[Mid-sized Business Master Series]② Nexis Design Group Kim Honggwang... Furniture Industry's 'High School Graduate Legend'

Joined Hanssem at 22 in 1983... 42 Years Dedicated to Furniture Industry Development
From 'Discarded Card' Due to Poor Attitude to 'New Intellectual'
Devoted Youth to Establishing 'Furniture Standards', "K-Furniture Has Global Competitiveness"

Editor's NoteThere is a hidden master in our company. A 'gosu' refers to a person with exceptional skills or abilities in any field or group. Especially in small and medium-sized enterprises, there are many hidden masters who remain unnoticed. It is because these individuals have quietly protected their company (organization) and employees that both the company (organization) and its staff have been able to grow together. In 'Gosu Chronicles,' we aim to share the passionate life stories of the true masters who protect those around us.

"Challenge the globalization of furniture with new K-furniture suited for new living spaces."

In the domestic furniture industry, there is hardly anyone who does not know Kim Hong-kwang, Vice President of Nexis Design Group. Perhaps more people remember him as 'Kim Hong-kwang of Hanssem.' He was the person who gathered opinions from the furniture industry to establish 'furniture standards' and boldly voiced criticisms to the government on behalf of the industry. He is the 'top master' of the furniture industry.

Honggwang Kim, Vice President of Nexis Design Group. [Photo by Nexis Design Group]

Vice President Kim emphasized, "The domestic furniture industry, currently localized with a 'modular system furniture of small variety and mass production,' has lost its ability to respond to market changes," adding, "We need to develop a new furniture system that reflects K-culture by collaborating and integrating excellent architectural technology, superior home appliance interiors, and the world's best Internet of Things (IoT) technology."

In 1983, at the age of twenty-two, after completing military service and contemplating his career path, the Hanssem job application form handed to him by his girlfriend marked the beginning of a 'high school graduate myth' in the furniture industry. That year, he started working at Hanssem's Suam factory with nine other new hires. With curly hair and a somewhat rebellious attitude, Hanssem did not welcome him. After a few days, assuming he would quit, he was almost neglected and assigned to the quality inspection team for shipped products.

Rebellious High School Graduate New Employee Earns 'Star' After 30 Years

Kim Hong-kwang, the high school graduate new employee who was treated as a 'discarded card,' was actually pleased by the seniors' neglect. He found joy in disassembling and reassembling furniture parts. To avoid being caught by seniors, he delved into every process related to furniture?from design to production, management, and sales?and gradually became an expert. Ten years after joining, in 1993, he left the title of quality inspection team leader and became an office worker (assistant manager). In 2012, after 30 years of working, he was promoted to executive director at Hanssem, writing a high school graduate myth.

There were crises as well. In 2000, Hanssem became the first in the furniture industry to introduce an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system. Vice President Kim played a key role in this project, but about a month after the ERP system was implemented, a massive logistics error occurred. He recalled, "An error in the system caused a large number of logistics orders to be omitted, resulting in a serious situation where we could not meet delivery deadlines promised to customers. The company suffered losses amounting to tens of billions of won and took nearly a year to resolve the incident. Thinking back on that time is truly dizzying."

He was tempered and grew through such experiences. At Hanssem, he mastered all areas including quality control, product design, domestic and international furniture production detail technology development, product design development, exhibitions, IT system management, trade operations, after-sales service management, environment and safety management, material and construction method development, and director of the Living Environment Technology Research Institute. In 2016, he was promoted to director, dropping the 'executive' title, then to managing director in 2020, and completely left Hanssem in July 2023. Since 2023, he has been pursuing new dreams at Nexis Design Group, a mid-sized company.

Kim, who has been in the furniture industry for 42 years this year, emphasizes the 'globalization of K-furniture' because he believes the breakthrough for the currently crisis-stricken furniture industry lies there. He trusts the technology and potential of K-furniture and has already experienced that furniture made domestically can succeed in the global market.

Kim Hong-gwang during his time as the head of quality inspection at Hanssem (fourth from the right in the back row). He was 29 years old at the time. In April 1990, 14 outstanding employees selected from a Korean furniture company went on a training trip to Japan. During the training, they visited the famous Japanese furniture company Toto and took a group photo. The two people wearing white work uniforms are employees of Toto in Japan. Some of those who went on the training trip later became independent and have been running furniture companies ever since.
[Photo by Kim Hong-gwang]

"We even created specs for American furniture... but K-furniture standardization remains incomplete"

In 2007, to export kitchen furniture to the United States, he separately created 'American furniture standards' because exports required catering to American preferences. American furniture pursues tradition and durability. Since rental housing accounts for a large proportion, furniture remains in use even when residents change. Therefore, sturdy furniture is made with thick plywood and solid wood. Basic furniture consists of a rectangular frame with plywood or solid wood side panels and top/bottom panels connected by steel joints, with doors attached to a frame (picture frame) structure at the front.

Vice President Kim created production standards that did not follow this method; instead of using steel joints to connect side and top/bottom panels, he used a groove-and-tongue fitting method. He introduced, "Currently, 85% of the American furniture industry, having realized the usefulness of this method, produces furniture using this technique," adding, "This is a case where domestic furniture production technology was recognized for its excellence even in the U.S. market." He argued, "No matter how important tradition is, it cannot surpass efficiency."

His lifelong dedication has been to 'furniture standards.' The furniture industry consists of separate parts companies, manufacturers, distributors, and importers. Moreover, different manufacturers produce sofas, beds, dining tables, kitchen furniture, and storage furniture. Although they all converge in the 'home,' there has been no information sharing or collaboration across fields. Construction companies (developers) have not ordered furniture as sets for large apartment constructions to reduce costs but have ordered cabinets, countertops, etc., separately, perceiving them as competitors rather than collaborators.

Because of this, the industry failed to present unified opinions to the government and could not secure government support. Consequently, they were controlled by unreasonable and unrealistic regulations from various ministries without being able to voice their concerns, he explained.

Separate regulations by Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Trade... Efforts toward 'standardization'

Kim Hong-kwang, Vice President of Nexis Design Group, during his tenure as Director of Hanssem Living Environment Technology Research Institute.
[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

For newly built apartments, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport controls harmful substance emissions for complexes with 500 or more households under the Healthy-Friendly Housing Construction Standards. The Ministry of Environment regulates newly built apartments with 100 or more households under the Pre-Approval Certification System for Building Materials. Vice President Kim questioned, "Does this mean people living in apartments with fewer than 100 or 500 households can live in apartments emitting harmful substances?" He added, "I have been working for the past 40 years to standardize these unrealistic and unreasonable regulations to fit reality."

Safety standards for Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC) also differ by ministry. The Ministry of Environment's environmental labeling certification standard is 0.4 mg/㎡·h, while the Ministry of Trade's safety standard is 4 mg/㎡·h?a tenfold difference. This was one of the issues he tried to fix by establishing furniture standards but achieved limited success. Therefore, in 2010, under his leadership, the 'Korea Furniture Industry Development Council' was established to request the government to enact 'national standards' suitable for the furniture industry after industry discussions.

Vice President Kim served as chairman of the council. The result was the creation of the furniture 'eco-friendly rating.' The eco-friendly rating is classified from E2 to E1, E0, and SE0 based on formaldehyde emission levels. Domestic furniture only needs to meet the Ministry of Environment's E1 standard, but during his tenure, Hanssem complied with the higher 'E0' standard. Consequently, other companies followed Hanssem's lead, adopting the E0 standard as the 'norm,' which naturally raised the eco-friendly rating of domestic furniture.

He has served or continues to serve as chairman of the Furniture Industry Development Council, advisor to the Trade Commission, standard review committee member of the Korea Housing Furniture Association, and product safety advisor to the Korea Agency for Technology and Standards. For his contributions, he received the National Industrial Medal (2015) and was selected as a New Knowledge Person of Korea in 2018 despite being a high school graduate, among other accolades.

"Domestic furniture industry losing competitiveness... Urgent need for government-industry-academia-research cooperation system"

The furniture industry consists of separate parts suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and importers. Different manufacturing companies produce sofas, beds, dining tables, kitchen furniture, and storage furniture. There is no information sharing or collaboration within each sector, so they have been unable to present a unified opinion on the entire industry to the government.
[Photo by Hanssem]

When he was 'Kim Hong-kwang of Hanssem,' the industry's number one company, he could hold the key to the furniture industry and establish furniture standards one by one, given the role and responsibility of a leading company. However, as Vice President of the mid-sized Nexis Design Group, it is difficult for Kim Hong-kwang to lead the industry proactively.

Nevertheless, his passion for the development of the furniture industry remains strong. Vice President Kim said, "The domestic furniture industry must break away from the current control system characterized by unrealistic regulations, certification systems, and differing standards among administrative ministries," adding, "It is urgent to establish a cooperative system among the government, industry, academia, and research institutes to establish national standards."

He diagnoses that the domestic furniture industry has currently lost its competitiveness. Materials come from Europe, manufacturing equipment from Germany and China, design from Italy, and manufacturing and price competitiveness are led by China and Vietnam ahead of Korea. He said, "The global furniture market is estimated at 1,440 trillion won, with China occupying 360 trillion won (25%). The domestic furniture industry barely maintains about 10 trillion won, only 0.05% of the entire industry. To overcome this, we must integrate Korea's advanced electronic communication technology into furniture to create new K-furniture," reiterating his point.

Is it a coincidence that Hanssem's business declined after his departure? Is the furniture industry's recession simply due to the downturn in the construction industry, its upstream sector? Regarding his former employer Hanssem, he said, "Currently, performance is somewhat contracted, but I believe it is undergoing transitional difficulties for another growth phase," adding, "However, accurately recognizing market changes and deciding on strategies to overcome the crisis is entirely the responsibility of the current management."

He reflected, "Looking back now, I think all these things were possible because I belonged to a leading company," and expressed concern, "I worry about who will take on these roles in the future." These words convey his regret about the efforts he made to establish furniture standards despite criticism and the situation after his absence.

"Work with sincerity and passion to be recognized and respected"

Mr. J, who has operated a kitchen furniture specialty company for 30 years, said about Vice President Kim, "He is small and slight in stature but a rare talent who can engage in sharp, incisive conversations," emphasizing, "Having devoted over 40 years to furniture, the industry should pay attention to his voice that penetrates the trends of the global furniture market."

When asked to give advice on wise workplace life to juniors and employees, Vice President Kim said, "As an office worker, you must strive to be recognized and respected not only by subordinates, colleagues, and superiors but also within related industries," adding, "Sincerity and passion are important. Sincerity means faithfully performing your role in your position, and passion is the fundamental capability for success. From passion, your unique value is created."

◆A Word from the Master

The current furniture industry has passed a simple crisis stage and faces a situation where it cannot survive without responding to new changes. The government and the entire related industry must unite to seek alternatives, and the furniture industry itself must structurally reorganize. Ultimately, it is time to develop a new furniture system. As a country with excellent architectural technology, superior home appliance interiors, and the world's best electronic information and communication technology, we must collaborate and integrate Internet of Things (IoT) technology to create a new furniture system suited for new living spaces. It is time to attempt globalization with K-furniture reflecting K-culture.