Ministry of SMEs and Startups-Samsung Quickly Support Two COVID Self-Diagnosis Kit Manufacturers with Smart Factories

Sujentec Initiates Rapid Support Procedure for Zenbody
Establishes Smart Factory... Production Capacity Doubled Up to 2 Times

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is supporting the establishment of smart factories for two COVID-19 self-diagnostic kit manufacturers in collaboration with Samsung Electronics.

On the 25th, the Ministry announced that it has initiated a rapid support procedure for the 'Large-Small Win-Win Smart Factory Support' project with Samsung Electronics.

The Large-Small Win-Win Smart Factory Support project is a program where the government supports 30% of the construction costs when large corporations collaborate with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies to build smart factories.

The rapid support targets this time are Suzentec and Zenbody, manufacturers of self-diagnostic kits. Both companies applied for the win-win smart factory support in mid-April to respond to the recently increasing demand for self-diagnostic kits.

Considering the national importance of the issue, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Samsung Electronics decided to provide support through the rapid support procedure.

On the 10th, as the spread of COVID-19 continued, a self-test kit sold-out notice was posted at a pharmacy in downtown Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

The process of the smart factory support project is as follows. First, about ten manufacturing experts dispatched from Samsung Electronics reside on-site for 1 to 2 weeks to conduct a diagnosis of the manufacturing site to improve productivity and derive actionable tasks related to logistics, equipment, and processes. Subsequently, process innovations such as optimizing logistics layout within the factory, reducing manufacturing time per process, integrating packaging lines, and improving defect rates are promoted.

Currently, Suzentec, the support target, is in the final stage of on-site diagnosis by manufacturing experts, while Zenbody has completed deriving actionable tasks and started process innovation activities. From April, they plan to establish new factories applying smart factory systems to increase production capacity up to twice as much.

Those producing self-diagnostic kits but wishing to introduce smart factories to improve productivity can inquire with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team.

Lee Hyun-jo, head of the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Planning Team at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, "We will strive to ensure the smooth supply of self-diagnostic kits through manufacturing innovation in collaboration between the public and private sectors."

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