Orion Wins Presidential Gold Award for Two Consecutive Years at the National Quality Control Circle Competition

Orion Headquarters Exterior View

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Orion announced on the 30th that it achieved a great success by winning a total of three awards, including the highest award, the President's Gold Prize, at the '47th National Quality Circle Competition' held from the 23rd to the 27th.

The National Quality Circle Competition is an annual nationwide industrial competition aimed at sharing workers' on-site improvement cases and establishing a foundation for quality innovation. This year, 288 teams selected through regional preliminaries participated in 15 categories.

Orion's Cheongju and Iksan factories, which competed together in the Energy and Climate Change category, were recognized for their efforts and achievements in reducing greenhouse gases through precise analysis of energy consumption in snack manufacturing process equipment and equipment improvements. The Cheongju factory's 'Only Orion' quality circle won the highest award, the President's Gold Prize, for the second consecutive year. They were highly evaluated for reducing the 'greenhouse gas emission intensity,' which indicates greenhouse gas emissions per unit of production, by 9.3% compared to before through installing power-saving devices, replacing cooling water circulation pumps, and improving air conditioning equipment. The Iksan factory's 'STRONG Orion' quality circle earned the Silver Prize by achieving a 3.7% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to before through replacing high-efficiency refrigeration units and establishing an outdoor air utilization system.

Good results were also achieved in the office indirect category, which evaluates work efficiency. The Seoul headquarters' 'Smart Orion' quality circle was awarded the Bronze Prize for shortening asset management time by 12.1% through improving the asset management process.

Orion continues various activities for ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management. The Chinese subsidiary reduced greenhouse gas emissions by installing equipment that recovers and recycles waste heat emitted from the Swing Chip fryer and boiler at the Langfang factory. The Shanghai factory is reducing waste by additionally introducing wastewater sediment drying equipment. Considering the local characteristic of insufficient electric energy, the Vietnam My Phuoc factory installed solar cells on the factory roof to convert solar energy into electric energy and is using it for product production.

In March this year, a 'Green TFT' composed of practical staff from six departments including production, equipment, and management within the group was newly established. The Green TFT collaborates with seven domestic factories and eleven overseas subsidiaries to set group-level carbon emission targets, integrate and manage data, establish energy-saving measures, and manage global carbon emissions.

An Orion official said, "The creative and innovative efforts of employees to practice eco-friendly management have led to tangible greenhouse gas reduction results, which have been recognized," and added, "We will continuously deepen global eco-friendly management at the group level by applying the know-how of greenhouse gas and energy reduction accumulated in Korea to overseas subsidiaries."

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