On Dec. 13th, the 37th National Quality Management Convention was held at the COEX auditorium in Seoul with an attendance of some 1,600 prize winners and guests.
Prime Minister Kim Whang-sik, Kim Young-whan, chairman of the National Assembly Knowledge and Economy Committee, and Knowledge and Economy Vice Minister Yoon Sang-jik attended the ceremony as well, which was designed to build the foundation for sustainable growth and make Korea one of the global powerhouses for quality products.
A total of 403 individuals and groups were given awards at the ceremony, hosted by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and organized by Korean Standards Association (KSA).
Award winners were cited in recognition of their great contribution to achieving active market economy by creating excellent management results through high quality management activities, a KSA spokesman said.
Kim Myung-joon, the CEO of Woory Industrial Co., received the Gold Tower medal, the highest honor in the quality contributor sector for his contribution to fostering a company producing top-quality auto parts in the world. While producing auto parts for 40 years, it succeeded in exploring the European and American markets though quality innovation and increased its sales by over 30 percent annually. It also won the best quality subcontractor award from DaimlerChrysler in 2006 and Visteon in 2008 in the United States through quality innovation.
Silver Tower Medal for the quality contributor sector went to CEO of LS Mtron, Shim Jae-seol and vice president of Korea Minting & Security Printing Corp., Lee Gye-jae, in recognition of their great contributions for significantly improving quality. A total of Eighty-one members won awards in the quality contributor sector.
In particular, Lee Sang-won, a chief of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, received Bronze Industrial Medal in recognition of his contribution for localizing power generation facilities, spreading his expertise acquired in production sites to some 100 subcontractors and leading the quality innovation drive in industrial sites, the spokesman said.
In the quality contributor group category, a total of 30 groups won the awards. Out of them, 17 groups, including Sungwoo Hitech, received Presidential Commendation.
Sungwoo Hitech was selected as the best company in quality competitiveness during the 2009-2010 period. It also gained the Grand Quality 5 Star, the highest degree, and the best appraisals from its main customers -- Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors. In addition, it received the "subcontractor award of the year" from Global GM for three consecutive years, not to mention its triple rise in its sales and operational income over the latest three years.
National Quality Team Competitive Contest
Meanwhile, 254 teams participated in the "National Quality Team Competitive Contest" to demonstrate their high quality prowess attained through innovation.
Eighty-two teams, including LS Mtron Equus Team, won gold medals, 83 teams received silver medals, and 89 teams acquired bronze medals.
KSA newly established a free style sector in the process of selecting best teams in order to nominate the best individual teams, the spokesman said. It also actively nominated workers on the industrial site and managers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for contributing quality management, praising them as one of the heroes to achieve the $1 trillion target in trade for Korea.
Furthermore, KSA designated 30 model workers who have shown an exemplary spirit of artisanship and devotion to improving product quality as the "quality master craftsman of the year" and granted them with the Quality Master Plaque.
During his speech, Prime Minister Kim Whang-sik stressed the importance of quality innovation to actively cope with rapidly changing global industrial environment. He also requested prize winners and other participants to actively participate in the campaign to fortify Korea's product and service quality by producing top-class goods.
KSA's Contribution
KSA is an organization that provides both standardization and quality management training and education in Korea. By implementing a variety of researches and activities related to standardization and quality management, it builds a global standard that can live up to Korea’s tradition as a great power in standardization.
Because KSA consists of experts who have both hands-on backgrounds and theories on various industries, it leads Korea’s industrial development in the technology competitiveness based on its knowledge accumulated through researches and studies on industrial standards and quality management, education and training, KSㆍISOㆍJIS certifications, promotional events, and international cooperation for the last 50 years.
Current KSA members include various companies in overall industry sectors, including manufacturing, construction and finance, not to mention government institution. The members are provided with various services, such as abundant information on industrial standardization and quality management, as well as quality education programs.
KSA leads the globalization and international standardization of quality management, sustainability, and management through cooperation and exchanges with international organizations and relevant foreign institutions.
