SFA has won an order for battery equipment from South Korean battery giant Samsung SDI.
The South Korean equipment maker will be supplying distribution and automation equipment to Samsung.
SFA has now won its second large client after SK Innovation. The company supplies equipment used in separator production of SK IE Technology, a subsidiary of SK Innovation.
SFA will be supplying the distribution and automation equipment for use in Samsung’s factory at God, Hungary. The equipment will be delivered within the year at the earliest, people familiar with the matter said.
This is the first time SFA is supplying to Samsung. The precise terms of the deal isn’t known.
Samsung is planning to invest continuously in its Hungary factory until 2030, and SFA would likely secure 10 billion wons of sales from the supply annually if it continues down the road.
SFA and Samsung are working to build a completely automated battery line. The two collaborated since the research and development stages, the people said.
Samsung SDI has had a mother fab for a pilot production line for complete automation at its Cheonan facility since 2017, they said. SFA was keen to make the deal work, they added.
Samsung SDI employees around a hundred operator per production line at its factory. They work in electrolyte, assembly and back-end production processes.
Personnel are concentrated in the process where battery materials are moved to the assembly process. It was necessary to automate this process to increase productivity and reduce the operators needed, another person familiar with the matter said.
SFA offers automation solutions for material mixing, cell assembly and formation processes. It can offer automation solution for all battery processes. Samsung SDI will likely use these goods for its artificial intelligence (AI) applied automated guided vehicles, smart conveyors and automated storage and retrieval systems.
The order will also boost SFA’s assembly equipment businesses. The company has completed development of stacking and degassing equipment. It plans to expand into electrolyte equipment as well. SFA is positioned to offer battery equipment in turn-key thanks to its varied portfolio.
SFA recently supplied oil extractors used in separator production to SK IE Technology.
SFA’s battery equipment business posted 69.7 billion won in sales and has 142.7 billion won worth of remaining orders as of the first half of 2020. The order from Samsung will increase its remaining orders by the end of the year. SFA may very well post 200 billion in sales from its battery equipment business in 2021.
