S. Korea’s SMEs aided by large conglomerates making donations to fight COVID-19

스마트팩토리 등 대기업 재능기부 받은 중소기업,... 기부행렬 잇따라South Korea’s major conglomerates in cooperation with the government have been helping the country’s small and medium sized firms in these difficult times.And the firms that have benefited from that support are making donations to ordinary people who need them.Eum Ji-young has more.Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, Loess Tech, one of South Korea's protective face mask manufacturers, has operated around the clock to meet the unprecedented surge in demand for masks."To increase productivity, we applied for the 'smart factory' program. With the help of Samsung Electronics, our productivity rose about 25% and sales increased about 20%."Through the smart factory project, South Korea's major conglomerates including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Hyundai Motors have joined up with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to support small and medium-sized enterprises by helping them improve their facilities and boost efficiency."To resolve the shortage of protective face masks amid the outbreak, Samsung Electronics supported mask manufacturers that could be more productive."The company deployed teams of mentors to the factories and shared their experience. As a result, four mask producers increased their daily output by 51%."The small and medium sized companies that benefited from participating in the smart factory project have stepped forward to send vital supplies to help those fighting the pandemic."Loess Tech donated a total of 20-thousand masks to local communities.A safety goggle producer Otos Wing, which also gained significantly from participating in the project, donated about 5500 pairs of goggles to the National Fire Agency and to the city of Daegu.Another mask company, Hwajin Industry, not only donated about 1 million masks to those in need, but also shared the knowledge it learned from the smart factory project with others."We believe that innovative skills should be shared in times of crisis."He added that cooperation between firms could help the country overcome the crisis.Eum Ji-young Arirang News.