Samsung SDI encourages engineers to become ‘technology meisters’

Samsung SDI, Samsung’s battery manufacturing arm, faced a lot of difficulties after it came under fire for supplying faulty Galaxy Note 7 batteries to Samsung Electronics last year. The company got itself a new leader after it suffered fire at its China factory. Samsung SDI has also planned to invest $128 million this year to improve battery safety. Now, the company is encouraging its engineers to become ‘technology meisters’.

According to a new report from The Korea Herald, Samsung SDI is offering its engineers financial incentives to improve their professional skills. The company said last week that it has added seventeen additional members to its existing group of 36 technology meisters (engineers who hold at least three master certificates), taking the total number to 53. The company had started the Technology Meister program in 2013 at its Gumi plant in North Gyeongsang Province and expanded it to its plants in Ulsan, Cheongju and Cheonan.

It usually takes one year for engineers to complete one master certification, and the company offers them additional compensation and points to their performance evaluation for each new certification. Around 150 engineers in the company are now hoping to become technology meisters. “We should pay more attention to the meister system as it can create an opportunity for employees’ self-improvement and also create an academic atmosphere within the company,” said the company CEO Jun Young-hyun.

Kim Song-hak is one of the engineers at Samsung SDI, and he has worked for the company for 12 years and acquired 10 master certification over the past five years. He said, “the technology meister system helped me to take a step forward. It is necessary to learn theories and functions for more efficient work. If there is no knowledge of production sites, it is hard to respond to troubles of facilities initially.”