Hanwha Systems earns top CMMI rating for 7th consecutive time

Hanwha Systems announced Monday that it has become the first South Korean company to achieve the highest rating in the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) global R&D capability assessment for seven consecutive cycles.

The CMMI Institute recently announced that Hanwha Systems had earned Level 5 — the top rating — in the defense R&D category under CMMI Version 3.0, the latest edition of the standard. In the assessment, Hanwha Systems was evaluated across 19 domains and 185 items related to defense R&D processes, receiving top marks across all business areas including radar, satellite, combat management systems (CMS), and command, control and communications.

CMMI is a process maturity assessment model developed by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University at the request of the US Department of War, the former name of the Department of Defense. Global defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing require CMMI certification as a prerequisite for business partnerships.

Since first achieving CMMI Level 5 in 2009, Hanwha Systems has renewed its certification on a three-year cycle for 17 years — the longest uninterrupted run among South Korean companies — through continuous process improvement, the internalization of quantitative management systems, and enhanced product competitiveness.

"Maintaining the highest CMMI rating for 17 years again demonstrates that Hanwha Systems' defense R&D processes and quality management capabilities are at the world's highest level," a company official said. "We will continue to contribute to South Korea's national security through rigorous quality management and technological innovation, while steadily strengthening the competitiveness of Korean defense products in the global market."