Hyosung proved to be a technology leader once again. Lee Jaemyeong, Leader of Spandex Research Team 2 of Hyosung Technology Center, won the "Engineer of Korea Award" for developing the world's first "highly functional and innovative spandex." He was recognized for contributing to the development of the Korean industry and improving its competitiveness with innovative technology. It was yet another demonstration of Hyosung's technological prowess.
The awarding ceremony for the Engineer of Korea Award for the first half of the year was held on July 18, 2018. The "Engineer of Korea Award" is given to engineers who have made a great contribution to the development of Korean industries and improvement of industrial competitiveness through technological innovations. This year’s award was given to Lee Jaemyeong, Leader of Spandex Research Team 2 of Hyosung Technology Center. He won the award for his contribution to the development of the Korean materials industry by developing the world's first highly heat-resistant spandex and environment-friendly spandex for low-temperature heat setting. The spandex maintains high elasticity even after being dyed at a high temperature.
In recent years, Korean textile companies lost their edge over their Chinese competitors after many Chinese companies became technologically competitive in the manufacture of materials such as spandex. There has been an increasing demand for competitive products as spandex is used in many different areas. The development of highly functional, innovative spandex products has contributed to improving Hyosung's competitiveness while also helping the company gain an edge over Chinese competitors that have been tapping into the global market by copying the technologies and mass-producing the materials.
The highly heat-resistant spandex developed by Engineer Award recipient Lee Jaemyeong yields the same level of processability as other conventional spandex products with 10 to 20% less content. This is a significant feature in the Chinese market where low-content/high-max DR is popular. As for the spandex for low-temperature heat setting, it enables heat setting at a lower temperature than other conventional spandex products for significant energy saving. The tenter speed can also be increased during the heat setting process; higher tenter speed means lower cost of textile production and improved productivity.
The development of highly functional, innovative spandex products
not only enabled Hyosung to gain an edge over its Chinese competitors
but also enhanced the overall corporate competitiveness.
This innovation was made possible after many trials and errors. Having exact target concrete goals in item selection at the time of developing Korea's first high-max. DR spandex helped in making the R&D process efficient. Years of experience in product innovation helped as well.
Spandex Research Team 2 plans to develop more innovative products in the future. The team will continue to identify customer needs, target markets, and goals through seamless cooperation with other PUs in order to improve the efficiency of the R&D process. The team is determined to maintain a technological edge over competitors and the highest level of quality through its current value-added research activities, which will certainly improve Hyosung's competitiveness in the long run.
Written by | Kim Juhui
Photo by | Park Haeju (Day40 Studio)