OREANDA-NEWS. January 28, 2015. The support offered by POSCO`s Industrial Innovation 3.0 for the productivity innovation of small and medium-sized companies using its unique QSS innovative methodology has been recognized internally and externally.

Yoon Sang Jick, the minister for Trade, Industry and Energy, made a special visit on January 11th with 10 external personnel to POSCO`s cooperative company and Gabsan Metal (CEO Kim Tae Hun), the company recognized for excellence in the `Industrial Innovation 3.0` project.

The minister listened to the voices of the site and recognized their innovation. Minister Yoon said: ``I thank POSCO for the great interest it has shown in supporting secondary and tertiary small and medium-sized companies to achieve such great outcomes. I want you to continue with this innovation so that you can become the definitive success model of the Industrial Innovation 3.0 project.``

Minister Yoon went on to lay particular emphasis on the importance of Industrial Innovation 3.0 and said, ``Irregular support can in fact make it difficult for small and medium-sized companies; yet, sustained support for innovation can help companies improve their competitiveness. Small and medium-sized companies need to own the innovation and actively participate in it.``

Gabsan Metal found itself unable to overturn its deficit, even after the stringent rehabilitation procedures it introduced in 2011. That`s why, in 2013, it became part of POSCO Industrial Innovation 3.0. The results were staggering. By 2014, it was already turning a profit, with the company rightly being hailed as an excellent example in the 1st Outcome Report Competition organized by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in September last year.

Gabsan Metal was particularly impressive in the way it brought about positive changes in the plant environment as well as employee mindset, with the company`s CEO leading by example, such as by cleaning the bathroom. As the `2014 Excellent Casebook for Industrial Innovation 3.0` will report when it is published in January by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Gabsan Metal was distinctive in the way staff at all levels took part in the innovation.

Strenuous efforts by the QSS consultants at POSRI likewise contributed to successful innovation. They visited 20 times - once a week for six months - to create a lasting basis for innovation and select and solve core tasks. Consultants also provided education and training to lock in the positive changes and build sustainable value at the organizational level in order to leave a lasting legacy of innovation.

The CEO of Gabsan Metal, Kim Tae Hun, expressed his gratitude thus: ``I am profoundly proud that our company has been so greatly improved that even our clients are now telling us that they would be willing to benchmark us. Our staff also has pride – and it shows. We have achieved even greater outcomes than monetary support alone could have provided thanks to POSCO Industrial Innovation 3.0.

Industrial Innovation 3.0 is a consulting project that supports the productivity innovation of small and medium-sized companies. It is also an industry-wide project to improve the productivity of the entire industrial ecosystem by expanding support for first-tier companies to secondary and tertiary companies as well.

POSCO concluded the Industrial Innovation 3.0 Promotion Agreement in June 2013. To date, it has supported the productivity innovation of 300 small and medium-sized companies, with five supporting companies being awarded outstanding enterprise awards, such as an award by the minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, in recognition of their innovation and its positive outcomes.