Brazilian delegation visits LS Tractor factory in South Korea

In the year in which it completes ten years of presence in Brazil, LS Tractor also celebrates 46 years of founding its tractor factory in South Korea. In 1977, LG - a company we know in Brazil for its electronics trade - began its production of the first tractors with its brand in that country. Part of a holding company, the tractor business prospered and, like other company products such as electronics, electrical cables and military components, began to gain markets around the world.

To understand a little about this success story, LS Tractor do Brasil took a group of partners to South Korea, to see the brand's headquarters. The group made up of 36 people, including company managers, dealer representatives from Brazil and Argentina, LS customers and partners, such as Revista Cultivar, embarked on an eight-day trip, between October 13th and 21st.

Departing from São Paulo, via the United Arab Emirates, the group arrived in Seoul on October 15th, to visit LS Mtron the following day, specifically the LS Yongsan Tower, which is one of the company's headquarters. A business card that revealed the size of the Business Group and the impressive volume of business that the brand develops, worldwide.

More than a tractor manufacturer, the Group is involved in businesses related to the electrical, materials and energy sectors. The LS corporation is a holding company that comprises several companies such as LS Cable & System, which develops energy and communication conductors. Another company is LS Electric, which manufactures electrical equipment and automation systems. Also part of the group is LS Nikko Copper, which operates in the copper smelting and refining sector, and another industrial branch of LS designs and manufactures injection molding machines. The company we know in Brazil is LS Mtron, which manufactures tractors and machines, as well as mechanical and electronic components, hence the name, M for “machinery” and “tron” for electronics.

A visit to this building, which is not the Group's main building, helps you understand some highlights of Korean society and culture. It is an industrial society, focused on efficient production, developing high-tech products and based on the youth of its workers. Both in the administrative and technical areas, it is possible to see that young people predominate among employees. The same impression is given when visiting other spaces, with the presence of many young workers, who give the country a mark of dynamism, agility and modernity.

For this reason, the company values ​​employee well-being, providing its buildings with rest and leisure areas, including relaxation and massage areas, as well as a gym and bodybuilding gym, which workers can access at any time. feel the need. Work is made more flexible based on well-being and achieving maximum productivity.

On site, a museum of the history of LS, opened in 2013, displays, in a very interactive way, the timeline, from its foundation in 1977, still linked to the LG brand, through the separation of the LG Group, between the years 2003- 2005, until arriving at the new LS Group, as it is currently constituted.

The company's history dates back to 1936, starting with the foundry business, moving on to cable production in 1947 and Lucky Packing for energy, which became the precursor to the current LS Electric. A sector within the company was also created to manufacture military mats in 1974, which serves the Korean defense industry. The origin of the tractors comes from the acquisition, in the 1980s, of the Gunpo Factory. Also, since 1986, the group has designed and produced electronic components, including wired and wireless transmission cables.

The company motto “Leading solutions for you”, which in a loose translation could be “Taking solutions for you”, demonstrates the company's philosophy of developing products and processes that make the customer's life easier.

LS MTRON

LS Mtron is the part of the group that produces tractors. Currently, the production volume reaches around 30 thousand tractors per year, in Korean territory alone, with a production potential of 43 thousand tractors per year. In addition to South Korea, LS has factories in the USA, China and Brazil. There are more than 500 distribution points in 40 countries around the world.

LS's tractor business around the world is based on four main pillars: the Jeonju unit, in South Korea, the Qingdao factory, in China, the Garuva (SC) factory, in Brazil, and the LS Sales Center. LS in North Carolina, United States. Altogether, the number of tractors that can be produced in these factories are 73 thousand units of potential production capacity, which can give the dimension of the response that LS can offer to the market.

The tractor factory in South Korea is in the city of Jeonju, less than 200 kilometers (km) from the capital Seoul, where LS tractors and three other brands that the company produces as commercial agreements are produced. The factory is very organized and, in a production line that starts from the transmission, the components are assembled until completion, with an operation test. Each tractor takes ten to 12 minutes to produce.

Jeonju has been home to the LS Tractor factory since October 2005 and comprises an area of ​​152 thousand square meters, with 565 workers, divided into 44% in administration and 56% in the technical and engineering area. There are five pavilions, with foundry buildings, storage of components to supply the production line, tractor assembly line, quality assessment and components factory, as well as an exclusive building for the restaurant and an auditorium.

Most of the models produced at the Jeonju unit are destined for the export market, with each unit that goes abroad being completely assembled and later disassembled for delivery as CKD. Korean agriculture is small and mainly absorbs lower power models. Therefore, the higher power models are aimed at the foreign market.

Since 1977, until now, the tractor lines have been modernized and increased in models and currently the Jeonju factory produces 11 series of tractors, ranging from the MT1 to the largest, which is the MT7. The MT1 series are subcompact tractors, with two models, the MT125, with 24,7 horsepower (hp), and the MT122, with 21,5 hp. The group of compact tractors includes seven series, XJ, MT3E, MT225E, MT3, MT2S, MT2EC and MT2E, with powers ranging from 24,4 hp to 57 hp, and the utility group with three series and four models, ranging from 58 hp to the largest, which is the MT7, with 100 hp.

In the same city, not far from the tractor factory, there is the LS engine development and production unit, with an area of ​​23 thousand square meters, which houses an office building, completed less than ten years ago, and a production of seven thousand square meters. Very modern, equipped with a lot of automation, the industrial system at this unit is capable of producing 30 thousand engines per year. We saw several “robots” – small autonomous carts – transporting engines from the production line to quality control, along predefined routes. It is estimated that the automation rate in this industry reaches 30% of activities. High-tech engines are produced there, which meet emission standards compatible with strict protocols, such as the North American Tier in stage 4. Tractors produced with this specification receive the EcoPower designation, complying with Tier 3 and 4 and several other protocols existing in the world.

The production of LS's own engines began with technical cooperation with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in 1993, which generated the S4QL model and over the years mechanical and electronic fuel injection engines were developed, which they have complied with progressive pollutant emission control protocols, currently reaching L3 and L4, which are considered ecological engines by the company, as they meet the EPA Tier4 Final (USA) and EU Stage V controls of the European community. Currently, modern L3CRNV series engines range from 30 hp to 57 hp and L4CRTV range from 58 hp to 73 hp. At the end of the engine production line there is a cell, made up of six dynamometers that evaluate the performance and emissions parameters of the engines, for quality control.

On the same site, there is the LS Parts & Solution Center building, which concentrates the components that are destined for the after-sales market and local and foreign dealers. Even more modern than other facilities, the storage system separates pieces by size and organizes them so that distribution is as quick as possible to serve consumers.

The administrative director of the Jeonju factory, Lee Sangmin, recalled a meeting he had with Brazilian producers, where he was surprised by a producer who stated that in Brazil “a company that is not more than ten years old is not recognized by producers”. According to this producer's logic, only established companies deserve the trust of Brazilian customers. Lee recalled the trajectory of LS in Garuva, which completed ten years of opening in 2023 and can be considered established in the market, according to that producer's logic. In fact, after the general difficulties that companies experienced during the pandemic, it is already clear that the brand is one of the most important in the Brazilian market. When talking about the launch of narrow models next year, he also mentioned the autonomous tractor, recently launched in South Korea and which could find an attractive market in Brazil.

LS has two training locations, one for the institutional theme and another that is effectively a training center, where dealer mechanics carry out courses and practical activities. In the same location, on a track with agricultural soil, the Brazilian delegation was able to see first-hand the LS autonomous tractor, model MT7115, a project known as LS Smarttrac, driven by an exclusive team for this development. Some visitors were able to operate the system and follow the autonomous tractor from inside the cabin. Revista Cultivar Máquinas also had the opportunity to interact with the MT7115 and we will talk about the experience in another exclusive text about the autonomous tractor. The product presented to the delegation is already in production and available to customers in South Korea.

Considering what we saw and felt after the impressive visit, it can be concluded that the LS brand and specifically the part of the company that deals with agricultural tractors, LS Mtron, is a company with the spirit of South Korea, young, dynamic and rich in technology. Among the brand's dealers who took part in the visit, there was a feeling that they were facing a great challenge, entering the country's competitive market once and for all, with a strong, technological product and a history of success around the world. According to the reports of several dealer representatives, now is the time to invest, trust in the quality of the product and wait for the results.

• Cultivar Máquinas magazine travels to South Korea at the invitation of LS Tractor