Hyundai Steel Co., Ltd, headquartered in Incheon and Seoul, South Korea, has been a pivotal force in the steel industry since its establishment in 1953. Renowned as the oldest and most experienced steel-making company in Korea, it stands today as a major entity within the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group. Specializing in automotive materials, Hyundai Steel plays a crucial role in the development of next-generation steel for the automotive industry.
At-a-Glance
Hyundai Steel overcame challenges in system stability and adaptability, as well as limitations of on-premises commercial software, through an innovative approach reflecting its commitment to carbon neutrality. By adopting Rancher Prime and integrating SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, it reduced costs, seamlessly integrated SAP ERP, improved cost efficiency, enhanced scalability and strengthened infrastructure management. Now, the company enjoys improved operational efficiency and a streamlined implementation process, marking a new era of sustainable steel production.
The journey to sustainable production
JongKyun Jeung, IT Professional of Iron and Steel Process System Team at Hyundai AutoEver, who is responsible for IT at Hyundai Steel, explains the company’s primary challenges: “Maintaining system stability and the ability to swiftly adapt to changes were crucial concerns for us.” These were not merely technical issues but fundamental factors impacting Hyundai Steel’s core operations.
Concurrently, the company embraced a purpose-driven mission in harmony with global trends. Beyond conventional steel production, Hyundai Steel embarked on a visionary carbon-neutral initiative. This commitment triggered Hyundai Steel to expand its electric furnace facilities, signaling a new era of sustainable steel production.
“Rancher Prime provided cost savings in the operation of our steel processing systems. Its ability to support multi-cluster and multi-cloud environments is essential for our scalability requirements, particularly for future expansions in MES.”
Why SUSE?
In modern manufacturing, the synergy of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and ERP is crucial for comprehensive operational insight. ERP manages schedules and business data as it guides manufacturing decisions. Meanwhile, MES oversees real-time production activities, optimizing processes by seamlessly integrating ERP data with real-time plant floor information. This integrated ecosystem ensures a holistic view of finance, procurement, supply chain and manufacturing logistics — precisely what Hyundai Steel aspired to achieve.
Before Rancher Prime entered the scene, Hyundai Steel’s IT infrastructure relied on on-premises commercial software. This approach had its limitations, with the IT team facing challenges in securing technical support and personnel to manage these systems. Seeking a more agile and cost-effective solution, Hyundai Steel conducted a POC with Rancher Prime.
Jeung highlights the decision-making process: “Rancher Prime offered a dual advantage of cost reduction and seamless integration with SAP ERP.” Contrasting commercial software’s limited technical documentation and the barriers to custom use cases, Hyundai Steel found open source solutions more attractive. Furthermore, as the costs associated with the management of on-premise commercial software continued to escalate, the company contemplated a broader adoption of open source databases for enhanced flexibility and cost-effectiveness.
Hyundai Steel’s strategic vision sought to expand Rancher Prime’s footprint to the company’s MES, aligning with its microservices architecture approach. Doing so would enable the company to seamlessly integrate the MES and ERP systems, ultimately optimizing production processes, minimizing waste and maximizing profitability.
By shifting to a microservices architecture, Hyundai Steel aimed to automate workloads and harness AI technology for IoT data. This strategic transition addressed productivity challenges and defect rates, marking a forward-looking approach to manufacturing efficiency.
Hyundai Steel also adopted SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and SLES for SAP Applications as pivotal components in its IT strategy. By shifting from an on-premises hardware-centric approach to open source-based implementation, Hyundai Steel wanted to embrace containerization, particularly for the microservices project. “SLES provided a stable and secure operating system, while Rancher Prime allowed us to configure microservices-based containers efficiently, addressing our specific industry needs,” Jeung comments.
The impact of Rancher Prime
As Hyundai Steel implemented Rancher Prime, tangible results began to emerge. The benefits were mainly threefold: cost-efficiency, scalability and improved infrastructure management. The simplicity of Rancher Prime’s configuration also had a positive impact during the implementation process.
Jeung elaborates on these advantages: “Rancher Prime provided cost savings in the operation of our steel processing systems. Its ability to support multi-cluster and multi-cloud environments is essential for our scalability requirements, particularly for future expansions in MES.”
Rancher Prime’s simplicity made a noticeable improvement, streamlining Hyundai Steel’s overall IT processes. Jeung affirms, “Improved operational efficiency was a key outcome during the implementation stage.” Rancher Prime’s ease of management and configuration of Kubernetes clusters further emphasized the positive impact.
SUSE’s role extended beyond providing software solutions — it became a strategic partner, offering crucial support and guidance. The training and hands-on sessions provided by SUSE were essential to the process, enabling Hyundai Steel’s team to effectively leverage Rancher Prime to its fullest potential.
What’s next for Hyundai Steel?
As the Rancher Prime project progresses, Hyundai Steel remains focused on its next IT goals. A pilot microservices project in logistics is underway, reflecting the team’s most immediate plans. In the future, Hyundai Steel plans to focus on a broader microservices pilot project in MES systems. “Rancher Prime and SLES have fundamentally improved the way we’re managing our infrastructure, opening doors to possibilities we hadn’t explored before,” states Jeung.