Samsung Supports Development of Vietnam's Parts Industry: "From Expert Training to Smart Factory Establishment"

Choi Kyung-soo, Executive Director of Samsung Electronics, is presenting the "Current Status of Samsung's Support for the Development of the Vietnamese Parts Industry" at the '2022 Baekdu Forum' held on the 8th (local time) in Da Nang, Vietnam.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] Choi Kyungsoo, Executive Director of Samsung Electronics, stated at the '2022 Baekdu Forum' held in Da Nang, Vietnam on the 8th (local time), "Samsung has been striving to support the development of Vietnam's parts industry since 2015," adding, "Over the past seven years until last year, 379 Vietnamese companies have received assistance from Samsung experts, resulting in improved manufacturing and quality competitiveness."

At the seminar held after the opening ceremony of the Baekdu Forum, Executive Director Choi shared investment cases and strategies in Vietnam. He shared examples of Samsung's achievements in Vietnam through support in corporate consulting, consultant training, mold expert training, and smart factory establishment.

Samsung currently operates a 12-week consulting program for its partner companies in Vietnam. From 2015 to 2016, a pilot program was conducted targeting injection molding and packaging companies within Samsung's lower supply chain, and from 2017, the program diversified to include electrical and electronic, automation equipment, and mold sectors. Executive Director Choi explained, "Through on-site improvements in 379 companies over seven years, productivity increased by 39.5%, and quality defects improved by 52.1%. Even after completing consulting, we continuously manage by spreading excellent manufacturing innovation cases to other areas within the factories."

Based on the results of corporate consulting, Samsung saw the need to expand the target companies and foster Vietnam's own leadership capabilities. To this end, since 2018, a program to train local consultants has also been in operation. The local consultant training is also a 12-week course, consisting of four weeks of theoretical education followed by eight weeks of field training, including four weeks of training in Korea. From 2018 to last year, 406 consultants were trained. Executive Director Choi said, "During the Korea training course, we teach Samsung's manufacturing innovation philosophy, quality management know-how, and project management methods," adding, "In the future, these professionals will lead innovation across Vietnam and expand the scope of their activities."

Samsung is also sharing specialized know-how in the mold field, which is fundamental to manufacturing, with its Vietnamese partners. To this end, in October 2019, Samsung signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) of Vietnam aiming to train 200 mold experts. Executive Director Choi emphasized, "We benchmarked Samsung headquarters' mold expert training course to develop a 14-week customized local program," adding, "So far, 103 mold experts have been trained, and the goal is to reach 200 by next year."

Samsung is also supporting the establishment of smart factories for its Vietnamese partners. From this year through next year, Samsung plans to build 50 smart factories using experts from its headquarters and train 100 smart factory guidance experts. Executive Director Choi said, "We have created a process that covers company selection, smart factory establishment, and follow-up management," adding, "For the 26 companies that established smart factories this year, productivity increased by 16%, quality improved by 36%, and on-time delivery rate rose by 14%."

Samsung plans to continuously support the improvement of companies that complete the smart factory program through follow-up management. Executive Director Choi stated, "We will select companies with excellent manufacturing capabilities to prioritize their participation in Samsung's global supply chain," and added, "We will operate a continuous open sourcing system to expand opportunities for participation in Samsung's lower supply chain."

Da Nang (Vietnam) = Reporter Donghyun Choi (nell@asiae.co.kr)