‘Global Hidden Champion 2020’ KCC Takes the Leap

KCC Co., Ltd., was selected as the ‘Global Hidden Champion 2020’ for Korea. Global Hidden Champions is a project led by the Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups to discover small and medium-sized enterprises with innovative power and growth potential and develop them into export leaders.

Established in 1992, KCC has spent 28 years focused on the development of hydraulic and pneumatic parts and technologies. At the time of its foundation, the valve market in Korea was completely controlled by Japanese, German, and U.S. companies. “It hurt my pride. I wanted to localize key parts by any means available and reduce dependence on imported products,” said Dukgyu Park, CEO of KCC.

For that reason, he has invested over 10% of the company’s sales revenue in R&D. With its management philosophy that “quality is pride,” KCC established the Hydraulic and Pneumatic Pressure R&D Center in 2004. In addition, all employees must complete 50 hours of external training each year.

Hydraulic and pneumatic parts, which rely on oil pressure and air pressure, respectively, are used in machinery and automated products including cylinders, buttons, paddles, and grabs. These parts are mainly found in excavators and machine tools. In line with future industrial trends, KCC has established its own lineup of facilities to produce secondary cells for electric vehicles and drones, etc.

The company’s R&D efforts have borne fruit. In 2007, KCC began exporting pneumatic solenoid valves to Japan. Additionally, KCC won recognition for the reliability of its products from the Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials and became the only company in the industry to be selected as an autonomous procurement supplier of POSCO. KCC has obtained dozens of patents, such as for a gripper/gripper sensor detection unit, a vacuum pad system, a solenoid valve, and a valve-integrated mechatronics cylinder system. KCC has also achieved various qualifications and certifications for domestic product supply and export, including R Mark, CE Certification, a Blast Valve Performance Certificate, and maintenance certification from five power generating companies.

KCC operates factories in Gunpo and Daegu, with its head office located in Seoul. KCC is a global hidden champion that has built not only a domestic sales network, but a global one extending beyond the Asian markets of Japan, China, Thailand, and Indonesia to Iran and Turkey.