Samsung Electronics' 'Donghaeng Philosophy' Bears Fruit... First Domestic Company to Achieve 12 Consecutive Years as Best Partner in Win-Win Growth

Supporting Partner Companies' Funding, Innovation, and Workforce Development
2.2 Trillion Won Win-Win Fund, Over 5,600 Hires
Supporting Smart Factory Setup for Non-Partner SMEs

Samsung Electronics announced on the 18th that it received the highest grade for 12 consecutive years in the '2022 Win-Win Growth Index Evaluation' by the Win-Win Growth Committee. Since the introduction of the index evaluation in 2011, Samsung Electronics is the only company to have received the highest grade for 12 consecutive years.

Samsung Electronics has supported first-, second-, and third-tier partner companies, as well as non-trading small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in areas such as funding, innovation, and workforce development based on the core values of pursuing mutual growth and ethical management.

In 2005, it became the first domestic company to pay partner companies' transaction payments in cash. In 2010, 2017, and 2018, it established a win-win and material support fund worth 2.2 trillion KRW in three phases. Since 2010, it has been providing incentives worth about 600 billion KRW to semiconductor partner companies to prevent safety accidents and improve quality.

Samsung Electronics Win-Win Cooperation Academy September partner company ESG training session.
[Photo by Samsung Electronics]

In 2013, Samsung Electronics established the Win-Win Cooperation Academy to support partner companies' production innovation and workforce development. The academy consists of consulting, education, and a youth employment center. Samsung Electronics' experts in manufacturing, quality, development, and purchasing are deployed in each field.

Through the consulting center, it helped optimize partner companies' factory operations and innovate manufacturing and quality. Over 10 years, it provided free cost innovation consulting to more than 1,800 partner companies. Until August of this year, about 2,000 patents were transferred free of charge to non-trading SMEs and partner companies. Since 2013, it has contributed about 20 billion KRW to a joint investment-type technology development fund in cooperation with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Last year, it additionally established a new fund of 30 billion KRW. Over five years, it plans to support securing next-generation technologies and ESG (environment, social, governance) technologies.

Samsung Electronics September Gwangju Plant Smart Factory 3.0 Kickoff Event Scene.
[Photo by Samsung Electronics]

It has also supported partner companies' talent education and recruitment. The academy provided various educational programs equivalent to Samsung employees' training courses to 180,000 partner company executives and employees. Programs included new employee orientation, future management, and job training in manufacturing, quality, purchasing, and sales. It supported the recruitment of over 5,600 talents through Samsung partner company job fairs and online recruitment centers. Consulting, education, and recruitment support activities, which were previously conducted separately, have been developed into customized comprehensive consulting for partner companies and are being piloted.

Since 2015, it has supported the establishment of customized smart factories for SMEs. Over eight years until last year, it supported the establishment of smart factories at more than 3,000 SMEs nationwide. Since 2018, in cooperation with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Federation of SMEs, it expanded support to non-trading small and medium-sized and mid-sized enterprises. About 200 Samsung manufacturing and quality experts are deployed on-site to provide comprehensive support including manufacturing innovation, workforce development, and aftercare. According to research by the Korea Federation of SMEs, companies that received smart factory business support grew on average 23.7% in sales, 26% in employment, and 36.8% in research and development (R&D) investment from 2017 to 2020 compared to those that did not receive support.

Starting this year, Samsung Electronics is upgrading SME manufacturing sites into intelligent factories using artificial intelligence (AI) and data technologies. It selects SMEs in regions at risk of population extinction as priority support targets, forms dedicated teams, and carries out the 'Smart Factory 3.0' project to enhance ESG competitiveness.

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