“Kim Seong-hwan, CEO of 21st Century, Developed the World’s First Ultra-precise Cutting Blade
Life is 4 times longer than a grinding blade and cutting quality is 2.5 times smoother
accounting for more than 90% of the domestic market share.”
[Asian Economic Reporter Kwak Min-jae]
Laminated ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) are called ‘rice in the electronics industry’. It is a component that controls electrical resistance by being embedded on substrates of almost all electronic products such as smartphones and refrigerators.
MLCC is only one in 250 of a grain of rice. If a blade that is not sophisticated cuts MLCC’s circuit incorrectly, it cannot control electricity, which can lead to defective products or fire accidents. So MLCC processing technology is tricky. Kim Sung-hwan, CEO of the 21st century of an ultra-precision laser processing company, said, “As electronic products become smaller, ultra-precision laser technology that processes MLCC and others is in the spotlight. Our company has more technology than Germany and Japan in the field of ultra-precision laser application technology.
The 21st century is an ultra-precision laser processing company. It developed the world’s first ultra-precision cutting blade in 2019 that combines femtosecond (1 trillionth of a second) laser technology with a general grinding blade. The grinding blade was cut by friction to generate heat at the end of the blade, resulting in a short life span. In the 21st century, a new method of irradiating a laser at the edge of a blade minimizes the thermal effect when processing the blade. CEO Kim said, “When comparing grinding blades and ultra-precision cutting blades, the lifespan of the product is at least four times different, and the quality of cutting is 2.5 times smoother for our product.” The company has also developed a micro-hole laser processing technology that is used for vacuum chuck (a part used to peel and stack ultra-thin films). In the high-quality MLCC sector, where safety is important, such as smartphones and electric vehicles, the market share of “blades” in the 21st century is more than 90% and the market share of “vacuum measure” is more than 60%, respectively, ranking first in Korea. It posted 20 billion won in sales last year. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is a major domestic customer.
CEO Kim graduated from vocational high school and worked at a cutting special tool manufacturing plant, and founded the current company 26 years ago with his colleagues. At first, it mainly produced cutting tools used to produce automobile parts, but considering marketability, it switched to production of cutting tools that process electronic parts from the mid-2000s. CEO Kim said, “After receiving a request from Samsung Electro-Mechanics, which mass-produces MLCC, we succeeded in developing microhole laser processing technology for the first time in the world after visiting companies specializing in ultra-precision factory machinery such as France, Germany, and Japan.
The company is planning to expand applications of technologies such as cutting thin films of secondary batteries beyond ultra-precision laser cutting blades and vacuum chuck. Even now, 15% of sales are invested in R&D every year. CEO Kim said, “Based on ultra-precision laser application technology, we will increase the market share of processing secondary batteries, which is currently only 5%, and grow into a company with sales of 50 billion won within five years.”
Hwaseong = Kwak Min-jae, reporter mjkwak@asiae.co.kr
