LSIS Vice Chairman Koo Ja-kyun, seventh from left, and government and company officials hold up flower pots during the opening ceremony of LSIS’s new EV Relay factory in Cheongju, Tuesday. / Courtesy of LSIS

By Cho Mu-hyun

Green is probably the most overused word in the technology sector, but Korea’s LSIS, a leading provider of electronic equipment and systems, claims it could provide additional pace and purpose in the industry.

The company sees a growing demand for products designed for use in electric vehicles (EVs), particularly relays, or contractors that control the distribution of battery pack power to output terminals.

LSIS invested 31 billion won (about $27 million) in a 13,680-square-meter factory in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, dedicated to manufacturing EV relays. The goal is to get 1 trillion won worth of orders by 2013. The factory will be capable of producing a million relays this year, but 4 million by 2015.

LSIS’s list of customers already includes global car giants like General Motors and Hyundai Motor.

``We are a relative new comer in the green car market, but we are enjoying great success by carving out a niche in EV relays. We are already a top-three global company in this area, although competition is coming from our rivals in the United States and Japan,’’ said LSIS CEO Koo Ja-kyun at the factor’s launching Tuesday.

``The completion of this factory will play a central part in making LSIS the undisputed No.1 player in the market.’’

The market created by EVs and other low-power, environment-friendly vehicles has made annual growth of 32 percent, according to LSIS officials. LSIS is competing with influential global companies like Tyco, Panasonic and OMRON in EV relays.

LSIS said its quick elevation in the market hierarchy proves that the quality of its products are above average. Its patented technologies like the ``vacuum interrupter’’ allow it to build relays that are smaller and lighter but just as effective, company officials said.

Koo expects the competition to intensify in the EV relay market, but is confident that LSIS will emerge as the player to beat, thanks to its technological advances and product lines.

LSIS started producing EV relays in 2008, and its products were first applied to Hyundai’s YF Sonata hybrid model series.

“We received around 100,000 orders for 2011,” said an LSIS spokesman Kim Bong-kyu.