Otis-LG Elevator President wins medal for his
work on standardization
President Jang Byung-woo of the Otis-LG Elevator Co. won the Order of Industrial Merit Silver Medal from the government for his part in leading his firm to develop new technologies and standardization to improve the quality of its elevators to be the best products in the world, thus making contribution to the increased safety and quality improvement of locally produced elevators.
Bob Jang has been the president of the company since its merger born out of the union between LG Electronics and Otis Elevator Co. of the United States to become Otis-LG Elevator back in 1999 and he has been credited with having raised the safety, quality and service of his firm's elevators. The company also is known as Sigma Elevator Co. abroad and in an effort to improve the quality of its elevators, the company imported technologies from the United States and Europe, all meeting global standards, and had them take root in all sectors of its operations and transferred them to other related organizations and its competitors in the industry.
Jang suggested to the industry that the safety standards of the locally made elevators put on the same level as the European standards. President Jang often said so many people use elevators, perhaps more than cars and their safety is the topmost priority of the business, adding that the company from 2000 imported the safety standards of Otis Elevator of the United States, which has over 150 years of history and made consistent investments in every step of the way leading to improved safety the elevators ranging from the process of their development, production to installations and after services.
The president led his company to develop the inverter elevators first and raised their ceilings by 20 cm as apartment residents wanted and reduced the noise of the lifts in a show of his passion for development.
He also did his share for the development of the market for the company's products ranging from China, the largest elevator market, Southeast Asia and former Eastern-bloc countries.
As a result, his company shipped $100 million worth of elevators to overseas as of the end of September, which is not a small amount considering that the shipment included only one product. He said the level of safety and service standardization in the country is still at a low level, stressing that in order to be a competitive elevator maker in the world, you have to import the global level standards and have them take root in the country.
It has been very hard for domestic elevator makers to exploit foreign markets due to tough safety standards in foreign countries, Jang said, adding that Otis-LG is a way ahead of its rivals in standardization since it is a global firm.
One can hardly see protruding elevator machinery rooms on the top floors of apartment buildings these days thanks to Otis-LG's development of the elevators that don't need machine rooms and operate on flat belts, instead of steel wire ropes, based on its localization of elevator production technology. His company will no longer be known as Otis-LG from the middle of this month because LG sold stakes in the company to his regret. He feels a little sorry that LG Electronics is no longer part of the company, but he thinks that the company will continue to do well, due to the well-known nature of Otis brand name around the world.
Whenever he hires an employee, he asks him what his mottos were in life because it tells all about a person, especially his individual attitudes on life and discipline; It shows one's life and leadership quality in an abridged form. Jang's motto is 'Woo-bo'meaning that if one keeps on moving, he doesn't get tired and stand still. Its his late father's penname. An English major graduate of Seoul National University, he wanted to pursue an academic career like his famous father, an English scholar, but he applied for the marketing department ads by LG Chemical, former Lucky Chemical. When he discussed the matter with his father, he got an unusual reply that he should join the business firm instead of becoming a high school teacher. He was told to dig the same well and be a top man in the company. nw
President Jang Byung-woo of the Otis-LG Elevator Co |