ENG VOL.48
January 2019
Together ____ Metarpas
ICT-converged Precision
Agricultural Drones,
Leading the Development
of the Sixth Industry
Metarpas
Cheol-Kyun Heo, CEO of Metarpas Co., Ltd., describes having decided to start a business, despite negative reactions from others near him, as being due to the cocktail party effect. He loved to daydream about this and that and always continued to find interest in new areas. His mind was always full of ideas, and especially the idea of starting a business sat deep in his heart.
Starting a Business, Dangerous Challenge
As people often say, you are what you choose. Heo also believes this. Indeed, you shouldn’t be careless, but if you are not decisive enough, you will never have or know what you want. He knew that he would never be able to end up with the right answer every time, but he sincerely sought to make the best choices possible and try to come up with the right answers. This is how he decided to start a business.
Heo then turned in his resignation, took out his Note that he used to write down ideas, and started to think about what items he would start a business with. There were many, but he didn’t think they were sufficiently novel.
Agricultural Drones and ETRI
While preparing to start a business in earnest, Heo came to know “ETRI’s Startup Avatar Program.” He decided that developing industrial drone solutions based on his expertise in mobile communications & IoT systems and location-based platforms combined with ETRI’s smart helicam remote control and integrated video transmission solutions would create synergy. To be more specific, he decided to start a company that produces agricultural drones. The rapid aging of the farming population would only accelerate the mechanization of agriculture, and at that time relevant agency services were starting in earnest, for example, by pest control companies and the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation. All things considered, drones were a good choice because they were easily accessible in terms of price, and their automation solution was simple to implement.
The GPS error, when applying a helicopter, would be several meters, and sometimes as high as 20 to 30 meters, and it a certain space would be required for taking off and landing. In contrast, a drone’s error could be reduced to several centimeters. Heo successfully developed a product with an error of 1 inch or less, capable of recognizing barriers using high-resolution aerial photographs and improving the quality of pest control through route designation.
Difficult Capital Finance and
Staff Recruitment
After incorporation of his company, the circumstances were not favorable. The biggest problem was funding. Recruiting was also a problem. Skilled and competent workers would never want to work for startups, not feeling content with a low paycheck. Heo set a principle that each employee should be paid according to what he or she was capable of, and the principle still applies.
He always bears in mind General Gyebaek’s three no principles. Never fight where your enemy wants. Never fight the way your enemy wants. Never fight when your enemy wants. He seeks to take the initiative by applying these principles to competitors, markets, and customers. He is also determined to ensure the best functionality, performance, and quality without compromising with reality so that differentiated customer value can be provided. What he ultimately seeks is happiness shared by every member of the company. Every person seeks a happy life, and therefore every staff member should be able to enjoy a happy workplace.
