Group photo with the young team at Ye Sung (right to left): Haesung Jung, Hongjun Jeon, CEO Jaewan Kim, Junggi Lee, Hyeonu Lee and Hyunho Park, alongside Jaehoon Jo and William Shin from Koenig & Bauer’s branch office in South Korea.

Wide-ranging packaging production in South Korea

• Processing of demanding packaging designs
• Production output increased by 30 per cent
• Less overtime and better motivated employees

Since being founded in 2008, Ye Sung Corp. in Janghang-Dong near the South Korean capital of Seoul has grown to become a highly specialised packaging supplier, whose principal customers are small to mid-size companies that are active in a wide range of market segments, along with major players from the pharmaceuticals industry.

A broad spectrum of different folding cartons is produced, including ones for medicines and beauty products, dietary supplements, cosmetics and foods. They frequently include some very complicated designs that push the processing equipment to its limits.

South Korean employees work longer hours than their counterparts in most other OECD member nations. However, following labour law amendments that came into effect on 1 July 2021, a maximum working time of 52 hours per week now applies in all companies with five or more employees. In order to keep the performance of the operation at a high level, Yesung put the Allpro 70 folder-gluer into operation in March. The new machine contributes to faster turnaround times for individual jobs, and ensures that work processes proceed without problems despite the limited space available.

Of course, word of such an investment gets around quickly. Since commissioning the Allpro 70, Ye Sung has attracted a whole series of new orders.

Perfect all-rounder with high productivity

The Allpro 70 is distinguished by its high flexibility in terms of the substrates that can be used. An extensive range of tailored equipment options also allows it to handle an exceptionally broad variety of different folding carton designs, thereby giving free rein to the customer’s creativity. Application-oriented solutions and functions, along with belt speeds of up to 400 m/min, provide for fast makeready and high productivity.

Even after just a few weeks of use, production output at Ye Sung increased by more than 30 per cent thanks to the new machine. Overtime could be reduced, and employee satisfaction rose in equal measure. Weekend shifts have become a thing of the past.

Streamlined work processes

Jaewan Kim, CEO of Ye Sung Corp., explains: “The additional folder-gluer line has made us better able to group similar carton designs and sizes on individual machines, which saves makeready time and boosts production output.” Work processes have been streamlined to a considerable extent, and the lead time from confirmation of an order through to shipping of the processed products is now also shorter.

The CEO has full faith in the products made by Koenig & Bauer as one of the leading manufacturers of packaging machines. His philosophy is to embrace the challenging tasks presented by customers, to maintain flexibility, and to work in unison to develop solutions for their products.