[Sponsored Report] Quality control key to Hyundai E&C’s success

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[Sponsored Report] Quality control key to Hyundai E&C’s success

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Workers examine the construction site of Yeosu Cogeneration Plant, South Jeolla. Provided by the company

Hyundai Engineering and Construction (E&C) has established a quality control system and is emphasizing its effectiveness to its clients.

Unlike manufacturing, construction work is dependent on factors such as the weather and varied human labor conditions. Hyundai E&C, the nation’s largest builder, has thus analyzed data from past construction projects in order to learn from mistakes and implement more effective procedures.

As a result, working processes, including in engineering, procurement, construction, operations, inspections and maintenance can endure variable incidents and still maintain the best results.

For example, information technology is used to manage projects, leaving no room for blind spots. Work schedules for construction projects are created using data related to weather, and the number of workers and available materials, to reduce time lost waiting around.

Purchasing processes, from ordering materials to delivery, are also under Hyundai E&C’s quality control system. The methods used ensure the quality of the materials supplied to construction sites.

An automated program calculates the quantity of the components needed to build a particular structure, including surplus portions. It even calculates the date the company needs to order the goods so the workers will not run out of them.

The system is also applied to supervisory practices. Numeric data from all of the company’s past construction jobs were gathered to set a standard for management.

And all departments within Hyundai E&C are subject to internal quality audits. The multiple inspections keep the company’s work procedures free from mistakes.

From 2009, Hyundai E&C started checking the quality of its apartment buildings’ frameworks with specific measurements. Concrete casts, reinforcements, finished surfaces and thickness of concrete are all examined, according to the company.

The new quality check for frameworks can meticulously analyze the condition of apartments’ building materials, and Hyundai E&C plans to expand this evaluation to other types of constructions.

Hyundai E&C’s system uses not only statistic data but also human knowledge. The workers can share their know-how on each task to reduce the time it takes and amend the quality of the result. Using the web, workers can easily report the status of their work so that the entire building process can be managed collectively and allow efficient management.

The company and its subcontractors gather in a workshop to develop the best method for each construction. During the meeting, members exchange their skills and discuss past failures or successes. The practice improves technology building and also promotes shared growth.

Thanks to these precise process controls and advanced business management, the excellent reputation of Hyundai E&C is growing at a fast pace. For the first time among the national constructors, Hyundai E&C won the ISO 9001 international quality management certificate by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance in 1993.

The certificate is given to organizations that satisfy quality management principles, including “a strong customer focus, the motivation and implication of top management, the process approach and continual improvement” according to the website of the International Organization for Standardization. The company has retained the certification ever since.

The builder was also awarded several certificates from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers including Nuclear Assembly, Nuclear Partials and Nuclear Supports and Korean equivalents from Korea Electric Power Industry Code.

The pioneering construction company aims to further improve. “We are planning to share our experience and skills to the fellow companies to make this program not just our own but the whole industry,” said a Hyundai E&C official. “It will vitalize the cooperation of constructors.”

By Kim Young-shin [yskim11@joongang.co.kr]


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