun Cho (eighth from the left), received the Excellent Supplier Award from DPCA.

During the award ceremony, 14 excellent suppliers were selected in the fields of distribution, parts, design, electrical and electronic systems. Among the selected companies, POSCO-CDPC is the only processing company that handles raw steel materials.

The DPCA Chengdu production base has an annual production capacity of 360,000 vehicles, and started operation in September 2016. POSCO-CDPC’s No. 2 plant moved into DPCA’s facilities to supply entire orders of blanking processing at the end of 2014. POSCO-CDPC was selected as an Excellent Supplier based on its product quality, delivery and service over the years of the companies’ partnership.

POSCO-CDPC produces and supplies products for 39 different parts in total, including exterior steel used for DPCA’s main SUV models, 4008, 5008 and Tianyi. In the future, POSCO-CDPC hopes to capitalize on its geographical advantages and maximize processing quality and service capabilities to ensure a stable and consistent order base.  

Cover photo courtesy of Autocar.

The press and event participants watching a demonstration at POSCO’s Global R&D Center

The 2017 All New Chevrolet Cruze

GM Korea released its 2017 All New Chevy Cruze earlier this year, which is composed of 74.6 percent High Strength Steel (HSS) and Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS), including POSCO GIGA STEEL. The All New Cruze is 77 kilograms lighter than last year’s model. So far, this year’s model has been a success with 2,147 units sold in the first month of its release.

The 2017 All New Chevy Cruze

Last year’s All New Malibu used POSCO’s HSS and AHSS for the entire body of the car and received the highest safety rating in the New Car Assessment Program conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the U.S. There is a more advanced version of HSS and AHSS from POSCO in the 2017 All New Chevy Cruze than in the Malibu, ensuring an even safer vehicle.

More than 20 percent of the HSS and AHSS used in the All New Chevy Cruze is POSCO GIGA STEEL. It has a tensile strength of 1 GPa or more, plus 3 to 5 times more strength than mild steel. A 10×15 cm piece of POSCO GIGA STEEL can withstand the weight of 1,500 cars weighing one ton each. In addition, it is 3.5 times and 2.1 times cheaper than aluminum in terms of material cost and processing costs, respectively. With POSCO GIGA STEEL, vehicles can also achieve a 10 percent decrease in CO2 emissions.

More Than Just a Steel Supplier

GM Korea and POSCO executives at the POSCO Global R&D Center

POSCO GIGA STEEL is a major breakthrough solution for vehicles as it is high in strength, easy to process, lightweight, eco-friendly and cost effective. POSCO hopes to provide such solutions in other areas as well, namely electric cars. Currently, researchers are working on an electrical steel sheet that can minimize the power loss of motors as well as new technology to protect car batteries. In doing so, POSCO will continue to collaborate closely with manufacturers early on in their product development and deliver the most innovative solutions to meet their needs.

*Images courtesy of GM Korea

Take a look back at the 8 biggest stories from The Steel Wire in 2016.

1. World’s Most Competitive Steelmaker for the 7th Consecutive Year

POSCO was once again named the world’s most competitive steelmaker for the 7th consecutive year by World Steel Dynamics (WSD). In addition, POSCO became the only steel company in the world to be simultaneously listed on both the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI).

2. POSCO Earns More than KRW 1 Trillion in Profits and Improved Credit Ratings

For the first time in four years, POSCO’s consolidated quarterly operating profits exceeded KRW 1 trillion. POSCO also saw significant improvements in the overseas subsidiaries as operating profits for Mexico’s CGL, Vietnam’s cold-rolling factory, and India’s POSCO Maharashtra shot up considerably last year. In addition, CEO Ohjoon Kwon’s corporate restructuring initiatives helped pave the way for improved credit ratings.

3. POSCO Expands with Thailand CGL and other Overseas Endeavors

Thailand CGL (Continuous Galvanizing Line), Southeast Asia’s first automotive steel sheet plant was completed in August 2016. In addition, POSCO expanded its overseas presence by signing agreements with Iranian steelmaker PKP to construct a FINEX-CEM integrated steel mill capable of producing 1.6 million tons a year.

4. Taejoon Park’s Induction into the Korean Business Hall of Fame

POSCO’s honorary chairman, Taejoon Park, was inducted into the Korean Business Hall of Fame. He was recognized for transforming Yeongil Bay in Pohang from what was considered a wasteland into a steel mill that produces more than 21 million tons per year.

5. POSCO Strengthens its Foundations with its Unique Innovation Model

POSCO’s unique innovation program, QSS+, part of POSCO’s POSTIM, celebrated its 10^th anniversary. Compared to previous years, the number of ideas suggested by employees tripled, and six smart factory pilot activities were also promoted. A ‘special compensation system’ was also implemented to award outstanding IP projects.

6. A Culture of Shared Growth is Set into Motion through “Human Solutions”

In 2016, POSCO’s advanced Solution Marketing and World Premium Products reached new heights. At the 2016 POSCO Global EVI Forum, customers heard from experts and industry leaders about POSCO’s unique approach to building proactive steel solutions for its customers. And in 2016, sales of World Premium Products reached a record high and accounted for 48.1% of POSCO’s total sales.

7. POSCO Completes its 4^th-generation Synchrotron Radiation Facility

POSCO completed its 4th-generation synchrotron radiation facility in September, the third of its kind in the world after America and Japan. With the accelerator, researchers can capture movements as brief as a femtosecond (1/1,000,000,000,000,000 of a second). POSCO has high hopes for the accelerator to play a role in future pharmaceutical research & development, biotechnology, clean energy, IT, new material technology, and semiconductors.

8. A Fresh Start as POSCO Daewoo

Daewoo International, incorporated by POSCO Group in 2010, announced its new name, POSCO DAEWOO, as a step towards establishing itself as a leading global trade company. Soon after, POSCO Daewoo signed agreements with a gas-fired powerplant in Myanmar, an Indonesia state-owned shipyard, the Ministry of the Interior of Peru, and the Brazilian navy.

This new steel can be printed in full-color and its resolution is more than 1200 dpi (dots per inch)—four times higher than that of the existing material. It delivers meticulous design, allowing for the printing of repeating patterns or a split image of a massive work of art.

Making the best of these improvements, the newly developed steel is expected to replace the existing product in the market of household appliances, including refrigerators and washing machines, as well as interior and furniture materials.

The existing steel is used with roll printing or silk-screen printing. It boasts a lower resolution and can only be printed in a maximum of five colors. Its vulnerability to air and humidity facilitates discoloration, while its poor adhesion causes coating to peel and flake prematurely.

This has led POSCO to develop a new steel sheet that can be printed with inkjet technology using an ink solution that has high corrosion resistance and workability. This steel sheet presents more vivid colors compared to the previous one and the shortened work process largely reduces the production cost.

Pictured in the circle above is POSCO’s inkjet-printed steel applied to the outer wall of the parking garage of the RIST office. The color and texture of marble has been perfectly reproduced to the point that it is difficult to differentiate the sheet from real marble. It also completely resolves the corrosion of marble caused by wind and rain.

Recently, the Research Institute of Industrial Science and Technology (RIST), a research affiliate of POSCO, applied the inkjet-printed steel to the outer wall of its parking garage, creating a genuine marbleized effect in color and texture. It replaced the real marble wall that had been corroded by wind and rain, giving the building a beautiful, elegant look.

POSCO expects the inkjet printing technology will be widely used in the markets of household appliances and construction materials, both in Korea and internationally, resulting in increased sales of the company’s World Premium (WP) products.

Be sure you never miss any of the exciting steel stories from The Steel Wire by subscribing to our blog.

POSCO will exhibit its technology for the first time as a steelmaker at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on Jan. 11 to 24.

TWIP is the “dream material” that has improved its intensity and machinability, and has been produced by POSCO for the first time as a steelmaker, representing the unique power of POSCO’s technology.

This steel’s intensity is five times stronger than other steel in terms of machinability, while withstanding up to 100 kg per mm². Therefore, it proves excellent in impact absorption and increased safety. This technology can be applied to bumper beams of automobiles. Many competitors have tried to develop TWIP, but failed to deploy it on a commercial scale.

HPF steel is hard to process when the intensity level exceeds 1.5 GP. To counteract disadvantage, HPF has increased its machinability through heat treatment. This product can be applied to center pillars to protect passengers from external accidents. POSCO has become the world’s first steelmaker to successfully produce a product in level of 2GPa. This product was first introduced as Renault’s 1 L concept car at the Paris Motor Show in 2014, and it earned favorable reviews.

POSCO will also showcase the 1GPa-TRIP, a recently developed steel with high intensity and ductility, and the PosM_XF (extra formability), the next generation TRIP with improved machinability.
For the NAIAS, POSCO aims to attract global automakers’ purchasing needs by revealing the most idealistic steel plates for automobiles.

About 30 high-strengthened and light weight products including POSCO’s original products are being exhibited at this year’s motor show. POSCO plans to get attention from global automobile companies by presenting the auto body made with most ideal and the world’s best car sheets.

The weight of the steel itself is about 26.4 percent lighter compared to mid-sized vehicles and has been verified in terms of safety. It received a five-star safety rating, as well a “good level.” which is the highest level possible, for internal performance evaluation conducted by Europe and North America’s automobile collision evaluation Institute, Euro NCAP and IIHS.

In addition, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which measures the amount of CO2 discharged throughout the entire life cycle from material production to recycling, showed that the internal combustion engine body was 50 percent lower, and average electric car emission was about 9 percent less. It also gives off fewer emissions of CO2 compared to electric vehicles made with one-third the gravity of aluminum in comparison to iron.

POSCO currently supplies automobile steel sheet to the automobile manufacturers and component manufacturers, including the global top 15 companies such as Toyota, Volkswagen, and GM through 10 automobile production plants and 24 machining center. POSCO has proven its quality excellence by receiving “This Year’s Supplier” from the world’s leading automotive companies such as Toyota and GM.

POSCO is planning to expand 70 percent or more of World Premium (WP) steel sheet sales ratio by not only supplying products but also providing use of technologies such as molding and welding for customer’s best utilization of certain products through the development of solutions marketing activities.

Don’t miss any of the exciting stories from The Steel Wire – subscribe via email today.

Held at POSCO Center in Seoul, South Korea, the signing ceremony was attended by interested parties from both companies including In-hwan Oh, POSCO’s Head of Steel Business Division, as well as Francois Provost, President of Renault Samsung Motors.

Oh noted, “When Renault Samsung Motors—which is taking the lead to overcome the recession through innovation—and POSCO are partnered together, both companies will be able to make fruitful development, creating win-win situations.” He also suggested strengthening cooperation in various areas such as production, technology and marketing.

Provost agreed, stating, “POSCO is the best partner with the most advanced technology and innovation, and this agreement will be the foundation for strengthening an already friendly relationship and solidifying the strategic partnership between POSCO and Renault Samsung Motors.”

Renault Samsung Motors plans to produce a new line of vehicles in 2016, which consists of a range of midsize to full-size sedans, as well as midsize SUVs. As such, a constant demand for POSCO’s steel products is to be expected. The new vehicles will use POSCO’s high strength steel sheet for exterior plating and TWB-HPF multiple processing technology will be applied for the first time in Korea, taking the weight reduction of cars to an unprecedented level.

POSCO and Renault Samsung Motors have worked together in researching the latest technologies by applying magnesium sheets to mass produced cars for the first time in the world, and developing a liquid petroleum gas (LPG) donut tank for the first time in Korea. In doing so, the two companies are raising the competitiveness of the local automotive industry through the improvement of quality and development of materials for future vehicles. Furthermore, POSCO aims to provide more value to Renault Samsung Motors by reinforcing its Solution Marketing for world premium products.

Meanwhile, POSCO is supplying steel sheet metal to the world’s top 10 carmakers. Since the late 1990s, POSCO has developed the global auto plate market and expanded overseas production and sales networks, growing as a global steelmaker with an annual production capacity of 8.3 million tons. POSCO plans to achieve sales of 10 million tons by 2018 by strengthening its partnerships with major global carmakers and expanding the sales of world premium products based on Solution Marketing.

(POSCO and Renault Samsung Motors singed an MoU for strategy cooperation at POSCO Center on October 8, 2015. Head of Steel Business Division, In-hawn Oh (fourth from left) with Francois Provost (fifth from left), President of Renault Samsung Motors.)

The primary reason for the ‘Age of Iron’ to continue further is in the nature of iron (Fe). Iron is highly stable because it holds the highest bond energy compared to all other artificially-created elements. Also, it is much more economic than other metals or advanced materials because iron is the second most abundant metal after aluminum. Since it is flexible to transform into alloys by various purposes, it is can be applied in almost every industry field.

Second, demand for industrialization and urbanization is another factor that continues the ‘Age of Iron’. Realistically, it is hard to say that its growth will pause or recess at a global level. Therefore, the growth of the industry and economy will still remain as a dominative and indispensable paradigm.

Certainly, as the industry and economy develops, the demand for iron could relatively show less increase. However, almost all industries including the manufacturing and energy sector will extend their demands for steel and other fields such as construction business will expand their alternative and steel demands. As China and India, which officially have entered the developmental stage, Southeast Asia, Middle East area and even Africa go through urbanization and industrialization, the global scale of steel demands could increase largely in the future.

Lastly, the steel industry itself is transforming into an eco-friendly and energy-saving business. Coming from nature and returning to the nature, iron is a highly recyclable material. However, energy-guzzling activities and emissions of environmental pollutants occur while processing iron to fulfill the needs of human-beings. Nevertheless, these side effects are even decreasing as technology and endeavor develop further.

More Beneficial to Human-beings and Nature
The continuation of the ‘Age of Iron’ does not necessarily mean that there will be no perceptible change. Like all things, iron and the steel industry are experiencing their own evolution. In fact, it is not only about the evolution of producing and processing method. The relationship between iron and human-beings is also going through a transformation. In other words, iron is evolving into a better direction for human-beings, nature and the earth.

High-strength steel sheet aptly supports this view. High in tension and strength, the high-strength steel sheet is five times stronger than regular steel sheet of same thickness. The high-strength steel sheet is environmental-friendly because it increases fuel efficiency by reducing the vehicle’s weight. Also, it is capable of saving human life through its high collision safety that stems from its exceptionally high strength.

Electrical steel sheet is another example that minimizes energy loss and preserves the environment. As numerous motors are used in an automobile, a motor with good energy efficiency and magnetic characteristic is required for maximized energy use in a limited energy source and space; the electrical steel sheet precisely fulfills this required condition.

Despite the fact that iron is an environment-friendly material, it is undeniable that toxic substance has been coated or added in order to secure or enhance the special functions of steel sheets. However, lately there has been a wide use of eco-friendly steel sheets which do not contain the harmful substance but highlight the environment-friendly features.

As shown, iron has been evolving into a direction of benefiting human-beings while minimizing the damages on nature and eco-system. Also, it has been used most fundamentally and widely among all other materials, and this is expected to continue in the future. Especially, iron will maintain its pinnacle in the fields of marine and aerospace, the prospective categories of the most rapid developmental pace.

New Product Research and Development for the ‘Future of Iron’
Future is a subject to be pioneered rather than to be given. It is important to predict coming days of the ‘Age of Iron’, but it is much more crucial to figure out the general picture of the ‘Age of Iron’ that we create for the future.

Firstly, when we consider the technical aspect, it took about 25-50 years to discover a technical change that had significant influence on the steel industry. For instance, electricity was developed 100 years ago, and open-hearth furnace which was vanished in the late 1980s in the United States as basic oxygen furnace was invented in the 1950s. Moreover, continuous casting technology, which was developed in 1960s, has improved in its technological maturity, but is still in the process for completion.

Fundamentally, it is inevitable for the prospective iron and steel industry to move forward in a direction for the humans, the society, and the earth. In addition, the industry should advance with a direction that maintains a position of steel known for its diverse functions and economic efficiency.

Recently, main subjects of technology in the steel industry are cost reduction and high productivity, simplification of production, utilization of economical materials, new product development technology, and etc. Even though there are still financial and environmental issues in the way, there are endless possibilities in steel manufacturing and technology development opportunities related to the steel industry. In fact, these possibilities are tried in action every day.

The future of iron and the steel industry is promising when these useful features are expanded. Only those steel companies, whom maneuver their directions into researching and developing iron and steel products in corresponding ways, will be qualified to be the leader of the prospective steel industry.

Please keep your eyes open for POSCO, who is striving to be the leader of the future iron and steel industry through its futuristic perspectives on iron and steel products!

Please Give Us A Brief Introduction And Your Account At POSCO!
Since my entrance to POSCO in 2010, I have been working in the auto steel plate sales team and actively participating in field sales activity. Before joining POSCO, I was an engineer in charge of developing an engine in automobile company. However, as I start new at POSCO, I jumped into marketing with a strong passion in mind. Maybe it is due to my destiny with automobiles, I am now conducting automobile steel plate sales business! Until about a month ago, I was in charge of sales targeted to GM Korea. Because of my responsibility to handle contract issues, I had frequent meetings with client companies. My major work revolves around managing and signing of the key contracts that are vital in achieving corporate’s annual sales goal. Hence going on 100+ business trips a year became the norm to maintain good relationships with the existing clients and to meet new clients. Now I can breeze through a business trip from Seoul to Bupyeong.

Looking Back On Your Past Experiences, What Do You Consider As The Most Essential Quality Of A Marketing Manager

From five years of my past experiences, I believe that the basic quality required for a marketing manager is ability to ‘scratch the itch that they can’t reach’. For instance, the quality of products must be impeccable and they need to be provided in timely fashion. Every tiny detail that our clients might demand must be handled with scrupulous attention. As we build trust through sincere endeavors to enhance in every aspect, we were able to fully experience the true communication with our clients.

Automobiles Are The Outcome Of Constant Cooperation Between POSCO And Its Clients! Is There A Special Motif That Sparked Your Interest In Automobiles?
I don’t recall a significant motif but I’ve been realizing many fascinating aspects of automobiles ever since I started working as an automobile engineer. One of the biggest charms is that automobile is the product of collaboration of a number of professionals from various industries and companies. Also, despite its high price as a consumer goods, I believe it is wonderful that automobiles can provide a topic for any conversation with anyone at anywhere.

What Is The Sales Status Of Auto Steel Sheets In Regards To GM Korea?
Even in the current status of increasing foreign steel products, POSCO Auto Steel Sheet Marketing Team has led to a situation where a large portion of GM Korea’s steel products are being supplied by POSCO. Also, we have recently established a global process which provides high-quality products with competitive price and continue to participate in technical collaborations required for developing a new automobile prototype.

What Is The Biggest Difficulty You Are Facing As A Salesman?
From last month, I have been managing steel sheet sales targeting Renault Samsung Motors and SsangYong motors. Though I am very excited about encountering new clients, when we consider increasing competition of production cost in the current market, I am always contemplating the best approach to accomplish a Win-Win outcome for both POSCO and the clients.

What Do You Wish To Do At POSCO In The Future?

Currently, I am in charge of domestic business at POSCO, but I would like to work on overseas export in the future. Although automobile companies and steel companies are already cooperating in various aspects, I believe that there are many more opportunities and possibilities to lead to an enhanced collaboration from production to completion. Therefore, I wish to continue the cooperative efforts with numerous more companies and people in the future.

According to Mr. Hyun-ju Lee, he always reminds himself of the very first day he started working as a ‘salesman’. By reading about Mr. Lee who is constantly striving and learning from past and present, we hope everyone can feel positive and motivated as you reach the end of this post!