Western Power Captures Production Reform Award
- Feat comes following its winning Quality Management Award in 2003

The Korea Western Power Co. won the Production Reform Award at the prestigious National Quality Management Conference recently. Officers and employees of the power company is mighty proud of the award particularly because the company won the quality management award last year.
They think the feat is the result of every one at the company doing its best to improve production and quality reform on a continued basis.
They think winning the award has built a base for the power company to become one of the world's best power companies as they will work hard to produce and supply the best quality power on a stable basis, winning the confidence from the people as the best power firm.
The company accepted the challenge of capturing the national quality production reform award in order to have its efforts on production reform and the results from the activity evaluated from an authoritative organization to know where it stands. The company also wanted to provide better service under its customer satisfaction management effort in a bid to make itself more competitive.
Since its split from the Korea Electric Power Corp., in 2001, the company realized that the short-cut to becoming a leading power company is to under a superb leadership of the top manager clinch an absolute superiority in competition with rival firms through the reform of awareness for environmental changes. The company tried to be a private firm in management style by taking up such campaigns as the new management reform activity, 6 sigma reform activity and the ethical management, geared to creative reform activity.
The company also realized that the superior technology determines the winning competitive power and since its birth, the company endeavored to achieve 49 reform objectives in 13 sectors of the company in three years and met the target successfully. The company is in the process of setting up a 10-year plan to renovate its technology.
Through the results of these efforts, the company has been able to win top awards two years in a row(2001,2002) in addition to capturing the 2003 29th national quality management award and 2004 electricity culture grand prize. The company also won the 'ISO 9001 quality management system' assurance certificate.
In order to cope with various negative aspects of operation, the company decided to adopt 3C campaigns, namely, clean, competitive and companion to overcome such adversity as high oil prices, unstable fuel supply, unstable foreign exchange rate and sluggish domestic economy. They are intended to have its ethical management take its root, strengthen competitiveness, and realize its harmonious management, so that the company would a firm preferred by young employees as an eternal leader in the power generation industry through the creative challenging spirit of its officers and staff.
Under these efforts, the company has been able to improve its operational results as follows: sales per employee recorded 1.273 billion won in 2002, 1.347 billion won in 2003 and 1.278 billion won in 2004(projected). The operational profit recorded 16.3 percent in 2002, 17.1 percent in 2003 and 10.4 percent(projected) for this year.
The debt ratio stood at 83.9 percent in 2002, 52.8 percent in 2003 and 45.2 percent in 2004. Productivity recorded 490 million won per employee in 2002, 490 million won in 2003 and 430 million won this year. Market share registered 12.4 percent in 2002, 12.8 percent in 2003 and 11.4 percent in 2004.
The company plans to have its production reform system take a deep root through the participation of all employees based on a mature product quality awareness and quality culture.
The company's top aim is to make itself a firm wanted by young people through its Vision 2007 management plan to be a company respected by the people. The company will try to upgrade its profitability and competitive power under its mid-to-long term strategy, but most of all a company that will win the confidence from the people. nw