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Introduction of Momentive and Why we Invested in Korea

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작성자 관리자 작성일17-05-31 14:36 조회98,780회

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Introduction of Momentive and Why we Invested in Korea


1.     Based in Waterford, N.Y., Momentive is the second largest producers of silicones and silicone derivatives in the world, and a global leader in the development and manufacture of products derived from quartz and specialty ceramics.  Momentive was formed in 2016 after GE Silicones acquired the remaining shares of Bayer Silicones (Germany) and Toshiba Silicones (Japan) and was spun off from GE to form a private company.  With a revenue of $2.5 billion, Momentive has major manufacturing plants in Ota: Japan, Leverkusen: Germany, Nantong: China, Waterford: New York, and Rayong: Thailand, in addition to 29 technical centers across the globe and about 5,000 employees. 



Industries served include aerospace, agriculture, appliances, automotive, construction, electronics assembly, display, furniture and furnishings, healthcare, home care, industrial, lighting, packaging, personal care, plastics, semiconductor, telecommunications, tire, transportation, and water purification.


 


Momentive entered the Korean market in 2003 with a sales office, and expanded in 2013 to include small scale production and an R&D and technical support facility focused around the Electronic Materials Segment.  The expansion was conducted to ensure that our development and support centers were located close to major customers and technology leaders in Display, Lighting, Automotive, and Electronics Assembly.  Since its inception, the Momentive Korea site has steadily grown sales and employees, and another expansion is planned in 2018 to further increase the lab and manufacturing space.


 


Evaluate Korea’s Global Competitiveness and investment environment compared to other Asia countries


2.     Korea’s global competitiveness continues to increase in a variety of industries at a rapid pace.  The TV market in the last 10 years has shifted from Japan leading in technology to Korea being the clear leader.  A similar shift has happened in appliance manufacturing and mobile phones, although to a lesser degree, and the automotive industry continues to increase in brand reputation globally.  This has provided Korea with the reputation of a technology hot-bed, and spurred an increase in innovation.  Additionally the location of Korea, being between Japan and China, coupled with easy to navigate regulations, provides a central location to serve some of the key Asian markets.  In general, this allows for investment capital to continue to flow into the country as companies strive to co-locate close to key customers.  Although manufacturing is being off-shored at an increasing rate to China and other lower cost countries (such as Vietnam), the relative stability of policies, well trained work force, and general respect of IP ensures that Korea will continue to see investments in the near term.


 


What support do you want from the Korean government?  Also, what is the obstacle of investment activities and business activities?


3.     Most important for us is how to ensure that business can be done smoothly both within Korea, and externally.  So ensuring that import and export duties are low, that infrastructure is developed, and the rules and regulations are consistent and easy to understand.  For an international company, that is important because it can affect where you choose to develop, build, and support materials.   Incentives for continued investment and growth are also always important, and can help make decisions easier when looking at where regionally it makes sense to apply continued investment.


 


What is the reason for a multinational’s success in Korea?


4.     I think it depends on the company and industry.  For the chemical industry, we have found success by working closely with our customers, ensuring that we are able to move as fast as our customers, and by investing heavily into technology.  This allows us to work on projects that are important to our customers and bring unique solutions that smaller competitors cannot match.  Additionally, being a multi-national company ensures that regardless of where our customers final manufacturing location might be, Momentive will have the ability to serve them on a consistent basis with high quality products that can be trusted.  For Momentive, this has been a good recipe for success and has allowed us to grow profitably.


 


What are your management plans in 2016?


From a business perspective in Electronic Materials, it is about how we can continue to grow in our 3 strategic markets……. Automotive, Optical, and Thermal materials.  We are constantly assessing whether we have the right development programs, and what technology we will need to develop over the next 5 years in these segments to continue our growth.  Every region has slightly different needs and requests, so making sure that we understand the direction at both a regional and a global level helps ensure that the products we develop will be successful in our targeted markets.


From an operations perspective, it is how can we continue to move towards higher quality, faster shipping, and a seamless customer interface.  This is more of a continuous improvement effort where we challenge our global employees every year so that we can gather and implement ideas that will drive us towards perfection.  I think for any business, there is room for improvement and you can never stop trying to improve your operations or you will get passed by the competition.


Finally, from a Korea perspective, we are working on plans for an expansion in 2018 that will increase our laboratory and production space to better serve our global markets.  We are currently in the design and planning phase now, so we are excited by the possibilities.  Next year will transition into an execution phase, where we finalize the plans and begin construction of the site and prepare it for the move in 2018.  So there are many great things going on that are providing our employees with rewarding ways to contribute to Momentive’s success!


 

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