In 2019, SK Energy acquired the Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) Certification for the first time for its asphalt products, paving the road for exporting to Japan. This year, it succeeded once again in acquiring the certification, solidifying its business in the Japanese market. By passing the Maintenance Surveillance, which must be conducted after three years, SK Energy has proved its outstanding quality management.

▲ Source: Japanese Standards Association’s homepage (https://www.jsa.or.jp/en/)

In summer 2018, the Asphalt T&M Unit and Quality Management Unit 2 (former name of Quality Management Unit 2) of SK Energy’s Production Management Office started discussing the acquirement of JIS mark. Its initial goal when entering the Japanese market was to annually sell about 500,000 tons and make KRW 10 billion operating profit. Although SK Energy had achieved 33% of Japanese asphalt market share, they decided that JIS mark is necessary to stabilize its position in Japan. Consequently, 3 months after they started the preparation process to gain JIS Mark, on January 28, 2019, SK Energy became the first in SK Group to attain the JIS Mark for its asphalt products.

Three years after being qualified for JIS the first time, this year SK Energy passed the certification maintenance evaluation, proving its unrivaled quality. What is more significant about this achievement is that it passed all criteria without falling short of any of them despite having only three months of preparation.

Let us now meet and hear from Choi Hyo-young (Leader of Quality Management Unit 1) and Nam Eun-jin (Quality Control Engineer, Quality Management Unit 2) from the Strategy Operation Division, who worked hard to earn the JIS Mark three years ago.