Mobis Supplies Parts to GM

Korea's leading auto parts maker signs contract with



MOBIS, a leading auto parts maker in Korea holds a rally for the Global Top Quality 2015 at its Jincheon Plant in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, on Jan. 26 led by Vice Chairman Chung Suk-soo.

MOBIS, a leading auto parts maker in Korea holds a rally for the Global Top Quality 2015 at its Jincheon Plant in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, on Jan. 26 led by Vice Chairman Chung Suk-soo.
MOBIS, which recently is spurring its global expansion exporting key components overseas, has signed a $260 million (approx.\300 billion) contract with a North American Big 3 auto maker.
Korea's leading automotive module and key parts manufacturer, MOBIS has recently won a contract to supply a multimedia electronic part that controls radio and HVAC to world-renowned automaker GM, thus starting to supply parts in a program customized for the vehicle production.
The part to be supplied to GM is the switch commonly known as Integrated Center Stack, or ICS, which is the component that controls the multimedia products inside the car. It is made up of Radio ICS and HVAC ICS and controls such parts as LCD display, radio and HVAC controller through CAN, LIN transmission, which is a method for communication inside the car.
The parts will be produced at the Tianjin MOBIS (TMA); initially about 460,000 of them a year will be applied to Chevrolet vehicles produced in the U.S. and China starting 2011 and an additional 130,000 of them will be sent to the Adelaide Plant in Australia, where the Holden model is being made.
In an effort to take the leading position in the automotive electric parts market, which is the key factor in the future of car technology, MOBIS acquired Autonet in 2009 and has made substantial investments in the electric and electronic parts business. Since then, MOBIS has been developing multimedia and mechatronics parts to take the lead in the Korean electronic auto parts industry. This contract is a very significant step for MOBIS, as this is the first time that the company? big investments has produced results from overseas.
According to a MOBIS source, the top GM executives as well as purchasing and quality managers have been visiting MOBIS R&D and various manufacturing facilities for many years now and have rated the quality and productivity very positively. This contract was also the result of an open bidding process between global electronic auto parts makers.
Lee Joon-hyung, Executive Director for Global Business, emphasized, "This contract is a so important for MOBIS, because it is the first time that MOBIS is exporting multimedia parts since acquiring Hyundai Autonet in 2009.” Lee added, "In the future we will only be exporting multimedia products but also mechatronics products through various routes." MOBIS held the kick-off ceremony for the 'Global Top Quality (GTQ) 2015' target on January 26 at the Jincheon Factory, with over 450 guests in attendance including Vice-Chairman Chung Suk-soo and executives at MOBIS and partner companies. At the event, MOBIS announced the five key initiatives for GTQ: securing quality competitiveness of key parts, attaining the highest quality for electrical automotive components, achieving a no-defect mass production quality, completing the global quality guarantee scheme and building an integrated quality management system. MOBIS also kicked off plans for 'reducing the disparity in technology against competitors' and 'gaining the expertise for best quality.'
MOBIS is taking 'GTQ 2015' as the opportunity to contribute to the global competitiveness of Hyundai KIA Motor by boosting its quality competitiveness, as well as to sign more foreign contracts to improve the global awareness of the MOBIS brand. In order to achieve the 'GTQ 2015' target, MOBIS is investing a total of \64.5 billion to add vehicle dependability equipment and vehicle ratings systems as a way to establish a basis for quality of key hybrid and electric car parts. Additionally, the company is also planning to develop a MOBIS-original manufacturing process by analyzing the technology at other companies.
MOBIS is especially seeking ways to perfect the making of regional quality systems as the company expands and its overseas productions bases sprawl to a more areas. MOBIS is currently operating independent quality centers in the US, China and the three European regions and while it is adding more equipment and human resources globally to perfectly meet the criteria for each of the different quality tests, it is planning to raise the bar for the quality systems of production centers all over the world by setting up a ratings system for each of the factories and by spreading case studies to be used as best examples.
MOBIS Vice-Chairman said, "Quality management is the essence for the normal operation of the Beijing Factory 3 and Brazil Factory, which will be completed in 2012. While we expect a counterattack from the American and Japanese carmakers and auto parts makers as they recover from last year's crisis, MOBIS will be focusing on quality management for the entire company network to take appropriate measures. nw

Photo on Courtesy of Hyundai Mobis