Korea Focuses on Quality Manage-ment to Improve Competitive Edge
- 77 individuals cited for contributions during the 30th National Quality Management Convention

Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan stressed for ensuring high-quality control aimed at meeting customers' demand for higher standards of needs and diversifying markets.
Prime Minister Lee said in his speech during the National Quality Management Convention, "As customers call for high levels of product quality along with diversifying markets, only corporations which manage to survive quality competition will be leaders of the 21st century."
The 30th National Quality Management Convention was held at the COEX auditorium on Nov. 19 with 1,400 people, including government officials and business leaders, participating. The Korea Standards Association has organized the National Quality Management Convention as an annual event since 1975 to award prizes corporations or those who contributed to quality management and product renovation in a bid to awaken the significance of quality management and publicize it.
The top honor, Korean Quality Grand Award went to Toray Saehan, headed by President Lee Young-kwan, in recognition for its contributing to improving a competitive edge and ensuring customer protection. Nineteen other corporations were given diverse prizes for playing leading roles in quality management.
The Korean Quality Grand Award, established in 1994, is given to a select company who has spearhead in efforts to strengthen corporate constitution and ensure customer satisfaction and social responsibility by having established a quality management infrastructure corresponding to Korean management culture through three-year companywide quality management campaign.The major categories of assessment include leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, focus on the development of human resources, process management and management performances.
Four companies, including AmorePacific Corp., KT Corporation and Cuckoo, received the Quality Management Award. KT was awarded for operating its own cash grant system for promoting quality management and implementing KT-MAS the corporation developed as a quality management self-analysis system. AmorePacific Corp. was awarded for having been engaged in quality management activities aimed at overhauling its corporate constitution on top of the Six-Sigma and ethic management campaigns. These efforts have paid off: AmeorePacific's market share climbed from 27.3 percent in 2001 to 32.1 percent this year, with manufacturing unit costs dropping by 3.5 percent. The Quality Management Award, established in 1975, is given companies for making remarked achievements in improving quality and raising productivity through quality management activities. The major categories of assessment are the same to those applied to the Korean Quality Grand Award. The scope of recipients including manufacturing (large-scale and smaller companies), construction, service and public sectors.
The Production Innovation Award went to four firms, including Hankook Tire, Korea Western Power Co. and the Onsan Plant of Poongsan.
The Production Innovation Award, established in 1989, is an annual award presented to companies which have overhauled corporate constitution and improved productivity considerably by introducing industrial engineering (I
E) activities into them. The major categories of assessment include the direction of pushing production innovation and organizational management; production renovation planning and operation; execution of production innovation activities; autonomous renovation activities; and performances.
Samsung Electronics Telecommunication Network Division and Cheonju No.2 factory of KCC were awarded with the Value Innovation Award.
The Value Innovation Award is a prize given to companies which have raised the value of their products considerably through function efficiency and cost reduction by carrying out in-house value engineering (VE) activities. Two companies, including Samsung Total, were decorated with the Total Productive Maintenance Award.
The Total Productive Maintenance Award is a prize given awarded with firms which have overhauled corporate constitution and improved productivity considerably by implementing Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) effectively. The major categories of assessment include organizations for implementing TPM and operation; education and training; planning improvement; quality improvement. The Gwangju plant of Kia Motors and another company were given with the Environmental Management Award.
The Environmental Management Award is an award given to companies and plants which have made achievements considerably in reducing environmental contamination and improving productivity by building up an infrastructure for Environmental Management System, producing eco-friendly items and developing technologies. LG Micron and LG EAZ were awarded with the 6-Sigma Innovation Award.
The 6-Sigma Innovation Award, established in 2000, is a prize awarded with corporations, plants and business divisions which have made quality innovation and improved productivity through six-Sigma activities.
The Service Innovation Award went to Dongaoscar, while Ace Bed received the Customer Satisfaction Award. HJC was decorated with the Product Safety Management Award.
The Service Innovation Award is an award given to companies, plants and business departments which have improved remarked service quality by proactively building up a service innovation system. The major categories of assessment include service innovation leadership and service strategy planning; establishment of service innovation culture; service standards management; service process management; service development outcome; and management performances. The Consumer Satisfaction Award, established in 2002, is a prize given to firms, plants and business divisions which have made considerable achievements in protecting consumers through customer satisfaction regimes such as after-sale services. The major categories of assessment include leadership and ethical management for protecting consumers; formation and utilization of customer information management systems; systems for reflecting customers' voices and communication; establishment of customer satisfaction survey and after-sale management system; human resources management and management performances.
The Product Safety Management Award, established in 2003, is a prize presented to companies, plants and business divisions which have made remarked achievements in ensuring product safety and preventing product liability through product safety management systems. The major categories of assessment include management's will and concern about product safety; establishment of product safety systems and implementation plans; research on product safety; education; and crisis management capability.
Lee Seung-han, president of Samsung Tesco, Kim Yoon-soo, president of Korea Frange, and Kim Myung-won, president of Buhmwoo Chemical Co., received the Industrial Service Merit, Gold Tower.
The Industrial Service Merit, Silver Tower went to Lee Tae-wha, president of Unison Industrial Co., Song Bo-soon, president of Seoul Commtech, and Lee Chung-jeon, president of Samsung Electronics' Gwangju Operations. Kim Sung-san, president of Kumho Development, Han Seung-il, president of AR Co., and Suh Sang-moo, chairman of Soosung, were awarded with the Industrial Service Merit, Bronze Tower.
Han Jung-kook, executive vice president of Korea Western Power Co., Cho Jae-hyun, executive vice president of LG Electronics, and Chung Shin-ja, chairman of Vigen Medical Co., were given the Industrial Service Merit, Iron Tower.
The award ceremony followed a special lecture session in which Kenneth E. Case of the U.S. Association of Standards and Quality (ASQ) and a session of announcing innovative quality management success stories and a congratulatory event.
Yoo Young-sang, KSA chairman, said Korea is beset with China, armed with a huge market and cheaper labor, and Japan, equipped with advanced technology, and Korea's five mainstay sectors behind its economic growth - semiconductor, shipbuilding, automobiles, steel and petrochemical products - are losing ground in markets with a glut of supply, so producing items with global recognition is an urgent task facing Korea.
A survey of 300 corporations on their quality management, conducted last July, indicated that a major of the respondents recognized the need for ensuring quality management to upgrade corporate and national competitiveness, but still lacked in internal conditions and infrastructure for implementing quality management, he said.
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy plans to draw up a master plan on providing support for corporate quality management within this year.
In accordance with the plan, the KSA will declare the so-called "Q-Korea" campaign under which quality management activities, now being conducted separately by each corporation, and collaboration will be ensured among will be integrated, the KSA chairman said He expressed the hope that the Q-Korea campaign, aimed at upgrading Korea's competitive power on the global top five by 2010, would lay a solid foundation for developing Korea into a global powerhouse with high quality standards. nw