Electric cars in the future would have the same cycle as current smartphones.

** No professional opinions or terms were used in this article. I wrote down my current personal thoughts on the market that I'm personally interested in. 

Recently, electric vehicles are solidifying their trend as environmental vehicles to replace the current internal combustion locomotives. Hydrogen cars are considered as alternatives, and many studies are continuing, but for the convenience of the article, I would like to describe the trend of future cars based on electric cars. It is not at a deep professional level, but just trying to express shallow ideas in terms of suppliers that supply materials to automakers.

I have been working in the steel industry for such a long time that supplies materials to automotive companies and auto parts companies. As a result, I become interested in cars, and when data or articles on trends and technologies about electric vehicles come out, I read them and see them from a marketing perspective that I have learned.

Looking at the trend closely, I think that interest in batteries is almost at the level of runaway rather than changes in the supply pattern of steel materials in cars or stories about vehicle design. In the automobile market, which has endured for a long time with fossil fuels, the change to fuel now is not just fuel change, but results in almost everything being turned upside down. 

Electric cars are not just fuel changes, but they are bringing about breakthroughs in advanced IT technology with semiconductors, lightening batteries, battery life, battery raw materials, and autonomous driving.

So, if you buy a car - of course there are people who change cars every year or in a very short period of time. - , it is expected to have the same cycle as a smartphone, not an item that is continuously used for a certain period of time. It may or may not be in the near future, but if you look at China's electric vehicle policy drive, which can be strongly pursued once the policy is established, and if you look at the sanctions of each carbon-related country unless there's another alternative, you don't think it's that far away, 

In future automobiles (electric vehicles), IT-related fields will be led by existing companies such as Samsung Electronics, Apple, and Google etc., and steel will not deviate much from existing suppliers, so it will be a battery war in the end.

A battery is divided into a cathode material and an anode material. In this sense, are there enough reserves for the raw materials of the cathode material to last for decades or hundreds of years? Or wouldn't it be possible to develop and replace the raw materials that are currently in the battery? 

Competition will be fierce. As expected, the battery war is intensifying around large companies that have the ability to mobilize funds, and competition to secure raw materials is also fierce. You don't know who will win. However, it seems to be moving on to such a competition that once it explodes, it will be a big hit.

In the end, in order to win or survive the battery competition, rapid deployment of the Supply Chain must be premised. It is understood that activities such as securing lithium mines and researching sodium continue. Since companies around the world have been interested in lithium mining for a long time, the supply lineup may already be solidified to some extent. Some raw materials are about 70% owned by China. In that sense, this raw material market also seems to have some vested interests in some companies. 

What's clear is that this period of upheaval can eventually be an opportunity from heaven for some people and companies if it's a change that reverses almost everything, such as securing battery materials and excellent IT technology. In the meantime, there seems to be a war of securing new raw materials again. Whether the war is a battery war or an IT war, the winner and the loser will be divided after some time, but now they seem to be just fiercely preparing for the war.

In Mexico alone, factories that make battery-related materials are being built here and there, and there are requests to secure steel materials that go into batteries here and there. The market is clearly visible. However, if you wonder how to enter this market and even if you enter it fortunately, you would doubt you can survive and continue to develop it. It could be a market you may hesitate to be in. 

It feels like many companies survived and were eliminated in the early days of smartphones. The smartphone companies that come to my mind now are S** and A** company. Yes, there have been several companies in other countries. But I can only think of two companies now.

In existing internal combustion engines, whether the design is good or bad, whether you like the color or not, liquid fuel is used normally, so there was no need to hesitate about fuel. But it will be different in the future. Indeed, we have more options than we do now. A lot of options, a lot to think about. We could buy a car right away, but after a while, it would be heartbreaking if a car with a better function and a lighter, longer-life battery came out at the same price. 

From a company's perspective, it has struggled to establish a supply line, but if other technologies are developed and the supply from those developed technologies is transferred to other companies, it will inevitably suffer a huge loss. From now on, it is not a matter of entering the industry first and later. It is a matter of how interested you are in analyzing the market, establishing strategies, and implementing them.

Please increase the inventory level by 0.2 days.

I have worked for a steel company for a long time, and I'm still in the steel industry. Strictly speaking, I am a steel salesman.

In 2013, I was working as president (General Director) of a small branch company in Mexico. One of the clientes was a large company, and we were located within the client's supply chain complex. The company's factory started operating almost the same period as ours. 

 

We established a company, built a factory, and started the supply to the customers. At that time, we maintained a surplus in operating profit and net profit even though it was a short period after the completion of the construction. 

 

As mentioned before in another article, I have been holding a full-day performance review meeting every morning since I was appointed to Mexico in 2008, and I have not left it out when I work as a corporate director. 

 

We discussed every morning about the figures on supply quantity, price, quality issues, inventory level, etc.. I wanted to predict daily profits through the meeting. 

 

One day, after I finished the meeting, I went back to my seat, and I was looking at the figures for the earnings forecast for the month. Then one of the sales managers knocked on my office. Upon entering, the manager informed me that the customer was reducing its own inventory days. As part of the Just In Time policies, it meant that it would reduce its own inventory days and at the same time reduce inventory costs. 

 

I think all decisions start with the analysis of the data. We immediately launched an analysis of how that would affect our sales and profits. In our company, which was in the early days of corporate operation, the reduction in the number of inventory days of the customer predicted a two-month deficit. Our analysis said that after two months, the current inventory would be exhausted and routine supply would be possible. Then we were able to turn into a surplus again. 

 

If that was the case, we believed that our surplus would be maintained if we could have the two-month grace period or if the customer company could expand the number of inventory days by 0.2 days as our analysis suggests. 

 

We started requesting those two suggestions to the manager of the client who was in charge of the inventory management.

 

At that time, I knew almost everyone from the person in charge of production, quality, purchasing, and logistics of the customer's factory to the directors. I attended all meetings of the client company during the initial setting process. 

 

And when I had heard that the customer would organize TFT to improve the operational productivity, I asked the customer if I could join the TFT team. These activities resulted in accumulating the trust of both sides.

 

So the customer said they would review our request, and we were waiting for the result of the review. While waiting, I visited the customer's warehouse and reviewed the number of work trucks considering our storage capabilities. I also reviewed all matters according to the reduction in the number of inventory days of the customer.

 

Finally our suggestions were accepted that the customer would expand 0.2 days of inventory level for two month. 

 

As a result, we were able to maintain the surplus, and the customer sent us a feedback saying that they were satisfied with our response and services. I look for favorable feedback from these clients in trust. Trust between the two companies can lead to a lot of cost savings and promote communication channels. 

 

From the beginning of the customer’s factory operation, we tried to find and do almost everything that could help improve the quality and productivity of our customers, so there was even a case where the maintenance department of the customer visited our factory to take measures in case of facility problems at our factory. This case cannot be made without mutual trust. 

 

After making profits with just one supplying act, it is not desirable to withdraw immediately when the customer is in trouble. 

 

The recognition that the development of customers is also our development is the first step in building trust.

Listening is a virtue that makes a leader stronger and stronger.

I have lived and worked in Mexico for 11 years. My company in Korea dispatched me to Mexico.

I have worked in the head office in South Korea for such a long time. Then I was dispatched. I started as a sales director of the branch company, the coil service center in Mexico. After 5 years in that company I had to move to another coil service center as a president following the order of head office. I had to start the company from the beginning.  I have established, constructed, managed, and operated the coil service centers which were designed as the outpost for supplying steels to the customers in Mexico. After years, the head office ordered me to move to a steel production company as CMO. So the total duration of my working in Mexico was for 11 years.

After 11 years in Mexico, I went back to Korea. And then I am back to Mexico again. I am staying in Mexico now. It would be quite rare for Koreans to have this long stay and work experience in the Mexican steel market.

The reason why I describe my career is that I want to talk about ‘Listening’.

One day, a team leader from the headquarters came on a business trip to Mexico. As far as I remembered, he had traveled to Mexico about two or three times. We prepared several customer interviews according to his business trip schedule, and the schedule went smoothly. 

Since then, the business trip schedule has almost ended, and he had consultations and interviews with us, who are working as sales directors there. In conclusion, we only listened to the team leader's extensive knowledge without saying a few words for 2 hours. 

The team leader seemed to know everything about the Mexican steel market more than me, who had worked in Mexico for more than 10 years. With only two or three visits, the team leader was excellent enough to be a Mexican market expert. 

In that way, he returned to the headquarters with only his thoughts lined up. Did the team leader achieve his business trip goals and contribute enough to the development of the company? I doubt it. Above all, the team leader wouldn't listen. Even if he knew a lot – I hope he actually knew a lot for the development of the organization. –, the team leader should have listened. 

He should have listened to the local voices, added his knowledge and thoughts, made a business trip report that would contribute to the development of the organization, reported it, and made his superiors' judgment right. 

That was the team leader's business trip. But he didn't listen. Our directors who attended the meeting together were also people who had met and listened to customers in Mexico for at least three years and solved the situation. We were silent on the team leader from headquarters, who refused to listen to our thoughts and opinions. Now that I think about it, we shouldn't have been silent, but we didn't want to talk to him who didn't want to listen. There are quite a few such cases. Too many examples of this can be found within the organization. There are quite a number of errors in listening within the organization. 

We are human beings. It would be natural even if the colleague sitting next to me is an expert in the related field, we often don't want to admit the person who eats together and goes to the bathroom together as an expert. Therefore, we pay a considerable amount of money for listening, even though our capabilities and qualities are no different from those of famous consultants. Leaders should listen to such opinions. The view we know cannot be the same as the view of others.

That's what I think. The role of leaders in achieving organizational goals is really important. Depending on the environment or market situation the organization faces, the virtues that leaders must have may vary. However, we should think about an excellent leader. For leaders, listening is a highly excellent fighting skill. Even in negotiations with rivals, listening increases the chances of winning the negotiations. 

That doesn't mean you should keep your mouth shut. But basically, you have to listen to it a lot. At least you shouldn't make the mistake of talking on a business trip to listen. 

There is too much uncertainty in people's lives. In fact, even in such a leader that has no qualifications as a leader, there exist phenomena that can only be seen as luck due to changes in market conditions and environments. A good man must be blessed, and a good leader must surely be rewarded for his role, but there are many cases that are not the case.

Listening does not show weakness. Listening is a virtue that makes a leader stronger and stronger.