韩华海洋供应商通过TOP项目降本增效

Donghwa Entec, a Hanwha Ocean supplier located in the Hwajeon General Industrial Complex in Gangseo-gu, Busan, is a heat exchanger and system solutions company built on eco-friendly energy technology. Upon entering the factory, a robotic welding arm awaits its turn in the work sequence, while an employee uses an artificial intelligence (AI) vision camera to verify that finished products precisely match design drawings. Behind them, heat exchanger components large and small take shape as they are assembled.
Founded in 1980, Donghwa Entec grew into a strong small enterprise with a 60% market share among Korea's three major shipbuilders, succeeding in localizing heat exchangers and other equipment that had previously relied on imports. With 46 years of experience, Donghwa Entec introduced AI and robots late last year to a manufacturing process that had been carried out virtually 100% by hand. Selected last year as the first supplier for Hanwha Ocean's in-house innovation organization, the TOP (Total Operational Performance) team, Donghwa Entec continues to optimize product design and improve performance using AI and robots.
Exactly one year ago, starting last July, Donghwa Entec and Hanwha Ocean's TOP team began meeting at each other's offices at least once a month. Their joint research produced a total of 25 innovation tasks. By improving the structure of the bunkering station skid, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel supply facility, at the design stage, they reduced equipment weight by 54% from the previous level. By diversifying LNG pump suppliers at the LNG procurement stage, Donghwa Entec expects cost savings of up to 6.3 billion won this year.
The cost savings are expected to lead to greater order competitiveness and provide a significant boost to management performance. Donghwa Entec forecasts revenue of more than 350 billion won this year on a separate basis. It expects revenue to grow by at least 5% compared with last year, and its operating profit margin, which was only around 9% last year, is expected to rebound into double digits this year.
Kim Jae-ho, executive director of operations at Donghwa Entec, said, "Even before Hanwha Ocean's TOP team consulting, we worked to reduce costs and secure competitiveness by incorporating General Electric's (GE) Six Sigma and Japan's Toyota TPS, but there were limitations in that these efforts did not lead to clear results or the activities did not continue." He added, "The reality is that it is not easy for small and medium-sized enterprises, which lack infrastructure and resources compared with large corporations, to build innovation models on their own."
The success story of management innovation through Hanwha Ocean's on-site management consulting and the dissemination of productivity improvement know-how is not unique to Donghwa Entec. Samnok, another external supplier of Hanwha Ocean, reduced transportation costs by 18% through the operation of an integrated dispatch control tower. Daerim S&P cut costs by about 5% by linking thousands of paper drawings with three-dimensional (3D) data. Youngchang Mokjae reduced its plywood line workforce by as much as 75% through line automation, yet its production volume increased 1.5-fold.
The results achieved by these four companies served as a catalyst, and this year a total of seven external suppliers have decided to participate in Hanwha Ocean's TOP program.
Hanwha Ocean's active effort to spread the process innovation DNA it began internally in 2023 stems from the fact that suppliers' growth leads not only to benefits for Hanwha Ocean but also to strengthened competitiveness for Korea's entire shipbuilding industry and the revitalization of the industrial ecosystem. The Chinese shipbuilding industry is pursuing ultra-low-price orders backed by low material costs, seeking to widen the gap in the market share competition with Korea. This is why Korea's shipbuilding industry must, while competing, work as one team to raise the technical standards of its suppliers.
Jung Ju-yong, head of Hanwha Ocean's TOP promotion task force team (TFT), stressed, "As global cooperation in the maritime defense and shipbuilding sectors expands, centered on the United States and Europe, strengthening the fundamental competitiveness of Korea's shipbuilding industry is a more important task than ever." He added, "In this situation, a win-win structure in which shipbuilders and suppliers enhance competitiveness together, beyond simple cost reduction, is an important foundation for Korea's shipbuilding industry to continuously secure global competitiveness."
While directly supporting its suppliers' technical and production competitiveness, Hanwha Ocean has been steadily raising its outsourcing unit price increase rate. After Hanwha Group acquired Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in 2023 to launch Hanwha Ocean, the outsourcing unit price increase rate was set at 7% in 2023, 5% in 2024, and 3% in 2025, rising every single year. In addition, over the three years since Hanwha Ocean's launch, it paid a total of 187.3 billion won in target achievement incentives (69.8 billion won in 2023, 43.5 billion won in 2024, and 74 billion won in 2025). In particular, it led win-win management in the industry with the bold move of applying the same 400% performance bonus to 15,000 in-house subcontractor employees as to Hanwha Ocean employees.
Last year, Hanwha Ocean also provided 22 cases of technical support to suppliers and 55 cases of support for joint patent applications and patent applications, dedicating itself to securing original technology. Along with this, the company operates monthly technology cooperation meetings with seven major paint companies to enhance painting production competitiveness, laying the foundation for shared growth through joint development of new technologies and system standardization.
An official from the Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding Plant Association commented, "By taking the lead in supporting suppliers so that they can apply the same performance bonuses, Hanwha Ocean is serving as a firm pillar for the competitiveness of the shipbuilding industry and the growth of the regional economy."