Jun 21 2004
POSCO began construction on its hydroforming plant on June 17. This process will drastically reduce the production cost and weight of automotive parts.
The company successfully operated a pilot facility at the Technical Research Laboratories in December 2003, with an annual capacity of 200,000 hydroformed products. Motivated by this success, POSCO will initiate mass production.
With a total investment of 45 billion KRW (38 million USD) into the project by March 2005, a projected 1 million hydroformed parts will be supplied to automotive producers annually. This will enable POSCO to build closer, more cooperative relationships with automotive companies.
A state-of-the-art steel production process, hydroforming mainly produces complex automotive parts. A press encloses a tube of steel before liquid is infused into the tube under high pressure, processing the steel into its intended shape. A primary benefit of the process is that even water pressure grants an even thickness and strength to the steel part.
Rather than the automotive parts being made separately and then welded together, they are processed only once, reducing the cost and weight of the product. For example, the cost and weight of an engine cradle will be reduced by around 15 and 40 percent respectively, while the cradle’s safety is improved.
Recently, the hydroforming steel production market has shown an annual growth rate of 15% in Europe and 20% in the United States. Still an emerging market in Korea, the technology can only be applied to some automobiles. However, the Korean market is expected to increase rapidly because of the safety and economical efficiency of hydroformed products.
In preparation for the automotive sector’s widespread adoption of hydroformed products, POSCO will increase its production capacity by two or three times. At the same time, the company will strengthen its Early Vendor Involvement (EVI) activities for the future. EVI refers to the system where automotive producers and parts producers work cooperatively from the early stages of development of a new car. POSCO expects the system will create a win-win effect for all parties involved.
Additionally, the company will take a leading role in increasing the quality of car parts, with the cooperation of existing automotive parts producers. POSCO also plans to increase its supply in the Chinese market, taking advantage of the lower logistics costs as compared with European corporations.
More than 100 POSCO employees and stakeholders attended the groundbreaking ceremony. Attendees included Joon-Yang Chung, general superintendent of Gwangyang Works, POSCO, as well as executives from client companies such as Wan-Yong Chung, vice president of Ssangyong Motor Company, Nak-Jong Lee, executive director of GM Daewoo, Hyung-Nam Kim, director of Renault Samsung Motors, Han-Soo Kim, executive director of Hyundai/Kia Motor Company and Qi Shou Zhu, president of ChiCheng, China.
For more information on hydroforming, click here.