Teamwork Is Gwangyang Steel’s Secret

“We need to work longer because the cutting machine has been deteriorating. Any solutions?”

The above question was urgently posted on the Internet board of “Youngman Club” of material quality testing department in the Gwangyang steel mill in POSCO in early October. The material quality-testing department cuts and analyzes steel to monitor the quality of steel plate produced in factories.

“Maybe the steel refuse in the cutter and the cooling water got mixed?”

“How about purifying through the multi-stage process by increasing the number of cooling water tanks?”

“It would be much better if the last tank were equipped with a filter.”

A total of 24 replies were posted to the board in an instant. The club members had successfully come up with the cause and solution to the problem through an animated on-line discussion. And they immediately put those suggestions into effect. Necessary materials were ordered from the procurement division and 40 members made some free time to take over a portion of the work, respectively.

“It’s not just a company business. By sharing problems identified in the workplace and resolving them ourselves, we have a better sense of belonging to it and are happier workers as a result,” said Lee Young-man, manager of the material quality-testing department.

Hypnotized To Think Positively-

Gwangyang steel mill are caught in “magic.” All employees, including factory managers and workers, are mad about work. The spells are the “Quick Six Sigma (QSS)” and “Study Club” systems.

Gwangyang steel mill has been promoting the QSS, a variant of the “Six Sigma (SS)” management technique for higher productivity, since September 2005. Unlike the SS, which requires complicated statistical methods to identify problems, the QSS is the method to solve problems in the workplace just after they are identified.

It is the Six Sigma of POSCO’s own, which emphasizes quick, proactive problem-solving abilities.

Gwangyang steel mill trains all employees on the QSS twice a year. The employees who have been trained apply it to work by joining study clubs.

It is taught in a way that employees keep themselves motivated during study club opportunities provided by the company.

Almost all employees in the Gwangyang steel mill belong to over 480 study clubs at the moment.

Employee Attitudes Have Changed-

The outcome of the QSS and study clubs is not limited to higher productivity. Employees have changed their attitudes at work.

They do not pass problems in the workplace on to the company or wait until a problem is settled any longer. They actively resolve problems by working as a team, enjoying a sense of achievement and self-satisfaction.

Park Hyun-ki, master of a reform support group, said, “I just worked passively before, but I am proactive now even for trivial affairs.” He also said that he was proud of his attitude when he always thought over something.

Such a change in the employees of Gwangyang steel mill resulted from consciousness of crisis such as, “We have to change,” and from sharing goals such as, “We will exceed Japan as the top factory producing steel plate exclusively for cars by 2008.”

The Gwangyang steel mill’s change has already been recognized. The defective proportion of the steel plate produced in the mill has dropped to around seven percent, a level similar to Japan.

Huh Nam-seok, president of Gwangyang steel mill, explained, “We’ve achieved our objective one month earlier than planned. The achievement is important, but employee support in our system is more important.”

changkim@donga.com