Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
SFA seeks to diversify business beyond displays
SFA CEO Kim Young-min speaks during a press conference held at the company's plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, Wednesday. Courtesy of SFA
By Baek Byung-yeul
Display equipment maker expands battery, logistics, chip equipment biz
By Baek Byung-yeul
ASAN ― SFA, a local display equipment maker, is seeking to expand its presence in equipment for semiconductors, batteries and logistics, as part of the company's effort to diversify its business portfolio, the CEO of the company said, Wednesday.
“SFA expects that it will make a full-fledged leap forward this year by receiving more orders in the battery and logistics businesses,” Kim Young-min, CEO of SFA, said during a press conference held at its plant in Asan, about 90 kilometers south of Seoul.
The CEO said that the company aims to become a leader in the smart factory equipment sector in the long term. The industry view is that the smart factory sector has huge growth potential, as factories in many industries are introducing digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analysis to produce better quality products with less money.
“From a mid- to long-term perspective, SFA will continue to develop smart factory technologies to actively target overseas markets and become a global smart factory solution leader,” the CEO said.
Established in 1998, SFA has focused on producing equipment for automation systems in display-manufacturing facilities. However, Kim realized that the company desperately needs to diversify its portfolio, as SFA had been highly dependent on the business cycle of the display industry.
“To reduce its dependence on the display sector, the company has tried to diversify its portfolio since 2017. Thanks to these efforts, we started to show solid performance in non-display businesses from the second half of 2021,” Kim said.
A SFA official explains the company's equipment used for manufacturing battery cells to reporters at its plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, Wednesday. Courtesy of SFA
Among the new business items, the SFA CEO thinks that automation equipment used to produce electric car batteries will account for the largest part of the company's business portfolio in the future. In particular, the demand for the company's battery inspection equipment will skyrocket as battery makers are increasingly placing importance on the safety issues of battery cells.
“We are seeing the strong growth of the battery industry. The company has had a lot of experience in making automation equipment and I am confident that our battery inspection equipment is the world's best in terms of the fault detection rate and manufacturing capability,” Kim said.
“The company received a lot of orders for battery inspection equipment from a major Korean battery maker this year, and from the second half of this year, we will begin to mass-produce the equipment for another customer company,” he said, adding that demand for not only inspection equipment but also other equipment, such as battery cell stacking machines, will also increase in the future.
When asked about how to increase the company's stock value, Kim said that SFA's stock price is currently undervalued and that he will try to change the perception of the company in the market from that of a display equipment company to that of a company that makes automation equipment for electric car batteries, logistics and semiconductors.
“The company is still recognized in the market as a company for display equipment. In fact, the company is expected to generate sales equally in battery, logistics and displays this year. To change the market perception that SFA is a display equipment company, the company will implement more shareholder-friendly policies such as share buybacks and increasing dividends,” Kim said.