Due to the explosive increase in demand for home appliances, home appliance makers are unusually starting full operation of production plants by the end of the year. Until now, the pattern of lowering the utilization rate in December after intensively increasing production before the end of the year, such as Black Friday, has continued, but this year, it is raising the plant utilization rate to the maximum by December. In particular, the flexible working hour system (flexible working system) and the special extended work system were introduced, changing the working system, and fighting for the expansion of production.
According to the home appliance industry on the 25th, LG Electronics’ Changwon Plant is responding to the influx of demand by utilizing the flexible work system in the fourth quarter. The flexible work system is a system that can extend working hours on specific working days when it is difficult to meet the maximum working hours per week of 52 hours due to a large number of jobs. When there are few jobs, the working hours can be shortened and the average working hours per week can be adjusted to 52 hours per week.
This is the first time that LG Electronics applied the flexible work system in the fourth quarter after the system was implemented. An official from LG Electronics said, “The limit of the special extended work system, which is a maximum of 90 days, has already been exhausted and the flexible working system is being implemented through labor-management agreements.” “We are putting all our energy into it.” The Changwon Plant is responsible for 30% of LG Electronics’ household appliance production. Including premium washing machines, refrigerators, and air conditioners, it produces all new home appliances such as clothes management stylers, dishwashers, and dryers. Both of these products are difficult to keep up with demand. This is because the demand for Korean home appliances is rapidly increasing in major home appliance markets such as the US and Europe. In the United States and Europe, the home appliance market is booming thanks to diversification of sales channels such as online and increasing demand for zipcocks and pent-ups, even though movement restrictions and blockades are strengthened due to the spread of Corona 19. The problem is that unlike Korea, which prevented production disruption through preemptive quarantine, the number of confirmed cases caused a disruption in the operation of local production plants, and accordingly, the supply of home appliances was not keeping up with demand.
Samsung Electronics is also responding to the rising demand by using the special extended work system for the first time this year. If the special extended work system is approved by the Regional Employment and Labor Administration, the company can increase the working hours per week, limited to 12 hours. As the demand for Bespoke refrigerators and large-sized refrigerators for North America surged, Samsung Electronics implemented a special extended work system for the first time this year at its Gwangju plant, and recently exhausted the three-month deadline.
Samsung Electronics’ Gwangju Plant produces major household appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners. Premium products such as Bespoke are the main focus, and exports to the world market such as North America have been greatly increased following the shutdown of global production bases.
[노현 기자 / 박재영 기자]
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