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Merck Korea announced on Thursday, June 9, that the expansion of its production facility in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, is already complete. The company is the local unit of the German science and tech firm.
As per The Korea Herald, it was in October 2020 when Merck Korea revealed its plans to spend €20 million or around $21 million for the upgrade of its facilities that will handle the production of key materials for organic light-emitting diode or OLED displays that will be delivered there directly from Germany.
The company said that the quality and purity of the OLED materials are two of the most important elements that affect the performance of devices where they are installed. These also have an effect on the longevity of the devices, so the expansion of its production is needed to develop the next-generation displays.
Merck Korea shared that it has added new equipment for sublimation and vacuum deposition processes in the plant. These are expected to help with creating the highest level of performance and quality of the locally produced materials for the OLEDs.
The managing director of Merck Korea, Kim Woo Kyu, said that Korea is positioned as a dominant market that takes up over 80% of the worldwide OLED display market. He added that the company is very committed to supporting the local panel makers in the country by providing them with a reliable supply of display materials.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Michael Heckmeier, the head of Merck's display solutions, he said that Korea is a key partner in the company's display business unit. The executive has been working on the development of display materials as well as supervising the expansion of production facilities in the country.
"As with the successful strategy of achieving success through domestic research and production of liquid crystals in the past, Merck began to lay the foundation for R&D, production and the stable supply of OLED materials to Korean panel makers in 2005," Heckmeier told The Korea Times.
He added, "Recently, we decided to invest in new equipment to improve the analysis and quality inspection capabilities of OLED materials. This is to provide specialized services to Korean customers and we expect to commence stable operations this year."
