Samsung Electronics is stepping up to foster mutual growth with small and medium-sized enterprises by supporting the establishment of smart factories this year.

Samsung Electronics announced on the 2nd that it held the '2022 Win-Win Smart Factory Kick-off Event' by inviting about 300 representatives and officials from small and medium-sized enterprises selected for this year's smart factory support project to the Samsung Electronics Gwangju Campus, together with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business.

This event, which began in 2019 and resumed this year, provides representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) starting to build smart factories with an opportunity to directly experience Samsung Electronics' manufacturing sites, share best practices from smart factory companies, and benchmark. The event was attended by Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups Cho Joo-hyun, Samsung Electronics President Lee In-yong, and others.

On this day, representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises toured the production lines for air conditioners, refrigerators, and compressors at Samsung Electronics’ Gwangju Campus, which produces home appliances, and personally observed examples of on-site innovation such as the operation of production systems utilizing AI, automated facilities, logistics improvements including electric transport vehicles, and simplified automation for each process.

Lee Sang-hoon, Head of the ESG & Smart Factory Support Center at Samsung Electronics, explained methods for building customized smart factories under the theme of "Guide to Building Smart Factories for SMEs." Plans for promoting an 'intelligent factory,' in which an AI-linked system predicts process information through Big Data analysis and controls the production process in real time, were also shared with the attendees.

Success stories were also introduced for a total of three companies cited as success stories among those that received support for mutually beneficial smart factories last year: plating company 'Dong-A Plating', bidet manufacturer 'Ace Life', and tofu snack manufacturer 'Cookia'. It was reported that through the establishment of smart factories, they improved defect rates, increased sales revenue, and expanded youth employment.

Cho Joo-hyun, Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated, "The manufacturing know-how of large corporations like Samsung Electronics, combined with mutual growth efforts between large and small businesses, has enabled manufacturing innovation in SMEs to advance to the next level," adding, "I hope that this event will spread the warmth of win-win cooperation throughout society."

Min Hyeong-bae, a member of the Gwangju Gwangsan-gu Eul district council, said, "Smart factories have significant positive functions in increasing production and sales for small and medium-sized enterprises, and they also provide substantial help in job creation." He added, "I hope that smart factories will expand further in the future to contribute to the revitalization of our economy, and I will spare no effort in supporting them."

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics announced that it launched the 'Smart Factory Establishment Support Program' in 2015 and has operated it for all small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and middle-sized companies since 2018 in collaboration with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Federation of SMEs. To date, it has supported the establishment of smart factories for a total of approximately 2,811 companies, and with the addition of about 270 companies this year, the total number of supported SMEs will exceed 3,000. Furthermore, it has selected a total of around 200 in-house experts to transfer know-how tailored to the specific circumstances of each company.