Samsung Urgently Supports Expansion of Domestic Mask Supply... Dispatches Technicians and Secures Volume

Improvement of Manufacturing Process, Mold Production Provided
Donation of 330,000 Sheets Secured Through Affiliates

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Amid the ongoing spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), Samsung announced on the 24th that it has launched emergency support to expand the domestic supply of masks.

Samsung explained that it has strengthened technical support to increase production capacity of domestic mask manufacturers and donated 330,000 masks secured overseas.

Leveraging its experience in supporting the establishment of smart factories for small and medium-sized enterprises, Samsung dispatched manufacturing experts from March 3rd to three mask manufacturing companies recommended by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Federation of SMEs: ▲E&W (Anseong-si, Gyeonggi-do) ▲Evergreen (Anyang-si, Gyeonggi-do) ▲Restec (Yuseong-gu, Daejeon).

Samsung’s manufacturing experts are improving on-site manufacturing processes and transferring technology to maximize production volume in a short period by utilizing existing production facilities without adding new equipment. They also supported the operation of factories of some companies that had installed new equipment but had not yet set up the equipment to produce masks.

To resolve difficulties faced by some manufacturers in securing molds necessary for mask production, Samsung directly produced and provided molds. To reduce the supply period, which takes at least one month when ordering molds overseas, Samsung manufactured the molds in just seven days at the Samsung Electronics Precision Mold Development Center located in Gwangju and provided them.

Last month, Samsung also deployed smart factory experts to Hwajin Industry (Jangseong-gun, Jeollanam-do) to support equipment efficiency improvements such as optimizing the layout of the mask production line and resolving bottleneck processes. Through this, mask production increased significantly from 40,000 to 100,000 per day.

Samsung also donated 280,000 masks secured through its global network and 50,000 masks donated by client companies. It utilized overseas branches and subsidiaries of affiliates including Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, Samsung Display, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Card, and Samsung Securities.

Samsung urgently secured 284,000 masks from Canada, Colombia, China, Hong Kong, and imported them domestically to donate to the Daegu area through the National Disaster Relief Association.

Additionally, Samsung stated that it is pursuing mask procurement in other regions such as the United States, and plans to connect the National Disaster Relief Association with distributors to directly import masks as soon as supply becomes available.

Samsung Electronics re-donated 50,000 masks sent by a semiconductor customer in China for their employees to the Daegu Medical Association, which is dedicated to overcoming the social crisis despite difficulties such as shortages of quarantine supplies.

Samsung Electronics said, "We decided on this donation with the intention that quarantine supplies such as masks should be prioritized and delivered to places where they are urgently needed to overcome this crisis early."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.