Real Man

The next page showed the inside of the S8 factory prepared by the Innovation Strategy Office.

Jang Joon-sik, who was staring at the TV screen, quickly nodded.

“I think I understand how it works now.”

“That’s not enough. We have to think about what we need to check when we go there, and what we need to prepare for that.”

“It won’t be easy since we’ve never been there before.”

“That’s why we have to do more thorough research.”

It was at that moment.

The phone of Kwon Se-jung, the assistant manager on the table, vibrated.

Beep.

-We will also conduct the requested semiconductor factory tour during the meeting.

The assistant manager, who checked the content, smiled.

“An Il-gi, the section chief, approved the factory tour. He also said that the engineers will join us.”

“Good timing. Let’s make good use of this situation.”

Following Yoo-hyun’s words, they all planned to visit Shinwa Semiconductor.

Their content became more colorful as imagination, experience of others, and analysis of semiconductor processes were added.

Time passed, and the day of visiting Shinwa Semiconductor came.

Shinwa Semiconductor, located in Osan, Gyeonggi-do, occupied a considerable area, similar to the size of Hansung Display’s Gimpo factory.

More than 80 percent of its sales came from memory semiconductors, and the rest was handled by system semiconductors.

It was a fact that system semiconductors were not yet at the level to compete with the world.

But they had a foundation built by memory semiconductors.

Shinwa Semiconductor converted some of its memory factories into system semiconductor factories, and quickly increased the proportion of system semiconductors.

The factory at the center of the change was the S8 factory that Yoo-hyun entered.

Ching.

As he opened the door and entered, the factory scenery unfolded.

An Il-gi, the section chief, explained the factory.

“This place is where design, analysis, and production are all done…”

“Are we going to the analysis room first?”

Kim Hak-il, the team leader who followed, asked, and An Il-gi nodded.

“Yes. That’s right. We will have a brief meeting at the analysis room first, then tour the production factory, and then proceed with the preliminary negotiation.”

Thump thump.

Yoo-hyun walked along the corridor and scanned the surroundings.

He took in the behavior of the passing people, the words he heard, the props he saw around, and the outfits of the cooperative company staff.

It was the same for Kwon Se-jung and Jang Joon-sik, who walked with him.

Ching.

Yoo-hyun, who wore a white gown, entered the analysis room after taking an air shower.

He didn’t need to wear a dust-proof suit here.

In the analysis room full of equipment, the engineer introduced the surroundings himself.

“In our analysis room…”

After a brief explanation, Lim Chae-yeol, the manager, handed over the board he brought from the engineer.

It was a 1.8-inch board that the Future Product Research Institute made by itself.

“Here is the board you requested.”

“Okay. Please wait a moment.”

The engineer who took the board got up from his seat, and Lim Chae-yeol waited for him.

Meanwhile, Kwon Se-jung and Jang Joon-sik walked around the analysis room.

Thanks to Shin Je-ho, the senior manager of the New Product Planning Team, who personally attended them, they were able to look around the analysis room.

On the other hand, Yoo-hyun faced An Il-gi, the section chief of Shinwa Semiconductor, with Kim Hak-il, the team leader.

The place was a meeting table in the corner of the analysis room, and the atmosphere was somewhat distracted because it was open.

But there was no problem in talking.

“We plan to use 8-inch wafers at first. And the price you requested is…”

Kim Hak-il, the team leader, countered An Il-gi’s proposal concretely.

“The expected board size is 0.9 inches, right? Considering the yield, it’s less than 70 per wafer. Can you match the price you asked for?”

“We can do that to some extent by simplifying the process.”

“But to meet the quantity we want…”

“That part is not confirmed yet…”

Yoo-hyun had no chance to intervene in the fierce discussion of the two experts.

Yoo-hyun didn’t bother to join the expert conversation and stepped back to feel the atmosphere.

Kim Hak-il, the team leader, suddenly asked him.

“Manager Han, don’t you have any other thoughts?”

“Well, it’s so technical that I don’t know much. I’m interested in the price and quantity, but you can’t give me any definite answer right now, can you?”

At Yoo-hyun’s question, An Il-gi tried to hide his expression and answered with a smile.

“We have finished the internal review. However, there are some parts that need to be confirmed for coordination, and we will discuss them during the preliminary negotiation.”

“I guess you need to check the schedule, since you have other IC production.”

Kim Hak-il, the team leader, said instead of Yoo-hyun.

He was considerate of the other side because the debate was quite intense.

It was a good attitude, but it didn’t match the situation where they had to compete.

Yoo-hyun threw some firewood into the furnace so that he could burn again.

“Team leader, I don’t know much, but why did you request an analysis of the board we made ourselves?”

“That’s because Shinwa Semiconductor asked for it, right?”

“I know. The inches are different and the integration is different, so I wonder if it’s necessary.”

Google requested a 0.9-inch HD resolution semiconductor display.

This was different from the existing 1.8-inch board in size and resolution.

Yoo-hyun didn’t miss the shaking eyes of An Il-gi.

He quickly hid his expression and smiled as he answered.

“We will make it with the same concept, so it will be good to check it out.”

“Oh, I see. Even if the board is different, it helps to see it.”

“Well, something like that. Haha.”

Yoo-hyun smiled as he watched An Il-gi laugh awkwardly.

“I see. Thank you for your kind answer.”

“…”

On the other hand, Kim Hak-il, the team leader, looked thoughtful.

A doubt that he didn’t have before came up in his sharp eyes.

At that time, Kwon Se-jung checked the equipment in the analysis room.

He walked around and looked at the equipment suppliers, the various histories attached to the equipment, the shapes of the parts on the equipment, and so on.

Heo Jae-gu, the senior manager who was in charge of the guide, left for a moment, so he could move freely.

Thanks to that, Jang Joon-sik also wandered around without any interference.

Kwon Se-jung and Jang Joon-sik, who were scattered, focused on the people.

The people in the analysis room, the people passing by the corridor, the people having a meeting, and so on.

Everyone who filled the surroundings was information for Jang Joon-sik.

Buzz buzz.

There was a place where the two people headed at the same time.

It was the analysis equipment where the engineers gathered.

Zing.

The meeting ended when Deputy Manager An Il-gi’s phone rang.

He smiled slightly after reading the message and got up from his seat.

“Please stay seated for a moment. I’ll go talk to the engineer for the next course of action.”

“Alright.”

Team Leader Kim Hak-il, who answered, checked that An Il-gi had left and asked Yoo-hyun.

“What did you mean by what you said earlier?”

“Which part are you referring to?”

“The part where you said there was no need to request an analysis.”

“I thought it was strange to do unnecessary things. I wondered if there was some intention behind it.”

Yoo-hyun didn’t know much about the semiconductor process, but he had many experts around him.

Team Leader Jeong In-wook, who was in charge of OLED mobile products, was one of those experts.

-Do you need to check different sizes of substrates? There’s no reason to do that. The processes are different for each factory, and you just have to design according to the rules. Why would you do that?

Of course, the more expert was Team Leader Kim Hak-il, who was right in front of him.

He even had a decent business sense.

“Intention?”

“Yes. For example, it could be a situation where you can only be sure of the production feasibility by checking the finished substrate.”

Kim Hak-il’s brow furrowed as he heard Yoo-hyun’s words.

“Are you saying there might be a problem with the factory?”

“I don’t know. I’m not an expert.”

“Of course you’re not. Wait a minute…”

As if he had something in mind, Kim Hak-il thought for a while.

Yoo-hyun didn’t intervene and waited for him to find the answer himself.

As if he had a flash of insight, Kim Hak-il got up from his seat.

“I have something to check, do you want to come with me?”

“Of course.”

Yoo-hyun gladly followed his suggestion.

It was good for him to take the lead in this deal, as he had the key.

Yoo-hyun had created a situation where he could be more proactive, and his intention had worked well.

As if to prove it, Kim Hak-il whispered as he walked.

“If there’s a problem, we can also check it with the analysis equipment.”

“Why is that?”

“There will be more issues on the problematic equipment side. And if there’s a problem, we’ll have an advantage in the pre-negotiation.”

“What if we can’t produce ours either because of the problem?”

“No. If that was the case, they wouldn’t have called us. Just watch.”

He answered firmly and walked confidently.

He seemed to have a conviction in his mind.

Thud thud.

Soon he approached one of the equipment where people were gathered.

Kwon Se-jung and Jang Jun-sik were there too.

As Yoo-hyun met his colleagues, Kim Hak-il pushed his way through the crowd.

His eyes sparkled like a hawk hunting for prey.

When the sorting was almost done, Deputy Manager An Il-gi came over.

“Team Leader, where did you go?”

“Oh, I just looked around for a bit.”

Kim Hak-il answered casually, and An Il-gi nodded.

He didn’t seem to have any idea what Kim Hak-il had seen, as he was not a professional engineer.

“Then let’s move on to the next place.”

“Sure. What about Manager Lim?”

“He was talking to the engineer. I told him, so he’ll be here soon.”

“Thanks for taking care of that.”

“Don’t mention it. This is our job.”

After exchanging formal greetings, Kim Hak-il turned to Yoo-hyun.

He then made an okay sign with his finger.

What?

Yoo-hyun hid his bafflement and gave him a thumbs up.

At that moment, Kim Hak-il’s mouth curled up.

Thud thud.

Kim Hak-il whispered to Yoo-hyun.

“There’s a high possibility that there’s a problem with the thin film process. The reason is…”

Yoo-hyun heard the decisive information he wanted.

Kwon Se-jung and Jang Jun-sik also quietly came over and shared what they had learned.

“The equipment supplier is…”

“When I checked the rotation of the staff…”

With the two people’s stories, he had a rough picture of the situation.

He didn’t feel so bad about touring the scenery outside the semiconductor factory without going inside.

“As you can see, the wafer is inserted into the manufacturing factory…”

The process engineer’s explanation continued.

Yoo-hyun slipped away to a quiet place.

Swipe.

He took out his phone and reported what he had seen and heard to Section Chief Park Seung-woo.

“The material supply situation here is…”

Section Chief Park Seung-woo, who was recording Yoo-hyun’s words, paused.

-There’s a problem with the thin film process?

“Yes. Team Leader Kim confirmed it, so it must be true.”

-Do you know when the problem started?

“Why do you ask?”

Yoo-hyun asked, and Section Chief Park Seung-woo answered without hesitation.

-The shipment and inventory that were exposed to the outside don’t seem to have a big problem. It’s not a proof that the factory has a problem if the ultra-precision process doesn’t make the product.

“Of course they hid it.”

It was a situation where Shinwa Semiconductor had no choice but to hide the bad news.

On the other hand, the Innovation Strategy Office, which was secretly preparing for a takeover, needed a clear weakness of theirs.

They had to be careful.

If they poked too lightly, they might end up with a worse result than not doing it at all.

They both agreed on that.

-That’s why I’m curious. If it was a problem from the beginning, it means it’s hard to fix.

“There must be some traces left if that was the case.”

-I can’t tell clearly from the new staff recruitment status. There are actually people working in the factory…

Section Chief Park Seung-woo was mumbling about what he had investigated so far.