For Hwang Moo-soo, senior EVP and COO of the Shipbuilding Division, each working day starts at 6 a.m. sharp with a walk around the entire shipyard, as Hwang checks on the progress of the previous nightshift. He also uses this time to plan the day ahead, which he confides is his secret to starting fresh each day, even after spending more than 30 years in the shipbuilding industry.

  Hwang was among the first recruits of HHI shipyard, starting his career in January of 1972. During his 31-year career at Hyundai Heavy Industries, he has been involved in nearly every aspect of the business from ship design and planning to production, project management and technical operations.

  A glance at Hwang¡¯s personal career provides a snapshot of HHI¡¯s own development from fledgling shipbuilder to world leader. After entering the company, Hwang trained at the Scott Lithgow shipyard in Scotland, which was the source of the company's early shipbuilding technology.

  It was during his earlier years at HHI that Hwang had one of his most memorable experiences. While an assistant manager, he was given the project of constructing two 450- ton goliath cranes. He recalls that, at the time, no one at HHI or any other South Korean company had any experience building these massive cranes. HHI¡¯s first president, who was from Denmark, encouraged Hwang to tackle the project and worked with him to get the project done. But Hwang says it involved much more than just willpower. It was a time when we had no computer system,¡± says Hwang, ¡°and we had to compose the block handling specifications manually.¡±

  Then in 1984, Hwang was involved in HHI¡¯s first design of an oil drilling rig, which was an offshore project. HHI was able to reach an initial agreement based on HHI¡¯s own design and specifications. But when the relevant parties sat down to sign the contract, the client asked for the overall specifications to be altered. ¡°I was shocked,¡± Hwang recalls, ¡°but I knew we couldn¡¯t give up.¡± So he stayed in Oslo for two months to alter all the specifications and succeeded in getting the final contract signed. ¡°It was through this contract that our technology was upgraded,¡± says Hwang. Afterwards, HHI was able to secure several other orders for oil drilling rigs.

  There were several cases during Hwang¡¯s career where he was faced with the choice of either giving up because of the lack of know-how or independently developing the technology. In each case, Hwang recalls trying every method possible to overcome such difficulties, ultimately advancing HHI's technology prowess in the process.

  Another memory that will stay with Hwang forever is the construction of the second shipyard. When the late founder Chung Ju-yung ordered the expansion of the shipyard to accommodate orders for large oil tankers, he ran into considerable opposition. Many pointed out that there were not enough orders to justify an investment to construct a shipyard for VLCCs. ¡°But when we look back on it today,¡± Hwang recalls, ¡°if we didn¡¯t have the second shipyard, we would have had major difficulty in our construction plans because the first shipyard was at maximum capacity.¡±

  Hwang also notes that the most revolutionary development in the process of constructing the second shipyard was the elimination of the outfitting process. He says that from this point, a system was established whereby outfitting was completed in the factory, and the product was then sent directly to the painting shop. This process simplification, Hwang says, enabled HHI to reduce the time and manpower needed to construct one VLCC from 1.2 million to 500,000 man-hours.

  After his long career at HHI, Hwang is still excited about the future. He expects HHI to achieve its target for ship orders this year of $3.1 billion. He also expects major dividends from the company¡¯s focus on raising productivity, which is projected to improve 8%. Hwang contends that in the final analysis, the key factor in the entire shipbuilding process is the people behind it. Next, he says, is an ability to foresee future trends and preparing accordingly.