Suh firmly believes all operations must start from the viewpoint of the customer, or in his present position, the plant owner. ¡°One needs to step into the shoes of the customer, and sit down in the seat of the customer to plan the operations,¡± he says.

The roots of Suh¡¯s corporate philosophy go back to 1979, one year after he first entered HHI. Barely five months into his marriage, Suh had to leave his young bride behind to set off for the Middle East. From there, he became manager of HHI¡¯s Kuwait branch office, then went on to head up the company¡¯s offices in Hong Kong, London and Oslo. He served a second stint as chief of the London branch from 1999, returning home once again in October 2003, whereupon he was promoted to executive vice president and placed in charge of industrial plant sales.

He has a kaleidoscope of memories that span the globe, but just a few that stand out. Suh says one of those dates back more than 20 years ago, to the early days of HHI. While in Kuwait, Suh was able to conclude a major sale with United Arab Shipping Co., for nine 1,800 TEU-class containerships.

Recalling that HHI was still a young company then, Suh says it was considered a major coup when the company won out over big-name Japanese shipbuilders. He remembers the total sales figure as being $400 million, the single largest order in shipbuilding history at the time. Moreover, the sale was on a cash basis.

Suh attributes the success of that sale to some creative and costeffective marketing on HHI¡¯s part. He explains the order was not only for ships, but also for shipping containers. And, at a time when transportation costs were even higher than manufacturing costs, HHI worked out a plan whereby the containers would be completed by the sister-company, Hyundai Precision, warehoused in the shipyard, and then loaded onto the completed ships and sent to the owner. This dramatically cut costs and allowed both the shipowner and HHI to benefit.

But more than anything else, Suh feels a special pride that he was able to play a central role in HHI¡¯s rise to become the world¡¯s leading shipbuilder. This in turn allowed South Korea to become the world's largest shipbuilding country.

Suh says he could literally feel the change over the past 20 years. When he was first assigned overseas in Kuwait, the main goal was to let overseas shipowners know that HHI was a quality shipbuilder. Suh says 20 years later, in his last overseas post in London, HHI had reached a stage where shipowners came to HHI first while still planning their new ship purchases. Based on this heightened recognition, Suh is proud to have achieved a record year for shipbuilding orders in London.

According to Suh, it¡¯s all a part of playing one¡¯s role as an industry leader, and always keeping an eye on the needs of the customer.

The writer is a journalist based in Seoul.