“In times of management crisis, we take care of people first.”
최고관리자
2013-09-16
[Leaders of the Chinese powerhouse] <29> Yu Myung-ho, CEO of Unirock
By maintaining employment despite the recession and sharing work with partners, sales tripled in two years.
“The lifeblood of small and medium-sized businesses is ‘people.’ A company cannot grow with a fragmented mindset that fires employees just because a crisis has struck and hires new people just because the crisis has escaped.”
Yu Myung-ho, CEO of Unilok, said in an interview with this newspaper on the 9th, “Companies must be able to give trust to their employees.” In 2009, when the financial crisis hit, Unilok tenaciously maintained employment and even took care of the work of its partners even as surrounding companies began restructuring. The operation, which had been divided into daytime and nighttime, was unified into a weekly operation, and the remaining volume was diverted to work for partner companies. Surplus manpower was formed into a task force (TF) and entrusted with research and development (R&D). CEO Yoo recalled the time, saying, “Due to the financial crisis, the number of jobs was greatly reduced, but I still thought, ‘We have to live together.’ We shared small quantities with our partners, maintained the number of employees, and endured the financial crisis with difficulty.”
His management philosophy was rewarded with sales the following year. Sales, which were 10 billion won in 2009, jumped to 20.5 billion won the following year and 32 billion won in 2011. As the economy recovered from the financial crisis earlier than expected, orders flocked to Unilok. Unlike other companies that were unable to recover from the aftermath of restructuring, Unilok maintained the number of partners and employees and maintained product quality even after the financial crisis.
CEO Yoo's management philosophy originated from his painful experience during the 1998 foreign exchange crisis (IMF). At the time, Unilok also overcame the foreign exchange crisis through large-scale staff reductions, but the side effect of an increase in the product defect rate later appeared. Conversely, employees' trust in the company and sales declined simultaneously. CEO Yoo said, “I learned a lot from that experience,” and “I decided to find a way other than restructuring.” Recently, we have increased our investment in employee training and are solidifying our relationship of trust with our employees.
Unilok manufactures ultra-precision pipe joints (fittings) and valves and supplies them to companies in over 40 countries domestically and around the world. Although the fitting itself is a small part, it is used in fields that require high precision and strength, such as semiconductor factories, chemical plants, plants, and shipbuilding, so it requires high technology and delicate handling. Unilok is striving to advance technology by establishing a clean room in the factory and developing its own 'electropolishing' technology that improves the roughness of the machined surface using electric current. CEO Yoo said, “In terms of technology, we are ahead of German and Japanese companies,” and added, “The price competitiveness of Japanese companies has increased due to the recent low yen, but sales have been barely affected.”
In the future, CEO Yoo plans to consolidate and relocate the three factories in Namdong Industrial Complex and Dangjin to Sihwa, Gyeonggi-do by 2016. The plan is to increase annual sales, which are currently around 30 billion won, to 50 billion won by then. CEO Yoo said, “We plan to focus on developing new products that will expand sales in the future,” and added, “This is a field that is expected to have infinite development potential as there are 10 years’ worth of fitting-related items left to be developed in the future.”
[Asian Economy] Reporter Lee Ji-eun leezn@asiae.co.kr | 2013-09-16 14:17
[ https://www.asiae.co.kr/article/2013091614130317076 ]
By maintaining employment despite the recession and sharing work with partners, sales tripled in two years.
“The lifeblood of small and medium-sized businesses is ‘people.’ A company cannot grow with a fragmented mindset that fires employees just because a crisis has struck and hires new people just because the crisis has escaped.”
Yu Myung-ho, CEO of Unilok, said in an interview with this newspaper on the 9th, “Companies must be able to give trust to their employees.” In 2009, when the financial crisis hit, Unilok tenaciously maintained employment and even took care of the work of its partners even as surrounding companies began restructuring. The operation, which had been divided into daytime and nighttime, was unified into a weekly operation, and the remaining volume was diverted to work for partner companies. Surplus manpower was formed into a task force (TF) and entrusted with research and development (R&D). CEO Yoo recalled the time, saying, “Due to the financial crisis, the number of jobs was greatly reduced, but I still thought, ‘We have to live together.’ We shared small quantities with our partners, maintained the number of employees, and endured the financial crisis with difficulty.”
His management philosophy was rewarded with sales the following year. Sales, which were 10 billion won in 2009, jumped to 20.5 billion won the following year and 32 billion won in 2011. As the economy recovered from the financial crisis earlier than expected, orders flocked to Unilok. Unlike other companies that were unable to recover from the aftermath of restructuring, Unilok maintained the number of partners and employees and maintained product quality even after the financial crisis.
CEO Yoo's management philosophy originated from his painful experience during the 1998 foreign exchange crisis (IMF). At the time, Unilok also overcame the foreign exchange crisis through large-scale staff reductions, but the side effect of an increase in the product defect rate later appeared. Conversely, employees' trust in the company and sales declined simultaneously. CEO Yoo said, “I learned a lot from that experience,” and “I decided to find a way other than restructuring.” Recently, we have increased our investment in employee training and are solidifying our relationship of trust with our employees.
Unilok manufactures ultra-precision pipe joints (fittings) and valves and supplies them to companies in over 40 countries domestically and around the world. Although the fitting itself is a small part, it is used in fields that require high precision and strength, such as semiconductor factories, chemical plants, plants, and shipbuilding, so it requires high technology and delicate handling. Unilok is striving to advance technology by establishing a clean room in the factory and developing its own 'electropolishing' technology that improves the roughness of the machined surface using electric current. CEO Yoo said, “In terms of technology, we are ahead of German and Japanese companies,” and added, “The price competitiveness of Japanese companies has increased due to the recent low yen, but sales have been barely affected.”
In the future, CEO Yoo plans to consolidate and relocate the three factories in Namdong Industrial Complex and Dangjin to Sihwa, Gyeonggi-do by 2016. The plan is to increase annual sales, which are currently around 30 billion won, to 50 billion won by then. CEO Yoo said, “We plan to focus on developing new products that will expand sales in the future,” and added, “This is a field that is expected to have infinite development potential as there are 10 years’ worth of fitting-related items left to be developed in the future.”
[Asian Economy] Reporter Lee Ji-eun leezn@asiae.co.kr | 2013-09-16 14:17
[ https://www.asiae.co.kr/article/2013091614130317076 ]
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