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[Power Interview Hot People] CEO Joon Koo Kim is quoted as saying that “We are targeting global laparoscopic surgical robots market”

by Sung Woon Kim | Report entered on 15 Mar. 2022 [09:48 a.m.]

Hello, everyone, I’m Joo Young Kim of Power Interview Hot People. A No. 1 global company that's small yet strong has been gaining attention from investors for entering into a future business field and showing results. meerecompany, a display semiconductor equipment maker, was first listed on KOSDAQ in 2005. It is now leading the medical robot sector by developing the surgical robot Revo-i, the second robot of its kind in the world and the first from Korea. In today's Power Interview Hot People, we're going to meet Joon Koo Kim, CEO of meerecompany, and talk about this new business.

Q. Thank you for coming despite your busy schedule. Please introduce meerecompany to our viewers.

A. meerecompany was established in 1984. It has three main businesses, which are our equipment business, laparoscopic surgical robot business, and 3D sensor business. The equipment business is where we started as a company. When it was first established, it manufactured precision processing equipment that goes into the post-process of the display manufacturing process. Now, it is expanding to manufacture semiconductor manufacturing equipment and secondary battery manufacturing equipment. The laparoscopic surgical robot business is a new addition that we're pursuing. We started R&D in 2007, and through 11 years of steady investment, we launched Revo-i in 2018, the first laparoscopic surgical robot made in Korea. And lastly, there is the 3D sensor business based on a technology called ToF. So, meerecompany started as an equipment manufacturer but has become a company that has successfully commercialized all three of its main businesses, that is, the equipment business, the laparoscopic surgical robot business, and the sensor business.

Q. Of these three businesses, your area of focus is the display equipment business. Can you tell us what is the edge grinder, which accounts for the lion’s share of your sales?

A. As you said, edge grinders are one of our main products. It belongs to the equipment business, one of the three businesses I mentioned before.

Edge grinders are precision processing equipment used for post-processing in display manufacturing. During the display manufacturing process, the display is made of a very large glass panel called mother glass. After that, it is cut into various shapes and sizes of displays as desired by the end customers. When cut, however, the cut section is very uneven. This causes the stiffness of the panel to be significantly reduced. So, our edge grinder or diamond wheel grinds the cut section very precisely and finely to take the sharp edge off. So, when edge grinding is performed, panel stiffness increases by more than 50% as before, which is why it is a key process in display manufacturing. As for our customers, we have both Samsung Display and LG Display in Korea. In addition, we have global main display manufacturers as our customers, including BOE and CSOT in China and display manufacturers in Japan.

Q. It seems that you're signing more deals with Chinese companies. What is the secret of your leading position in the edge grinder market?

A. Edge grinding tools are high-precision processing equipment. Therefore, it is critical to implement precise control and mechanical stability. Recently, as IT devices are getting thinner and lighter, the rigidity requirements of the mounted panels are also increasing. It can be said that our competitive edge lies in pre-emptively identifying display the market trends and technical requirements of customers and focusing on diversification of new portfolios through continuous R&D.

In the past, edge grinders were mainly used for processing the cross-section of right-angled panels. These days, however, the design of IT devices and products with IT devices applied become more diverse and lightweight. Following the trend, there's been a demand for various shaping of panels such as rounded corners or the so-called notch cut. We have been proactive in adapting to these changes and successfully developed high-precision shape processing technology for the first time in the world. Our equipment is the key to enabling our customers to implement a variety of display form factors. To summarize, the reason why we have become a global leader in our field was that we understood what customers need by closely communicating with them, and then we provided new equipment when they needed it, based on our technological advantage.

Q. Now the company is expanding from the display field to the semiconductor equipment field. Do you manufacture semiconductor wafer processors?

A. Yes, that's correct. Recently, we succeeded in developing semiconductor processing equipment based on our world-best sophisticated precision grinding processing technology, which we already had in the display field. I can’t tell you all the details, but last year, the verification process for mass-production of our newly developed wafer processing equipment was completed by a global memory semiconductor manufacturer in Korea.

The barrier to entry for semiconductor manufacturing equipment is very high. Even after development is complete, it is put into a mass production line and goes through a period of verification. The mass production verification was completed last year, and now our equipment is used in mass production lines. As you know, the entry barrier for semiconductor manufacturing process equipment is very high. So, getting into the supply chain itself is a great achievement. I think the fact that our company furnished semiconductor manufacturing main process equipment this time in a mass production line is huge. Based on that track record, we are now developing a new wafer processing technology.

Q. As far as I'm aware, the company started secondary battery manufacturing. There are many different areas in the battery business. Which one is your focus area? 

A. meerecompany is focusing on all-solid-state battery manufacturing equipment. As you well know, all-solid-state batteries are a new technology that can dramatically improve stability and energy density compared to liquid electrolyte batteries that are currently in widespread use. Because of these advantages, secondary battery manufacturers are heavily investing in the all-solid-state battery field. For all-solid-state batteries to be successfully mass-produced, all-solid-state materials are important. What’s more important, however, is developing the right equipment for manufacturing them since the manufacturing process needs to be drastically changed. That is where our company is investing heavily right now. Under these circumstances, we have been selected as the leading organization for the all-solid-state battery manufacturing equipment development project, which has been promoted by the government since September 2020. In addition to meerecompany, companies that were previously manufacturing secondary battery manufacturing equipment such as CIS and DH are also participating in this project. Samsung SDI is participating as a private investor, especially since it has a demand for this equipment. We believe that we can become a game changer in this market once the three companies, including us, who have technologies related to manufacturing equipment, and Samsung SDI work together and successfully complete their commercialization. To this end, we completed a dry room for the establishment of a pilot line and a production line at our headquarters at the end of last year. Following its completion, all the manufacturing equipment manufactured by the three companies will be fitted and full-scale testing can begin this year. Therefore, we expect that our R&D and technology development in this field will be further accelerated.

Q. Now let’s talk about a new growth business of meerecompany. Your company began to challenge a new area, the laparoscopic surgical robot market. What was the background and reason for that endeavor?

A. In fact, when we first started out as a company, our main business was equipment. Then, we became an IPO and got listed in KOSDAQ in 2005. Because the display manufacturing equipment business, which was our main focus at that time, was heavily dependent on how many orders we got at a certain period or season, our performance was inevitably volatile. Depending on the industry cycle, our sales predictions fluctuated a great deal.

This prompted us to search for a business that will continue growing while complementing the cycle of equipment orders. That effort began immediately after the initial listing on KOSDAQ. When we were thinking about a new business field, we had two conditions in mind. First, we wanted to do a meaningful business related to human life. Second, we searched for a business with a very high entry barrier that other companies could not easily access. So, we wanted something that was quite different from display equipment. I think it was around 2006 when we first eyed the healthcare industry. We saw opportunities for a new growth engine in laparoscopic surgical robots, which were just beginning to be introduced in the healthcare industry, and so we started our development efforts.

Q. Your company committed 11 years to product development until 2018 when the first laparoscopic surgical robot was launched in Korea. What is the main advantage presented by your robot?

A. Revo-i has many advantages. The biggest one comes from the fact that it is a laparoscopic surgical robot. Revo-i supports and handles surgeries as we know them. Conventionally, there were two types of surgeries (13:21). First, there is laparotomy. This is familiar to us. Laparotomy is a surgical procedure performed by a doctor who cuts the patient's abdomen and directly sees and touches the surgical site inside. It was the most intuitive and most widely used surgical method for doctors. However, this causes a lot of bleeding and increased the possibility of infection. Consequently, this method tends to slow down the patient’s recovery after surgery. This was improved by laparoscopic surgery done by human hands, which is the second method (14:08) of surgery. This used to be done by hand instead of robots. Around 3 to 4 holes are made in the abdomen of a patient instead of cutting it open. Then, a camera is inserted inside of those holes to see inside. Through the other holes, surgical tools are inserted by the doctor who carries out the procedure. The doctor looks at the image transferred from the camera. This was a great improvement for the patient because they don’t need to have their body cut open. This procedure causes minimal bleeding, scarring, and potential infection. Also, it reduces recovery time. However, for doctors, it is very tricky to perform because they have to look at the image while maneuvering the surgical tools with their hands. Surgeons often say that it's like trying to tie their shoelaces using 1-meter chopsticks. So, it's a very complex procedure. Laparoscopic surgical robots present all the advantages for patients, and they also resolve these surgery issues for doctors. Revo-i is one of those robots. Doctors sit at the special control seat away from the patient instead of standing next to the patient to be operated on. They look into the 3D image of the inside transferred by the camera and control all 4 arms of the robot using the control equipment. This makes it easier for the doctor to perform operations and shortens the operating time. As a result, patients can recover much faster. Revo-i also offers convenience in terms of use. However, the biggest competitive point of Revo-i is that we don’t just stop at selling the robots. We provide a surgical robot program. So, in order to perform robotic surgery, we need to identify the doctor's needs at the beginning, and then develop and provide a customized training program that suits each doctor and hospital and educate the doctors and nurses. Another strength of our company is that we not only introduce a robot system but also use this surgical robot to provide an overall surgical robot program that can maximize the advantages and promote robotic surgery. Last but not least, we use an open R&D system. Because doctors have different backgrounds and different surgical techniques, there are various requirements that doctors and hospitals want for surgical robots. We are concentrating on sharing better quality surgical techniques for more patients by collecting those requirements in a timely manner and continuously applying them to our robots.

Q. You're putting so much effort into R&D. What is the cooperative system for open R&D?

A. As I mentioned briefly before, the key to the open R&D that we're pursuing is to maximize the value of our products by reflecting the needs of our customers in a timely manner. Even if different surgeons perform the same operation, there are many ways to perform them, depending on each surgeon, and the tools used by the surgeons are also different. Each of them will have different needs, too. Although we may not be able to meet all the needs of all the doctors and hospitals, we implement open R&D to try to reflect as many requirements as possible. If the development can be completed and supply can be done within the desired time with a reasonable level of investment, we try to reflect user requirements as much as possible. This is how to open R&D works.

In fact, one of the doctors who use Revo-i at one of the hospitals that introduced our Revo-i informed us about the need for surgical tools. He suggested that we change the shape of the front of the surgical tool, so we started development right away. Within a few months, we created and supplied a new surgical tool that is widely used now. In order to implement such effective open R&D, another thing we are pursuing is an open ecosystem. There are core technologies that go into the Revo-i surgical robot. Robot control technology, instrument design technology, surgical tools, and 3D vision are core technical competencies that are 100% internalized by our company. However, if there are additional technologies required in terms of convenience or technologies that other global companies have for specific surgical tools, we quickly adopt them for our robot. This is the kind of open ecosystem we are trying to realize. In fact, we are working with various companies in the U.S., Japan, India, and Sweden.

Q. Investors are showing considerable interest in the robot business. How do you plan to lead the surgical robot business in the future? Also, it seems that you have a special interest in overseas. What is your current status when it comes to entering the global market?

A. First of all, in the domestic market, we are targeting superior general hospitals where multiple surgeries are performed to supply our Revo-i. We are also targeting obstetrics and gynecology hospitals and semi-general hospitals to supply more laparoscopic surgery robots so that more patients can benefit from quality services. As a result of these efforts, in November of last year, we successfully supplied Revo-i to Korea Cancer Center Hospital, a public medical institution that's at the level of a general hospital. In the global market for laparoscopic surgical robots, about 6,000 units are currently in operation, including our competitors' products. Among them, only about 100 laparoscopic surgical robots are supplied and available in the Korean market. As such, Korea has a relatively small market. So, going global is imperative for us. Therefore, we are focusing on overseas markets that our competitors haven't penetrated yet, where there is a need to switch to laparoscopic robotic surgery and the potential for growth is big. In the short term, we are focusing on Southeast Asia or CIS countries in neighboring countries of Russia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia as our priority targets.

Q. In addition to robots, your company also entered the 3D sensor module business. It recently unveiled a next-generation camera at CES 2022. What kind of product is that?

A. The 3D sensor module is called Cube Eye, which is our own brand. The 3D sensor camera presented at CES 2022 is called ToF 3D camera. The cameras we're familiar with are RGB cameras, which take an image of the subject in front. However, Cube Eye calculates the distance of the object in front. This acts as a human eye, and using this camera enables you to do various applications such as extracting the appearance of an object in front of the camera and recognizing it, recognizing motion and tracking, and scanning space. At CES 2022, we demonstrated various applications in the exhibition hall. One of the demonstrations was a hygienically safe 3D virtual touch solution that allows control without touching the device at a time when concerns over COVID-19 are still pretty high. It introduced a facial recognition solution specially designed for forgery prevention and an eye-tracking solution that applied an eye tracking algorithm. As a future concept, in AR Zone, we presented a solution that can control various household appliances in a house without using a wearable device. Many buyers paid attention to the demonstrations, and we're very excited about these new developments.

Q. I heard your company developed core module technology for the metaverse. Can you talk more about this, too?

A. The metaverse is a hot topic these days, and one of the technologies used to implement the metaverse is spatial awareness or spatial recognition. It's also called spatial scanning. We have been participating in the national project for developing 5G-based 3D spatial scanning device technology for virtual space configuration since 2019. So, the field we are responsible for in the national project is implementing an integrated module through the 3D ToF Cube Eye camera, improving performance, and measuring performance. However, a 3D camera can be used for general purposes. There are a lot of applications for this: it can be used in home appliances (24:32) and the so-called retail intelligence, big data collection, and autonomous driving. We're focusing on applying Cube Eye to various sectors.

Q. Now, let's take a look at the future plans and visions of meerecompany. It was selected as an excellent small but strong company and also selected as one of the 1000 innovative companies in Korea. How do you feel about that?

A. For the 38 years since its establishment in 1984, meerecompany has become a globally acknowledged company through continuous investment in R&D, and it has secured competitiveness in precision grinding processing technology, which is a core strategic technology. I think that the competitive edge and potential of our technology were highly recognized when our company was chosen for those honors, and I'm truly grateful to those who have recognized our value. However, we don't want to stop there. We will try to sign more deals with many more potential customers around the world using the top-level technology that we have.

Q. Lastly, please tell us the goals and vision of meerecompany.

A. Our company's vision is grand. Our goal is to “Brighten your future.” Here, “your” means our customers and the families of meerecompany employees. So, we aim to secure technological competitiveness so that we can be recognized and lead the global market in all three of our business divisions including equipment business, surgical robot business, and sensor business and grow accordingly. Another one of our goals is to achieve and maintain top-tier performance and competitiveness in the global market in each of these three fields: Cube Eye, 3D camera, and laparoscopic surgical robots and other healthcare devices.

I mentioned that families of meerecompany employees are part of the people whose future we want to brighten. We are creating an environment where all members of the company can grow along with the company. In meerecompany, most of our employees are engineers. So, by continuously identifying and providing opportunities to participate in new technological development opportunities that our engineers have not encountered in other companies, we offer an environment in which not only the company can grow, but also the capabilities of each of our members. Therefore, the goal of meerecompany is to create a company in which our members always want to work by continuously identifying and providing various support programs that can benefit not only meerecompany employees but also their families.

We have heard about meerecompany, which is steadily expanding its business base from display equipment and semiconductors to surgical robots and 3D sensors. Revo-i, a laparoscopic surgical robot, was also selected as the 10th innovative medical device by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. I will look forward to greater growth and development by meerecompany, whose future is sure to shine brighter than even today. Thank you for your time, CEO Kim. 

A. Thank you.

Article : https://news.mtn.co.kr/news-detail/2022031509432828822