Experiment of SpiFox, a Manufacturing Company with 20 Billion KRW Sales [Era of 4-Day Workweek ⑥]

Productivity Improvement After Implementing 4-Day Workweek
85% Process Automation Rate... Driving Force Behind 4-Day Workweek
Employees Generally Satisfied... Overtime Pay Disappearance Regrettable

Kim Yong-rae, CEO of Spifox.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The four-day workweek is no longer exclusive to the IT sector or startups. Recently, small and medium-sized manufacturing companies that have successfully implemented digital transformation and factory automation are actively adopting the four-day workweek to keep pace with the times. 'The Era of the Four-Day Workweek'

A representative company is Spifox, located in Moga-myeon, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi Province. Established in 1985, Spifox holds the world’s number one market share (55%) in the surface-mount device (SMD) type aluminum electrolytic capacitor case sector. Capacitors are key electrical components used in mobile phones, TVs, and computers. Spifox independently developed technology to produce more capacitor cases from the same area of aluminum sheets, surpassing Japan, which was previously dominant, to reach the top.

Since February, Spifox has been implementing a biweekly four-day workweek. Currently, this is a pilot phase, with the goal of fully establishing the four-day workweek within this year. Kim Yongrae, CEO of Spifox, stated, “We have always felt a sense of duty and mission to keep up with the trend of improving quality of life as part of worker welfare,” adding, “We judged that if we could not overcome this issue, it might be difficult to sustain manufacturing itself,” explaining the background for adopting the four-day workweek.

The reason CEO Kim sought to overcome the manufacturing crisis with the four-day workweek is due to a ‘labor shortage.’ Despite having global number one competitiveness and offering high salaries, the company is located on the outskirts of the metropolitan area, so young and talented individuals graduating from so-called ‘Seoul four-year universities’ do not come knocking on the company’s door. Kim explained that this situation has worsened as the overall labor environment in the industry has changed with the introduction of remote work and the four-day workweek due to COVID-19.

Of course, introducing the four-day workweek was not easy. Implementing it in a manufacturing site where most workers are in production inevitably leads to reduced output, and there was concern about significant losses if delivery deadlines to clients were not met. CEO Kim decided to trust his employees first. He said, “If we implement a four-day workweek and still pay overtime for five days, we expected employees to make efforts to improve productivity,” adding, “Recently, seeing employees’ voluntary mindset changes leading to higher productivity, I feel my thinking was not wrong.”

A key factor in Spifox’s successful establishment of the four-day workweek was factory automation. Spifox has developed its own smart process system covering the entire production line from manufacturing to inspection. The automation rate of the process reaches 85%. Yoo Jaehun, head of production management at Spifox, emphasized, “With process automation, the production capacity per unit time has increased, significantly boosting the company’s competitiveness in terms of price, quality, and delivery,” adding, “This laid the foundation for implementing the four-day workweek.” Jung Haekyung, director of management and production at Spifox, explained, “Although working hours were reduced due to the four-day workweek and process automation, operational concentration improved,” adding, “This has led to increased productivity.”

Employees’ reactions to the four-day workweek were generally positive. Hong Yeon (49), a Chinese national, said, “Fatigue from long working hours has been relieved, and I feel productivity has improved,” adding, “(The reduction in overtime) pay is regrettable.” Choi Seongyong (38) said, “I have more free time to enjoy hobbies,” and Lee Geonmun (30) briefly commented, “I have more personal time.”

Perhaps thanks to the four-day workweek, Spifox recently hired one person each in the automation and electrical structural facilities department and the design department. The company is also currently in the process of recruiting product inspectors due to increased production volume. CEO Kim said, “Employees who were skeptical and distrustful of the four-day workweek now hope to fully transition to it after experiencing it for several months,” adding, “We will strive even harder to maintain the top position in the industry not only in products but also in working conditions.”