[Report] "Producing 11 Million Wet Wipes Sheets Daily with Only 6 Employees"... Visiting Yuhan-Kimberly Daejeon Plant [Era of Automation⑦]

Daejeon Plant Comparable to Semiconductor Cleanroom
Equipped with Air Shower and Positive Pressure Facilities
143 Billion KRW Investment by 2024
43 Billion KRW Advanced Nonwoven Fabric Equipment at Daejeon Plant

Yuhan-Kimberly Daejeon Plant Exterior [Photo by Yuhan-Kimberly]

[Daejeon=Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Minjae] Upon entering the Yuhan-Kimberly Daejeon Plant (Munpyeong-dong, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon Metropolitan City), an air shower booth surrounded by silver steel doors caught my eye. This equipment, mainly seen in semiconductor factories, blows strong air to remove foreign substances and microorganisms from the body. To enter the wet tissue cleanroom (a room completely free of dust and bacteria), I also had to change into an anti-dust cap, gown, and laboratory shoes and pass through this booth. After spending about 2-3 minutes in the booth exposed to strong wind, I opened the steel door and entered the production line where wet tissues (product name: Kleenex) are made. The wet tissue production line is broadly divided into three stages: water treatment, converting processing, and packaging.

The hygiene level of the wet tissue factory is a point of pride for Yuhan-Kimberly. Shin Bonggyun, head of the nonwoven fabric factory at the Daejeon Plant, said, "The wet tissue factory is equipped with a rare cleanroom pressurization system, and an automated system is established throughout the entire process to minimize cross-infection caused by human inflow." The pressurization system maintains a positive pressure higher than the outside of the line, so air only flows outward, blocking the possibility of dust and various microorganisms entering inside.

Our reporter Gwak Minjae is taking an air shower after putting on a dustproof cap, gown, and laboratory shoes before entering the wet tissue line cleanroom at Yuhan-Kimberly Daejeon Plant.
[Photo by Yuhan-Kimberly]

Through the automated system, it is possible to produce 11 million sheets of wet tissue per day, but only six employees work on the wet tissue line, which is 1,889㎡ in size (the entire Daejeon plant is 52,357㎡).

◆ From a 10-step water purification system to air cannons = The Daejeon Plant passes the ‘water’ for the wet tissue solution through a 10-step water purification system. The water purification system, including microfilters and ultraviolet sterilization, removes microorganisms, organic matter, and harmful oxygen from tap water to minimize the possibility of microorganism detection. In a water tank weighing tens of tons, the sound of a propeller spinning with a "weeeeng~" noise was repeatedly heard. Kwak Sanghoon, head of the Coform Production Work Group, explained, "As tap water travels through pipes, scale and other deposits accumulate, making it easy for microorganisms to breed here. Since wet tissues come into direct contact with the skin of children with weak immunity, the Daejeon Plant has a thorough water purification system."

After the water treatment process, it proceeds to the converting process. This is the process of processing wet tissue pulp fabric, soaking it with wet tissue solution, and packaging it. On one wall of the factory, rolls of Coform fabric (fabric made by synthesizing natural pulp with polypropylene fibers) produced in-house were placed. One roll of Coform fabric, measuring 2300mm in outer diameter and 1700mm in width, weighs 700kg. Coform fabric replaces 60-70% of the fabric with pulp. It is more eco-friendly than competitor fabrics based on plastic products, but according to factory officials, it generates paper dust.

Yuhan-Kimberly Coform fabric used in the manufacture of wet tissues. [Photo by Yuhan-Kimberly]

The Daejeon Plant captures the troublesome dust generated from eco-friendly fabric through an air cannon automated system. The air cannon installed on the ceiling rotates 360 degrees and blows strong wind, causing the dust to adhere to the floor and be sucked into the lower suction device, quickly disappearing. Kwak explained, "We are the only wet tissue factory in Korea to have established a 24-hour air cannon automated system to completely block dust from entering the product."

◆ 43 billion KRW investment in advanced nonwoven fabric facilities = The most notable automated system at the Daejeon Plant is the wet tissue cap (plastic lid) insertion robot. When wet tissue products packaged with pouch film and leak-proof stickers arrive on the conveyor belt, a robot made of eight frames performs 50 reciprocating movements per minute to insert caps in real time. The machine, which identifies the position through a camera sensor, attaches the leak-proof sticker and cap, completing the wet tissue product in the form we know.

Produced wet tissue products are being transported via a conveyor belt.
[Photo by Yuhan-Kimberly]

In the packaging process, an orange robot about 4 meters tall performed reciprocating movements in real time, stacking packaged wet tissue boxes on pallets. Only the busy sounds of the robot’s movements could be heard here; no employees were visible. Factory head Shin said, "The Daejeon Plant has been recognized for thorough quality control, hygienic production facility management, and the establishment of the latest production equipment, and last year received CGMP certification from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, possessing the highest-level wet tissue production line in Korea."

A robot is stacking wet tissue packs wrapped in boxes onto a pallet.
[Photo by Yuhan-Kimberly]

Meanwhile, Yuhan-Kimberly announced a new investment plan worth 143 billion KRW on the 29th of last month. Of this, 43 billion KRW will be used to install new nonwoven fabric facilities at the Daejeon Plant. Starting in 2024, the plant will produce 12,000 tons annually of high value-added spunbond nonwoven fabric to be applied to premium diapers, wearable overnight sanitary pads, and incontinence underwear products. This will also bring the company closer to achieving its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management goals of reducing plastic usage and greenhouse gas emissions by 20%.