President Suh Myung-suk of KEPCO KPS Manpower Development Institute and President Moon Suk-joon Korea Certification for Machine Diagnostics (KCIMD) pose at a certification award ceremony in which KEPCO KPS was awarded a certificate on the status of a training body of machinery diagnostics Category IV qualification at KEPCO KPS Manpower Development Institute in Naju on Feb. 19. (Photo: KEPCO KPS)

KEPCO KPS has become the first Korean company to be certified as a training body of machinery condition monitoring and diagnostics (ISO 18436-4) by Korea Certification for Machine Diagnostics (KCIMD).

President Suh Myung-suk of KEPCO KPS Manpower Development Institute and KCUND President Moon Suk-joon participated at a certification award ceremony at KEPCO KPS Manpower Development Institute in Naju on Feb. 19.

The Category IV of the machinery condition monitoring and diagnostics is the field’s top technology qualification capable of investing features of machinery structure such as resonance establishing diagnostics steps in the perspective of design, which surpasses the Category III, an intermediate level one of performing field diagnostics analyses on his or her own.

In the past, qualifications of the Category IV of the machinery condition monitoring and diagnostics have been offered by foreign institutions.

KEPCO KPS Manpower Development Institute’s acquiring a status as a training body of machinery condition monitoring and diagnostics (ISO 18436-4), such qualifications will pave the way for awarding such qualifications in Korea.

KEPCO KPS Manpower Development Institute will introduce a pilot project to educate the Category IV of the machinery condition monitoring and diagnostics among KEPCO KPS staff with Category III qualifications.

The institution will conduct an educational program on the diagnostics Category IV targeting Korean and foreign diagnostics Category III qualifiers once yearly.

According to the ISO 18426-2-2014 regulations, study subjects include signal processing, rotor and bearing dynamics, precision diagnostics and execution of countermeasures and equipment testing and diagnostics.

Prospective diagnostics Category IV qualifiers are required to undergo a 64-hour credit process and pass a separate exam administered by the KCIMD.

KEPCO KPS Manpower Development Institute had certified as a training body in the diagnostics Category I and II qualifications since 2007. The institute has now been certified in the diagnostics Category I, II, and III and thermal burn Category I and II.

KEPCO KPS boasts a status as a technology company with 208 diagnostics Category II and III certificate holders, 192 thermal burn Category I and II certificate holders, and 56 tribology Category I and II holders. “Korean machinery equipment maintenance manpower will be required to be recognized globally in diverse industries, KEPCO KPS’s being certified as a training body in diagnostics Category IV will allow greater opportunities for trainees,” a KEPCO KPS official said.

ISO 18436-2:2014 specifies requirements for the training, relevant experience, and examination of personnel performing condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines using vibration analysis (VA). Qualifications in diagnostics Category I, II and III, thermal burn Category I and II, and tribology Category I and II are awarded in Korea based on the international standard ISO 18436.

KEPCO KPS Comes to Aid of Sagging Floricultural Industry, Buffeted by COVID-19

KEPCO KPS joined in efforts to extend a helping hand to the sagging floricultural industry, reeling from the effects of COVID-19 outbreak.

The company held the “Love-Sharing Flower Day” in which its staff purchased flowers and potted flowers worth about 7 million won and presented them to others to help the struggling floricultural industry overcome difficulties.

The floricultural industry suffered hard times as diverse events such as graduation and entrance ceremonies were cancelled to prevent the spread of COVID-19.