Episode 59: Daese Textiles
Hearing those words, Hwang Cheol-gwan burst into laughter as if he couldn’t believe it.
“You’ve come to the wrong place. I’m already a washed-up old man. I retired from the textile industry more than ten years ago. If you think you can drag me into a lawsuit or something, forget it. That product was registered in ‘62, and the patent expires next year.”
Despite Hwang Cheol-gwan’s words, Lee Chang-jin smiled.
“The patent may expire, but the original know-how and technical skills don’t just disappear. Didn’t you personally research and develop it? Please take on the role of our factory manager and technical advisor. It would be a great help.”
“I have no interest. As a businessman, Hwang Cheol-gwan is dead.”
Despite repeated persuasion, Hwang Cheol-gwan remained immovable.
Frustrated by Lee Chang-jin’s persistent requests, Hwang Cheol-gwan finally snapped.
“Enough already. I have no more interest in anything. Why do you keep dragging this out? Do I really need to show you this?”
As he revealed his upper body, a large surgical scar was visible. Seeing the scar, Goo Chang-dong covered his mouth.
“Do you know what this is? It’s a surgery scar. After my business failed, I even got cancer. I had to remove half of my stomach. That surgery drained all my wealth. What kind of glory am I supposed to seek in the textile business with a body like this? I have no more ambition. I’m tired, so leave immediately.”
Hwang Cheol-gwan’s firm rejection made Lee Chang-jin rise from his seat.
“That’s unfortunate. President Shim Yoon-sik would have been very disappointed to hear this…”
At those barely audible words, Hwang Cheol-gwan hesitated.
“What did you just say?”
“Oh, I just met President Shim Yoon-sik. You used to work under him, didn’t you? He’s getting old and is looking for a successor to take over the company. He says he doesn’t care about himself, but he’s worried about his employees. Maintaining the company is his only wish. I was going to acquire the company, but it seems that’s not possible now.”
Hwang Cheol-gwan raised his head at that statement.
“What do you mean?”
“How can I run a textile factory without the president? It’s unfortunate, but I have no choice but to give up.”
“You’re making an unreasonable demand. Do you think I can function properly in this condition?”
“That depends on your mindset. I heard you were completely cured three years ago. Living as if you’re dead isn’t the answer, is it? President, one failure is just a part of life. Regardless, the surgery was successful, and you have recovered your health. Are you going to spend the rest of your life doing nothing?”
Hwang Cheol-gwan fell silent. He had nothing to say. To him, who was an orphan, Shim Yoon-sik was like a teacher and a father. The place where he first learned his skills was Gyeongseong Textiles, and the place where he learned a new life was also Gyeongseong Textiles. It held a special meaning for him.
After a long pause, he spoke with difficulty.
“I can’t decide right away. Give me some time to think.”
“Then I’ll wait until you make your decision. Take your time.”
That night, Hwang Cheol-gwan couldn’t sleep.
Wandering alone in the living room in the middle of the night, his mind was restless.
His wife, who had been silent for a while, approached him and held his hand.
“Honey, can I work like before?”
“Do whatever you want. Didn’t you always want to work like before? Besides, you owe President Shim.”
“Yes, I always feel sorry to President Shim.”
“I think repaying someone is a moral duty. Just follow your heart.”
Hwang Cheol-gwan gently stroked his wife’s hand. With a face that looked like he might cry, he was grateful to his wife who supported him despite all the hardships.
“I’m sorry. I always put you through so much. It seems like I’m always fulfilling my own desires.”
“No need to be sorry. People should do what they want to do. Just don’t overdo it like before.”
The next day, having made up his mind, Hwang Cheol-gwan called Lee Chang-jin.
“President Lee, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll join you.”
“Thank you very much. President Shim will be very pleased.”
“When should I start working?”
“Please start next week. There’s a lot to do, including getting acquainted with the employees.”
Having successfully recruited Hwang Cheol-gwan, Lee Chang-jin immediately proceeded with the acquisition of the textile factory. As per his initial promise, President Shim Yoon-sik didn’t impose any conditions other than maintaining the employment of his staff. Signing the transfer contract, President Shim earnestly asked him,
“As long as you take care of the employees, I have no other wishes.”
“Don’t worry. I will definitely keep my promise.”
“Oh, and thank you for bringing Cheol-gwan back.”
With the takeover smoothly completed, Lee Chang-jin called for Yeo Jin-joo.
“Among the companies that have reserved vacuum dryers, are there any textile manufacturers? Please list the companies that manufacture and sell viscose rayon.”
“Viscose rayon?”
“Yes, the fabric used for Italy towels.”
Lee Chang-jin contacted the relevant companies and proposed that they import viscose rayon in exchange for providing vacuum dryers for drying yarn at a cheaper price.
The companies were very pleased to hear this.
“A long-term contract for more than three years? Is that true?”
“Yes. If you agree, we will offer a 10% discount on the vacuum dryers we supply, as well as free maintenance. The only condition is that you supply us with sufficient quantities of rayon as needed.”
“We welcome such a condition, Mr. Lee.”
At that time, viscose rayon manufacturers in various countries were gradually withdrawing from the rayon business. Once a popular substitute for silk, the appeal of rayon had diminished as synthetic fibers like nylon and polyester developed.
For companies struggling with dwindling clients, Lee Chang-jin’s proposal was a godsend.
While it was easy to find importers, the next step was the problem. After inspecting the factory, Lee Chang-jin asked Hwang Cheol-gwan,
“How did it look after you took a look around?”
“Fortunately, it’s almost the same as the factory I used to run. The Daima-ru machines from Japan are still here. In this environment, I think I can be of help.”
“That’s a relief. Let us know what we need to do before the fabric arrives.”
“Then, follow me. I have something prepared…”
What Hwang Cheol-gwan brought was viscose fabric. He loosely folded the fabric, tying the loose parts with thread, and then immersed the loosely wound fabric in hot soapy water for 30 to 60 minutes.
After a while, showing the wrinkled surface of the wool, Hwang Cheol-gwan explained,
“See these bumps? This process of making the fabric rough and bumpy is called ‘crepe processing’ in technical terms. Usually, the fabric needs to be completely free of folds when creating wrinkles. If there are folds, they become permanently fixed. So, if you heat it in a folded state, it ends up like this. Of course, this is an artificial crepe effect. The standard method is to heat it after interweaving fibers with different thermal shrinkage properties to induce shrinkage.”
“So the key to making Italy towels lies in how to create the crepe effect.”
“As expected from you, President Lee. You immediately grasp the core. Viscose rayon swells in water, increasing in volume while shortening in length. The towel’s surface becomes uneven, providing a rough feeling when it touches the skin. The key is maintaining this effect without it coming undone.”
“Hmm. You have to give a lot of twist to the yarn to induce the shrinkage effect during the processing.”
“Exactly. While you can artificially induce a shrinkage effect through simple heat processing, it doesn’t have much functional meaning. It may look the same on the surface, but it quickly comes undone. This is why fake products are made with rough heat treatment, which even experts can’t easily distinguish.”
“Then how do you usually produce strong-twisted yarn?”
“Generally, strong-twisted yarn is made by adding more twists to the yarn produced in the spinning process using a twisting machine, giving about 800 twists per meter. But this is a very tricky process. The yarn can get tangled during the process, and if you make a mistake, it becomes unusable.”
“That’s impressive. Did you come up with all this from the beginning?”
Hwang Cheol-gwan laughed, as if the idea was absurd.
“Of course not. I developed the Italy towel by coincidence. When I was running the factory, a repairman accidentally replaced the gear with one from another company, causing an error in the production line. So, the fabric made that day almost went to waste.”
“Ah, so you repurposed it as a scrubbing towel.”
“Yes, I couldn’t bear to throw away the wrinkled fabric. I kept thinking about how to sell it, and then I realized it was perfect for scrubbing towels. That’s how the Italy towel was born. It was all about timing and luck.”
Only then did Lee Chang-jin understand why other companies couldn’t easily produce fake versions.
“Then we just need to replace the spinning machine from the beginning to make strong-twisted yarn. If we can produce strong-twisted yarn from the start, it will save effort and solve the issues of yarn thickness and length.”
“Haha, that sounds great, but is it possible? I’ve thought about producing strong-twisted yarn from the spinning process, but it would require modifying not just the spinning line but also the additional winding process. Textile machines are quite delicate, and even a small change can lead to frequent breakdowns.”
“Well, we have to try first. Let’s start by replacing the gear in the spinning machine.”
With knowledge of the spinning machine’s structure, Lee Chang-jin eagerly began the process modifications. Yoon Jung-pil and other experienced personnel from the equipment side were also involved in the spinning machine modification. While the issue of mismatched new gear sizes was resolved by installing a gear box, there was another problem. The twisted yarn didn’t hold well.
“If we increase the heat treatment temperature to fix the yarn twist, wouldn’t that work?”
“We tried, but the temperature got too high, causing discoloration in the yarn.”
Technician Yoon and the new experienced personnel repeatedly adjusted the temperature, but the results were the same. In the spinning process, the full bobbins are transferred to the winding process, where they are wound onto cone-shaped tubes called cones, and then returned to the spinning process.
The problem was that the twisted yarn needed to be fixed in this process, but being thick and stiff, it caused issues during heat treatment.
Feeling discouraged by repeated failures, Yoon Jung-pil bowed his head in apology.
“I’m sorry, President. This method isn’t working. I must have been wrong.”
“No, the method isn’t wrong. Let’s just adjust the temperature step by step. First, let’s observe the process by gradually lowering the heating temperature.”
Lee Chang-jin monitored the temperature changes meticulously, lowering it by 0.1 degrees at a time. After nearly a week of effort, they found the optimal temperature that fixed the yarn twist without discoloration.
However, now the bobbins on the spinning machine’s spindles began to vibrate slightly due to rotation. Once again, Lee Chang-jin was the first to find a solution.
“Replace all the bobbins with heat-resistant materials. Also, replace the setting machine with stainless steel to prevent rust from contaminating the yarn during heat treatment.”
“Yes, understood.”
After reviewing the test results, Lee Chang-jin instructed to replace all the bobbins used in the winding process with heat-resistant ones, taking advice from Factory Manager Hwang Cheol-gwan.
With more than half of the parts replaced, the investment cost for the equipment modification soared. Although the help from experienced Hwang Cheol-gwan reduced trial and error significantly, the cost far exceeded the initial estimate.
Seeing the amount of money invested in technology development, Yeo Jin-joo clicked her tongue.
“This is like a money-eating monster.”
“Haha, don’t think of it so negatively. Although the investment cost is higher than expected, we can easily recoup the development cost once we start producing the product. First, check the process and then begin full-scale production.”
Although the quality of the Italy towels developed by Lee Chang-jin was much better than the ones on the market, it was necessary to verify user feedback. Lee Chang-jin decided to provide free promotional samples to public baths, including his regular bathhouse from his college days and nearby neighborhood bathhouses.
A few days after distributing the samples, the bathhouse owner came to him and asked,
“President Lee, where were those products made? The customers loved them so much that they sold out instantly. Do you have more? We’d like to purchase them.”
“Haha. Those are newly developed products by us. If possible, could you introduce them to other public bathhouse owners? Then I’ll provide you with a few months’ supply for free.”
“Of course! I’ll gather the owners.”
With the products receiving good feedback, Lee Chang-jin immediately implemented his pre-planned marketing strategy.
- To be continued in Episode 60 -
