Posco recently held its third Six Sigma Festival, with all executives and employees sharing results of various Six Sigma activities. About 500 people participated in the festival, which was broadcast live over the Internet from Posco website.

After the results of this past year’s Six Sigma activities were reported, several other events followed, including belt certifications, presentations of exemplary actions in each sector, and an awards ceremony. The festival differed from previous events in that it did not focus on presentations. This time, a variety of interactive programs were offered, such as a sing-along led by a male vocal ensemble, open talks on Six Sigma, and a quiz show. Employees acclaimed many of the programs at the event.

Among the projects conducted during the past year, one project, led by Jong-Hak Jeon at the Iron Making Department at Pohang Works, was chosen as the best. The project found that reduced gas use results in improved heat efficiency for three blast furnace heaters. For this project, Mr. Jeon received a prize from Chairman Lee, while the entire team received free tour tickets to Europe. Also, Posco chose nine second-place projects and 26 commendable projects, and awarded employees related to those projects with free travel tickets.

Additionally, Yong-Cheol Yoon, Manager of the Steel Making Department at Pohang Works was chosen as the Ultimate Champion. Meanwhile, the following employees were distinguished as Excellent Process Owners: Seong-Beom Roh, Leader of the Human Resources Service Team in the Human Resources Department, Byung-Hong Kim, Leader of the Technical Development Group in the Wire Rod Rolling Department at Pohang Works, and Seok-Ki Kim, the Superintendent of the Sintering Plant in the Iron Making Department at Gwangyang Works.

At the festival, Chairman Lee said that he had wondered whether Six Sigma could enhance Posco’s corporate culture. He then stated that now he is convinced that it is improving the company after seeing the remarkable results from Six Sigma activities. He also expressed his appreciation to all Posco employees for their excellent work with regard to Six Sigma.

Chairman Lee said, “When all of our excellent workers collaborate on projects, we have nothing to envy from the likes of GE or Toyota.” He also asked employees to maintain an open corporate culture where talented employees can fully demonstrate their abilities and to strive to create new Six Sigma activities.

Chairman Lee emphasized that Six Sigma cannot be successful when only a handful of executives and department managers participate in projects. “Projects will only be successful when it becomes a campaign where everyone is confident and actively engaged,” he said.

Posco now has 994 belt bearers including 47 MBBs, 160 BBs, and 787 GBs. In addition, a total of 2,095 employees are currently being trained to achieve belts. Posco plans to speed up the expansion of Six Sigma activities by combining Six Sigma expertise from belt bearers with the leadership of on-site department managers.

Currently in its ‘fifth wave’ of Six Sigma initiatives, Posco has completed a total of 2,835 activities, including 1,190 BB tasks and 1,645 GB tasks.