Henkel Korea has announced the completion of its state-of-the-art Songdo Plant within the Songdo High-tech Industrial Cluster in Incheon, which will become the Asia-Pacific production hub for high-impact electronics solutions of the adhesive technologies business unit. With an investment of approximately 35 million euros, this is the largest single investment in the company’s history in Korea.
A building dedication ceremony was held on 24 August 2022 with more than 160 guests in attendance, including Incheon City Mayor Jeong-bok Yoo, Chargé d’Affaires of German Emabssy Peter Winkler, the Chairwoman of the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hyun-nam Park, Executive Vice President Henkel Adhesive Technologies Jan-Dirk Auris, and President of Henkel Asia-Pacific Mark Dorn.
Henkel Korea signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority in April 2019 for the project and started construction work in the same year.
With a total floor area of 10,144 square meters and in a two-story building, the Songdo Plant implements an advanced smart factory system (SFS), enhancing process monitoring, data collection and troubleshooting. After undergoing trial production and quality verification since last year, the plant began production in the second half 2022.
“The opening of our state-of-the-art Songdo plant is a milestone for our Adhesive Technologies business to further expand our capabilities to create value for our broad global customer base in electronics with high-impact solutions for major industry trends such as connectivity and sustainability,” said Jan-Dirk Auris, Executive Vice President Henkel Adhesive Technologies. “In addition, the new facility demonstrates our ambition to further drive the implementation of Industry 4.0 across our production network while at the same time significantly reducing our environmental footprint.”
The adhesive technologies business‘ Songdo Plant has been designed for the production of adhesive solutions for semiconductor packaging, electronic components and device assembly. The high-performing and tailor-made products enable customers to develop advanced technologies for electric vehicles, electronic devices, and electronic materials as well as to increase sustainability by reducing CO2 emissions during the entire lifecycle and by improving circularity.
The Songdo Plant aims to strengthen the relationship of Henkel Korea with key customers and to drive value creation for them. Thanks to the plant’s proximity to Incheon International Airport, goods can be shipped more quickly to local customers, providing additional benefits including longer product shelf life.
Mark Dorn, President of Henkel Asia-Pacific, commented, “With the completion of the Songdo Plant we see an opportunity for Henkel to meet the technological growth potential of the Asia-Pacific market, including Korea. In addition, the Songdo Plant will serve as one of Henkel’s global production hubs in electronics.”
The Songdo Plant has been designed with a smart factory system (SFS) and delivers world-class production capacity through its improved linkage between process inputs and product performance, which is achieved through an enhanced production analysis (Statistical Process Control: SPC).
The Songdo Plant has been designed as best-in-class manufacturing facility which meets the IATF (16949) and the ISO (9001) standards, as well as the “Class 10000 Clean Room” used in producing the highest-quality products. The plant incorporates a range of sustainability features that make it an eco-friendly production facility, including solar panels, a rainwater recycling system and energy-efficient equipment.
“We are very proud about the investment and the new production capacities in Korea,” May Kim, President of Henkel Korea, said. “The Songdo Plant will play a big role in accelerating the development of innovative electronics solutions.”
