Chairman Huh Chang-soo: "Federation of Korean Industries Advisory Committee Expertise Will Greatly Benefit SMEs" (Comprehensive)

Visit to Outstanding Consulting Company Speedrack
Participation in Completion Ceremony of Amazon Export-Only Production Line
First Manufacturing Site Visit and Advisory Committee Performance Review Since Inauguration

Huh Chang-soo, former chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries (left), visited Speedrack Co., Ltd., a prefabricated angle shelf manufacturer located in Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, on the 24th, and presented an Excellent Advisory Company plaque to Min Byung-oh, chairman of Speedrack, followed by a commemorative photo.
[Photo by Federation of Korean Industries]

[Gimpo=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] "Having managed businesses for over 40 years, I realized the importance of learning from experienced individuals. I believe that if the management advisory committee of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) passes on the know-how accumulated in the field to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), it will greatly help their growth."

On the 24th, Huh Chang-soo, chairman of the FKI, visited an SME that succeeded in entering the US Amazon marketplace with the help of the FKI management advisory group and shared his thoughts. Chairman Huh visited Speedrack, a prefabricated angle shelf manufacturer in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, toured the production line, and attended the inauguration ceremony of the Amazon-dedicated production line. This was the first time since his inauguration as FKI chairman that he personally inspected both the manufacturing site of a company and the advisory outcomes of the FKI management advisory group on-site.

Emphasizing "Know-how from Experienced People and a Willingness to Learn"
Six Years of Advisory Leads to Sixfold Sales Growth

Min Hyo-gi, CEO of Speedrack, explained the company's business performance, saying, "Since entering Amazon last month, we have received a good response, ranking 74th in the shelving category within just two weeks." He pledged, "We will continue to expand overseas by establishing a dedicated production line for Amazon exports and become a strong small business that expands exports and employment."

Chairman Huh applauded with a pleased smile. He added, "Creating a second and third Speedrack is the core strategy for the win-win growth of large and small-medium enterprises," and urged, "Please continue to strengthen the advisory committee and support active activities."

Founded in 1979, Speedrack was an SME with sales of around 6 billion KRW as of 2014. At a crossroads of growth, CEO Min sought help from the FKI management advisory group in early 2015. The six advisory members concluded that for growth, not only the personal ability of the manager but also a systematic management system must be established.

Accordingly, they established R&D and marketing teams, improved personnel systems such as responsibility management systems for heads and team leaders, and performance-based pay systems. They also timely purchased land and invested in facilities to expand production capacity. Additionally, as growth continued, they shared concerns about necessary matters at each stage, such as logistics and packaging quality improvement and customer requirement analysis.

Since then, Speedrack's sales exceeded 10 billion KRW in 2016 and surged to 36 billion KRW last year. This year, the sales target is set at 50 billion KRW. Employee treatment has also improved, with wages increased by 30% and incentives provided based on business performance. Welfare systems comparable to large companies, including leave systems, child tuition support, shuttle buses, recreational facility use, and health checkups, are operated, and the number of regular employees increased from 23 in 2014 to 110 this year.

Huh Chang-soo, Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries, visited Speedrack Co., Ltd., a prefabricated angle shelf manufacturer located in Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, on the 24th to tour the manufacturing facilities. (From left) Min Byung-oh, Chairman of Speedrack; Bae Sang-geun, Executive Director of the Federation of Korean Industries; Huh Chang-soo, Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries; Min Hyo-gi, CEO of Speedrack.
[Photo by Federation of Korean Industries]

FKI Advisory Members Support SME Growth through Unpaid Talent Donation
"Policy Support Needed to Train SME Specialist Consultants"

Not satisfied with this, Speedrack challenged entry into the US Amazon marketplace from June last year. With the help of the FKI management advisory group and the overseas sales team staff knocking on doors, they achieved their goal last month. To meet the rapidly increasing order volume, they held an inauguration ceremony for the Amazon export-dedicated line that day, announcing their leap to a global brand. They plan to expand into North America, Europe, and Japan in the future.

The FKI SME Cooperation Center launched the FKI management advisory group in 2004, consisting of 40 former CEOs and executives from major groups. Leveraging the capabilities of talents with successful experiences in large companies, they have provided 22,265 consultations to 10,861 companies through last year. Advisory members offer advice in the form of talent donation without separate compensation or special rewards to help SMEs grow.

Lee Byung-ki, a former CEO of Lotte Hi-Mart Logistics and an advisory member, said, "I hope related government agencies take an interest so that retired personnel can utilize their experience and know-how to enhance the competitiveness of SMEs and connect companies with each other." He emphasized, "If 100,000 SME specialist consultants are trained and at least one is utilized per company, many more SMEs will benefit."

The FKI SME Cooperation Center plans to increase the proportion of close joint consultations, currently about 30% based on the number of companies, to over 50% to spread Speedrack's success model to other companies.

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