Small but Strong Company, What Is the Secret to Overcoming COVID-19?

Dongmyeong University Family Company Asan Precision Co., Ltd., Endless History of Industry-Academia Cooperation

Strong Small Giant Company with 5% Average R&D Investment in Sales Over the Last 5 Years

Eco-Friendly Venture Achieved 11.4% Sale

Shindongseok, Vice President of Dongmyeong University, is inspecting the site at Asan Precision.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Endless research and development is creating small but strong companies. Asan Precision Co., Ltd. (CEO Jeon Tae-gu), a family company of Dongmyung University (President Jeong Hong-seop), is overcoming COVID-19 through solid industry-academia cooperation.

Founded in 1998, Asan Precision Co., Ltd. is an eco-friendly venture company that manufactures automatic fire extinguishing systems and guided weapon drive devices.

Last year, sales increased by 11.4% compared to the previous year, reaching 11.7 billion KRW. COVID-19 seems irrelevant. This year, sales of over 15 billion KRW are expected.

What is the reason for steadily increasing sales despite COVID-19? CEO Jeon Tae-gu of Asan Precision answered that it is continuous investment in R&D and ongoing industry-academia cooperation with local universities.

CEO Jeon said, “We have maintained continuous industry-academia cooperation with Dongmyung University. We participated in corporate support programs such as technology development and prototype production, and received corresponding support, which allowed us to engage in technology development and reduce concerns about future growth engines.”

Asan Precision has invested more than 5% of its average sales in R&D over the past five years.

They have steadily increased the number of experts in their technology research institute, currently employing two PhD-level and three master’s-level staff dedicated to technology research.

With recent sales growth and company expansion, Asan Precision is conducting employee training for capacity building with support from the Dongmyung University LINC+ Project Group to prepare for the next leap forward.

Preparing for a second leap with the construction of a second factory in 2018, Asan Precision was designated as a talent nurturing small and medium enterprise by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in 2020. Since then, it has been selected as a youth-friendly small giant company by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and continues to make efforts to create good jobs and ensure employment stability.

They strengthen employee loyalty by providing research incentives, selecting outstanding employees monthly, supporting family accommodation vouchers at luxury resorts, and offering performance bonuses of 4 million KRW along with various events and welfare benefits. They also guarantee a 10% wage increase.

CEO Jeon Tae-gu said, “It is necessary to establish long-term R&D plans and support that go beyond short-term technology development or support, including mass production of prototypes and mutual cooperation.”

In particular, he emphasized that rather than conducting technology development projects within a short period of about one year, at least two years are needed to predict the future and proceed with product development.

CEO Jeon said, “As a family company of Dongmyung University, we have maintained continuous industry-academia cooperation for the past 10 years. It has been the driving force for corporate growth, and last August, I earned a PhD from Dongmyung University, which was also a personal growth milestone. Going forward, we will continue to be wonderful partners who win-win through interactive industry-academia cooperation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.