On January 10, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups selected 10 leading companies in the metropolitan area. ‘Ultra-metropolitan leading companies’ refer to local small and medium-sized enterprises that have high innovation, growth potential, and contribution to the local economy in key regional industries, and that form a supply chain beyond city and provincial boundaries and play a key role within it. In the Busan region, DASCO Co., Ltd. (Chairman Lee Geun-young) was selected. Over the past 30 years, this company has made great achievements in the shipbuilding, marine, and plant heat exchanger industries. In particular, this company is evaluated as having the confidence to showcase its ‘technological prowess’ anywhere. As the global competitiveness of the manufacturing sector has strengthened, individual companies have become insolvent. We have targeted niche markets where we can compete with our technological capabilities, and have continued to develop our technologies to where we are today. We met with Chairman Lee Geun-young, who has proudly walked through the manufacturing industry, and heard his story about the secret to his success.
The company’s history is the history of technological development
The year 2023 was a more meaningful year for Chairman Lee Geun-young. It was selected as one of the 1000+ Global Small Giant Companies and won the $10 million export tower, and has completed preparations to reach annual sales of 100 billion won by expanding a second factory of 2,600 pyeong. In addition, we had a valuable opportunity to promote DASCO to the world by participating in the 2023 global ‘KORMARINE Exhibition’. Following these achievements, we were selected as a leading company in the metropolitan area this year, signaling the start of an even more meaningful year.
“We are very pleased to have been selected as a representative heat exchanger company as one of the nation’s top 10 ultra-wide leading companies. Using this as an opportunity, we will make greater efforts to take the lead as a technology-leading company in the global market. In particular, recently, as various environmental regulations and environmental movements progress, technologies that can utilize various renewable energies are being developed. However, the effectiveness depending on environmental conditions and power generation amount is being discussed. In this situation, our company is developing an ‘Energy Storage System’ to improve the stability and continuity of solar and wind power generation and to compensate for the shortcomings of renewable energy sources that are relatively free from various environmental conditions and have high power generation efficiency. ESS) is being developed. Regarding ESS development and commercialization, we are carrying out commercialization development together with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). “Now, we will invest intensively in this ESS to take the company to the next level.”
It is no exaggeration to say that the history of DASCO under Chairman Lee Geun-young has been, in a word, a history of technological development, innovation, and steady R&D. Especially recently, the pace of development is very fast and the results are diverse. Through collaboration with Korea Register of Shipping, we have developed an explosion-proof electric radiator for shipbuilding and achieved commercialization results. In addition, by completing the performance verification of a heat exchanger using LNG real gas using the cryogenic LNG test facility built at the Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Equipment Cryogenic Test Center (KOMERI), we were able to complete the development of a prototype that can be applied to LNG propulsion ships. Currently, we are not only developing heat exchangers by participating in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s project to develop a commercial-grade liquid hydrogen plant compressor, but are also promoting the development of various types of heat exchangers using eco-friendly energy through the Ministry of SMEs and Startups project.
As a result of these various efforts, the company’s sales are steadily increasing. It grew steadily from 21 billion won in 2020, reaching 40.4 billion won in sales in 2023. It has achieved significant growth of an average of 25% every year and is expected to achieve sales of 45 billion won this year. All of these achievements can be said to be the result of consistent investment in expanding overseas sales, diversifying customers and products, and developing new products. In addition, we are also seeking to expand into new markets. Currently, the development of equipment and materials to utilize new and renewable energy is being urged in accordance with international environmental regulations. Accordingly, Chairman Lee Geun-young is planning to advance into secondary batteries, following the ESS mentioned earlier, and plans to continue knocking on many heat exchanger markets that have not been attempted yet.
Has excellent design capabilities
Above all, the company’s ability to develop steadily even in the current harsh business environment can be attributed to the company’s technological prowess and active advancement into overseas markets.
“Our company’s greatest strength is its design capabilities and other technological capabilities. In particular, at first we only had manufacturing technology, but later we gradually acquired design technology, greatly strengthening our competitiveness. We also export a lot. 40% of total sales come from exports, and while Japan has been the main export, Germany and the United States are now reaching similar levels. In addition, there are many places that have advanced into the future. Because we are involved in engineering as well as general manufacturing, we are able to advance into developing countries and export with the best technology.
In particular, the efforts of executives and employees who achieved sales of KRW 25 billion made it possible to achieve sales of KRW 40 billion last year without any additional staff. This shows that each individual with technical skills is precious and a great competitive edge.”
DASCO, which has achieved such great growth, started with the local production of marine air conditioner parts since its establishment in 1995 and gradually expanded into plants. It has gone through a long tunnel of performance and company registration, and has gradually demonstrated its solid accumulated capabilities since 2010. It is said that it has been growing rapidly since then.
Above all, Chairman Lee Geun-young explains DASCO’s strength as ‘one mind.’
“At our company, all relationships are level and we have one mind and one mind. In particular, the executives are all young, so it is very good for getting along. Since I also started from the bottom, I have no special sense of authority or anything like that. So, I desperately want to provide the best treatment in the industry and make it a company that everyone envies. Additionally, there is no succession by blood. Therefore, with enough effort, even rank-and-file employees can become executives or even presidents. “I want to make the most of these strengths to create more unity and, based on that, put the company on a path to higher development than it is now.”
In particular, Chairman Lee Geun-young said that he values his relationship with current President Sang-gyu Lee very much. President Lee joined DASCO in 2009, and can be said to be the number one contributor to creating something that had never been experienced before, even while fighting with each other and dreaming about the future together. When President Lee Sang-gyu joined, the company’s sales were less than 6 billion won, so he can be said to be a very special and meaningful person in the company’s current growth.
When the war ends, orders will likely increase further.
So what strategy will Chairman Lee Geun-young use to lead the company in the future?
“The current situation is a difficult environment for the manufacturing industry to continue to grow in our country. However, we plan to grow little by little through continuous research and development, pursuit of automation, and steady talent development. In particular, as a responsible member of the global society, DASCO acquires ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 as part of the safety, health and environment sector and grows together with the local community through partnership with partners and creates corporate value through compliance, human rights and ethical management. “We want to do it.”
However, it is said that there are no plans to list it yet. It is also true that there are many anxiety factors. Last year, orders were not received as much as in previous years, and the country’s research and development expenses also decreased. However, it is said that the more they do this, the more they will invest on their own to conduct various tests that other companies cannot do, thereby diversifying about 10 to 20% of their sales. In particular, this diversification is expected to lead to steady future orders in the secondary battery and ship heat exchanger fields.
Lastly, Chairman Lee Geun-young left the following message of hope.
“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our executives and employees who have worked hard despite the impact of COVID-19 still remaining and the financial market being unstable due to the prolonged war in Ukraine and Israel. Above all, it is expected that there will be more orders after the war ends. I believe that if our employees continue to work together to develop technology to stay one step ahead in competitiveness in 2024, we will be able to overcome complex internal and external crises together. “I hope that we will work hard to make this year better than last year, and to make next year even better than this year.”
DASCO is a company that is expected to grow further in the future. If these two can be well-harmonized, backed by technological prowess and there are many countries where it has not entered into yet, DASCO is expected to grow into Korea’s leading heat exchanger company.
