Samsung SDI upgrades its Goed factory for efficiency

Battery maker Samsung SDI has applied an upgraded production method at its second factory for electric vehicle (EV) batteries in Goed, Hungary to increase efficiency.

It is now applying in-line technology for its prismatic battery production __ which means the notching equipment and stacking equipment are placed continuously in one line.

Previously, after notching was done, the materials were moved to magazines, then put into the stacking equipment.

But now the transfer part with the magazines is gone. Samsung SDI expects this to increase its productivity at the factory by between 20% to 30%.

Notching is the process to make positive and negative tabs on the batteries. Samsung SDI had previously done laser notching but is now applying press notching. The stacking process stacks the materials on top of each other.

Samsung SDI’s battery production for the past three years went through many changes.

It uses to wind the battery materials to make them into jelly rolls. These would be put in a metal can and capped on to finish the battery. This process was efficient with high productivity.

But starting in 2021, Samsung SDI, for its latest Gen 5 batteries, began using stacking over winding. The advantage is that stacking allows for more materials to be packed inside the battery.

The trade-off was the productivity drop from the winding method, which Samsung SDI’s latest upgrade attempts to address.

The in-line equipment that allows notching and stacking kits to be in one line was provided by supplier Philenergy, which Samsung SDI spend 5 billion won for a 20% equity stake.

Philenergy had supplied dozens of the in-line equipment to the second factory, which will help it expand revenue substantially. The company is expected to win equipment orders worth 150 billion won this year, up from 120 billion won last year.