From November 6 to 10, Hyundai Steel held a quality workshop at Dangjin Integrated Steelworks’ Safety Culture Center and Training Center.
Welcome ceremony at the quality workshop
The workshop helped participants improve their understanding of quality assurance processes and their customer service capacities and discussed a variety of domestic and international quality-related matters as well as the latest quality management technologies and trends. Quality-related personnel from 11 overseas Hyundai Steel corporations, including those in North America, Europe, China, and India, attended the event. In response to feedback collected during last year’s event, the overseas attendees were joined by eight Korean personnel stationed at Hyundai Steel branches outside of Korea and seven newly hired personnel from overseas corporations.
Upon arrival in Korea on the first day of the workshop, the participants traveled to the Safety Culture Center at Dangjin Integrated Steelworks, where they were formally welcomed by Koh Heung-seok, Director of the Blast Furnace Quality Sub-Division, and other Hyundai Steel officials. After the welcome ceremony, participants engaged in safety training and various other activities designed to increase their firsthand safety knowledge and experience. The first day of the workshop ended with a dinner where all the participants had a chance to relax and socialize with one another.
Safety training at Dangjin’s 2nd Cold Rolling Plant
On the second day of the workshop, participants turned their attention more fully to quality training and discussions. The Global Automotive Steel Quality Team ran a quality workshop and led guided discussions on quality factors and issues specific to each overseas corporation in attendance, and the HR/CR Service Team provided training on the complaint logging system and field investigation methods. The Global Business Management Team provided facility management training, which was followed by discussions on the results of the facility inspections performed at each overseas corporation and methods for improving quality management.
Training, presentations, and discussions on current issues
On the third day of the workshop, participants visited the pier and material storage facilities and inspected the 2nd Cold Rolling Plant at Dangjin Steelworks, where they gained firsthand experience of cold rolling facilities and processes. The participants also visited the cold rolling test lab at the mill to learn more about Hyundai Steel’s quality testing processes and equipment. In the afternoon, the group took a fieldtrip to Daehan Steel in neighboring Sinpyeong, where they learned how coils are produced and stored to ensure optimal quality. On the way back to their hotels, the participants visited Sudeoksa Temple in Yesan to experience Korea’s Buddhist temple culture.
Both work and cultural touring were a significant part of the workshop
On the last day of the worship, the group underwent additional quality-related training. Following the training, the Global Automotive Steel Quality Team gave presentations on the different types of defects and how to respond to customer complaints, and the steel plate export teams for Asia, North America, and Europe gave presentations on expected increases in production volumes by global carmakers and the planned response by Hyundai Steel’s overseas corporations to the expected increases. In the afternoon, participants discussed different topics related to the establishment of quality-related systems, such as ways of connecting overseas quality control systems to Hyundai Steel’s main quality control system and the standardization of international logistics processes.
The last day of a successful workshop
At the farewell ceremony marking the completion of the workshop, Park Bong-gu, Head of the HR/CR Quality Group, addressed the participants, saying, “Thank you all for your role in the quality management processes at Hyundai Steel’s overseas branches. The workshop had a fast-paced schedule, but I hope it helped you improve your understanding of Hyundai Steel’s quality assurance processes and that your enjoyed spending time with Hyundai Steel quality personnel from different countries.” Workshop participants were surveyed upon completion of the workshop, and most participants felt that “the workshop was mutually beneficial because it allowed overseas corporations to share their failures and methods for improvement” and that “the workshop should continue to be held in the future.”
Park Bong-gu, Head of the HR/CR Quality Group, presenting gifts at the farewell ceremony
For Hyundai Steel, the workshop provided the company with the opportunity to communicate with its overseas partners on quality and production-related issues and develop means for improvement. Hyundai Steel plans to continue holding quality workshops for both Koreans working abroad and local personnel working at the company’s overseas branches.