Samsung Electronics Plant Returns to Normal
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
Samsung Electronics, the world's top memory chipmaker, got its six production lines back on track Saturday noon after disruptions triggered by a power failure a day earlier.
However, the company is still struggling to find out what caused the problem, a must to prevent the recurrence of the unprecedented disaster at its plants near Seoul.
``We resumed operations at two most recent lines early Saturday and all six lines began working at full capacity 12 p.m. Saturday,'' Samsung spokesman Lee Seoung-bak said.
``Thanks to the prompt resumption, the damages is not likely to exceed 40 billion won ($43.3 million), 10 billion less than initially expected,'' Lee said.
A total of six chip production lines situated in Giheung, Gyeonggi Province, were shut down 2:30 p.m. Friday when a power system exploded.
A number of experts projected that the debacle would force Samsung to stop the manufacturing facilities until next week. Some even said the accident would cost Samsung as much as 700 billion won.
Such a gloomy scenario was based on the assumption that the power failure would spoil numerous silicon wafers and chemicals, which were on the line.
``Most of the wafers are safe and we are checking ones suspected of being affected by this accident. The expected damage is outright overblown,'' Lee said.
Samsung said an overheated transformer unit was responsible for the power trouble but it remains unknown what touched off the disorder.
``It would take considerable time to pinpoint the cause of the power disruptions. We cannot know the exact timeline necessary to do so, either,'' he said.
Samsung suffered the blackout last Friday for the first time in 24 years after the factory was built in Giheung but electricity supply has caused troubles before.
Most recently, some manufacturing lines were forced to be halted at the same Giheung plant midway through last month because of abnormal voltages although the time was very short.
Lee said measures would be taken to prevent the similar power outage only after technicians discover the cause. Before then, he said Samsung engineers will have to keep watchful eyes on the electricity system around the clock.