30th Anniversary of Welcron: "Strengthening High Value-Added Material Business"

Strengthening Competitiveness of Fiber Material Technology Portfolio
Promoting Defense, Eco-friendly, and Medical Material Enhancement
Chairman Lee Young-gyu: "Advancing as a High-tech Material Company... Creating New Achievements"

Chairman Lee Young-gyu of Welcron. [Photo by Welcron]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Minjae] “There have been many difficulties, but I am deeply moved to celebrate Welcron’s 30th anniversary together with you all. Let us not be complacent with the present, but move forward together toward a new 50th anniversary.”

Welcron, a company specializing in industrial textiles, held a commemorative ceremony on the 2nd at its headquarters building in Guro, Seoul, marking its 30th anniversary and pledged to leap forward as an ‘advanced materials company,’ the company announced that day.

Chairman Lee Young-gyu of Welcron (pictured) reflected on the company’s achievements, noting that it grew even more significantly during crises such as the IMF financial crisis, and urged all employees to unite their efforts to become a long-lasting company.

Over the past 30 years, Welcron has built up technological expertise in textile materials such as microfiber and nanofibers. Based on this, the company plans to enhance the competitiveness of its existing business portfolio while significantly strengthening high value-added material businesses such as ▲defense supplies ▲artificial blood vessels ▲eco-friendly cleaners ▲high-efficiency filters in response to market changes.

In its core living sector, Welcron will focus on discovering new materials based on its competitive edge in research and development (R&D). In line with consumers’ health needs in the ‘post-COVID-19 era,’ the company aims to differentiate itself from other brands through bedding (materials) with more diverse functions. In particular, it plans to expand its bedding new material lineup, including ‘Wellosh Jade’ (far-infrared emission) and ‘Wellosh Medi’ (antibacterial function), which are advanced versions of the allergy-preventive functional fabric ‘Wellosh.’

Alongside this, Welcron will seek synergy effects between online and offline distribution channels through digital transformation (DX) strategies such as fostering the functional bedding specialized commerce platform ‘Sesa Living Mall.’

Furthermore, the company will accelerate its overseas market expansion amid surging demand for environmentally friendly products such as recycled and biodegradable items. In line with ESG trends, Welcron has completed the development of eco-friendly materials including yarns recycled from PET bottles and biodegradable fibers naturally decomposed by microorganisms, and is focusing on securing new clients by applying these to key export items such as ‘microfiber cleaners.’

Since its early days, Welcron has grown into a solid export company by producing microfiber cleaners and daily necessities optimized for various uses such as cleaning, semiconductors, optical products, vehicles, and pets. The company aims to continuously launch innovative products to solidify its global position as a leader in the microfiber field.

In fact, Welcron participated in the world’s largest cleaning supplies exhibition, ‘2022 Interclean Amsterdam,’ held last month, showcasing numerous new products including eco-friendly items and ‘antibacterial cleaners’ utilizing the properties of copper, attracting attention from buyers worldwide.

At the same time, Welcron has designated advanced material businesses such as defense supplies and artificial blood vessels as future growth engines and plans to expand related investments and research.

Welcron, which started its defense business in 2011, produces bulletproof plates and bulletproof/anti-cut clothing, supplying products to domestic institutions such as the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the National Police Agency, as well as overseas markets. Recently, it has expanded its product lineup to include additional bulletproof plates for vehicles and ships and bulletproof bags, while increasing production capacity (CAPA). In response to defense demand, Welcron also expanded the size of its composite materials center in Gimhae, a defense business hub, by about five times in 2020.

The company is also accelerating the localization of artificial blood vessels. After developing and commercializing the first domestic PTFE material stent artificial blood vessel tube in 2016, Welcron is hastening the development of artificial blood vessels that can completely replace human blood vessels. Given the high technological barriers in this field, stable long-term profits are expected from the commercialization stage onward.

Chairman Lee Young-gyu of Welcron said, “I am very proud of Welcron’s past 30 years of balanced growth in various areas, including the ‘microfiber cleaner’ selected as a world-class product for 20 consecutive years, ‘Sesa’ and ‘Sesa Living’ leading the domestic functional bedding market with differentiated materials, and the highest-efficiency MB (melt-blown) filter in Korea that played a major role in COVID-19 prevention. Standing now at the starting line toward the next 50 years, we will leap forward as an advanced materials company and create new achievements.”

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