Dongkuk Steel: Process Innovation and Enterprise Resource Planning

Dongkuk Steel Mill Co. Ltd is a Korea-based company that manufactures concrete reinforcing bars, steel plate and sections steel.

The company’s Korean production facilities are located in Pohang, Incheon and Busan. Dongkuk also has operations in overseas markets such as the United States, Japan and China.

Like other companies in growing industries with geographically distributed operations, Dongkuk Steel knew it could benefit from building standardized processes and systems. A single system would provide Dongkuk with a standard way of doing business, real-time access to accurate information from all areas of the company and would help to significantly streamline business processes.

The company chose SAP technology for its enterprise information technology system but needed a trusted third-party to help it achieve its vision. Dongkuk hired Accenture. Accenture had worked with Donkuk during a previous, successful information strategy planning project. Accenture was chosen based on that experience and on our proven ability to deliver enterprise solutions that have helped other companies in the steel industry to achieve significant results. Also important: Accenture's experience helping industrial companies implement SAP's Production Planning for Process Industries module.

Working together with Dongkuk Steel, Accenture's metal industry SAP experts helped implement a single instance of SAP and a range of business processes spanning everything from materials management and quality management to financial accounting and human resources. Accenture designed a strong change management program driven by a program management office. Using our proven methodology, Accenture's solution included a business information warehouse, strategic enterprise management and integration among all SAP applications. Accenture ensured the completeness of the system through intensive integration testing.

Accenture's experience at other steel companies made it possible to ensure integrity with other applications. The project was particularly challenging because a local systems integrator helped in developing custom solutions, such as MES and APS, at the same time Accenture was implementing the enterprise resource system. Because the project involved a tight time frame, Accenture needed to focus on process/system integration and collaborated with the local systems integrator.

Dongkuk Steel introduced the system without delays. The new system successfully replaced its outmoded and increasingly costly legacy system, improving efficiency and reducing operating costs. As a result of the new enterprise system, Dongkuk has strengthened its business competency, its organizational capabilities and enhanced its business portfolio.

"Our company defined six core competencies for improvement, spanning cost, customer service, manufacturing, sourcing and purchasing, product competitiveness and management. With Accenture's help, we were able to boost our capabilities in each and every one of them," said Myung-Sub Byun, Dongkuk Steel CIO.

Accenture's continuing research into the characteristics of high-performance businesses has identified the traits they share. Among them: an ability to rationalize, simplify and standardize IT to manage total cost of ownership and enhance productivity—also, a willingness to team with third parties to extend their capabilities. By choosing Accenture to help implement SAP as its enterprise system with standard processes, Dongkuk Steel has demonstrated its commitment to becoming a high-performance business.