ASAN, South Chungcheong Province ― The air was crisp and quiet inside the 14,280-square-meter room on Wednesday morning. The only sounds at the Hyundai Mobis Asan module plant in South Chungcheong Province were from machines moving heavy components and a few people assembling auto parts at their work stations. The overall atmosphere was peaceful, even serene.

But being quiet does not mean being unproductive.

About 300,000 chassis (front and rear) modules consisting of 57 parts from Mobis as well as other suppliers, the cockpit module (44 parts) and the front end modules (28 parts) for Hyundai Motor’s best-selling LF Sonata, HG Grandeur and AG Aslan are churned out every year and delivered to the nearby Hyundai Motor plant. This is equivalent to 66 units produced every hour.

“We assemble and supply important sections in a readymade module form. This way, all the automaker needs to do is stick the module into the mold with a snap, and it’s done,” said Paik Seung-keol, Mobis’ assistant PR manager.

“This saves time, labor and therefore cost in parts assembly for the automaker,” he added. Mobis claims the module production has reduced the number of necessary components by 35 percent and the total weight by 20 percent compared to the previous parts supply-oriented business model.

But what makes the Asan module special for Mobis, a pillar of Hyundai Motor Group, is that this facility is the prototype of the company’s six domestic and 15 overseas module plants worldwide.

From the largest Ulsan plant to the latest one to be constructed in Mexico next to its sister Kia Motor’s manufacturing plant, Asan has been the benchmark for the “Just in Sequence” process.

“Just in Sequence is a very Mobis way of production. We receive orders from Hyundai Motor plant in real time, then start assembling the module, and deliver them to the automaker minutes before the workers there need them,” said In Gi-jeong, production team manager at the plant.

“Because we make and deliver the products in real time, we are able to produce all different types of modules according to order, and we keep no stock, which dramatically reduces storage costs,” he added. “We consider JIS an improved version of the famous ‘Just in Time’ process represented by Toyota that allows a daily supply system.”

Automation enhances and secures quality.

A total of 104 sequences of the assembly are recorded with bar codes and tracked around the clock while 64 different function tests are held. All items can be tracked for 23 years, in case the drivers need after-sales service.

To eliminate the risk of worker-related malfunctions, 103 kinds of programs are preset to standardize the quality. Robot-lookalike automatic trollies and carts carry the heavy parts on aluminum rails. They are even designed to automatically recharge when idle.

Perhaps, the only un-automated part of the plant was the small botanical structures installed at the corners of the plant to give a “human atmosphere” to the digitized and automated facility.

“We value people. We value quality,” Paik said.

By Bae Ji-sook (Baejisook@heraldcorp.com)