Category: Uncategorized

SK On has a long-standing commitment to social responsibility. Our latest initiative further reinforces our commitment to the community.

As the largest battery manufacturer in Hungary, SK On attaches great importance to social responsibility.

In 2023, after months of preparation, we decided to support the Music for All Association with a special donation of HUF 5 000 000.

The Music for All Association was founded in 2022. Its aim is to provide music education for children and young people with intellectual disabilities, and to teach them to read music and play instruments. The association has a 13-piece Parafonia Orchestra, whose members are no longer just children. The orchestra plays mainly classical music, with special arrangements of works by the great composers.

SK Innovation, SK On’s parent company, is also committed to supporting music opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, to the extent that it has organised the GMF (Great Music Festival) in South Korea every year since 2017, an event that provides a showcase for musicians with disabilities. This is where the idea to support this community in Hungary came from, supporting their social engagement.

“We hope that this financial support will serve as an important step for people with intellectual disabilities in Hungary to communicate with society through music,” said Moon Hang-ki, SK On’s executive director, who also shared with the participants that the donation will be used to train a new music group.

“I understand that the Parafónia Orchestra and the new band are planning to add the traditional Korean song Arirang to their repertoire around June next year as a thank you. I am looking forward to hearing this song performed by them,” he added.

At the event, Réka Fabényi, the association’s music director, also presented special sheet music for musicians with special needs, which she has been developing for several years.

“Thanks to the donation, we can help even more people with disabilities,” said Krisztián Fodor, President of the Music for All Association, “We hope to have a long-term cooperation and to introduce many people with intellectual disabilities to the joy of making music together.”

“We are very grateful for the generous donation of SK On Hungary, without which the new music groups would not have been possible,” added Franciska Bujdos, member of the association, “This support will allow them, and hopefully many more people with disabilities, to express themselves through music.”

SK On plans to support the Music for All Association in the long term, demonstrating its commitment to social equality and its view of local communities as a real investment.

DISCOVERY IS REWARDED

Many of you have probably heard of the so-called “Security Reward Program”.

But what exactly does this mean in practice?

We can now demonstrate this with a very recent example, as Róbert Török, SKOH Assembly Technician, discovered a security vulnerability that was rewarded by the Security Team.

“The long and short of it is that I noticed that I could pair my company laptop with my android phone via Bluetooth.” – began Róbert Török.

“From then on, I could send photos from my company laptop to my phone. Normally we don’t use the Bluetooth function on the laptop, but for some reason it was turned on. It just occurred to me that I was using the Bluetooth function on my smartphone anyway because of my smartwatch, where the laptop appeared in the pairing. As I was able to pair it, I then thought to report this immediately to the security team, who checked with me that the photo and file transfer would indeed be feasible, so they took immediate action.” – said Róbert Török Assembly Technician.

“I immediately reported the vulnerability to my manager, who immediately contacted the factory manager and IT Security colleagues to find a solution to the vulnerability Robi had just outlined.” – explained Árpád Rácz, Security Manager.

“It is important to point out, however, that iOS phones did not allow the pairing that has been revealed, while Android phones did. IT Security was designed to solve these problems. However, we would like to express our gratitude to Robi for discovering such a critical vulnerability and for reporting it to us immediately. I believe this is an excellent reflection of both employee loyalty and what the Security Reward Program should be all about.” – emphasised Árpád Rácz, who thanked Róbert Török for his help with a voucher under the Security Reward Programme.

“Of course, I’m happy with the honour, but this is just icing on the cake. I’ve been with SK On Hungary for quite a long time, 3 years now, so it probably goes without saying how much the community and the company means to me. It never crossed my mind not to report such a security breach immediately, as I believe I have contributed to making the place where we all work a little bit better.” – said Róbert Török.

“Unfortunately, we find that some employees misunderstand what exactly the Security Reward Program means. It’s not about colleagues reporting each other when one doesn’t lock their laptops and so on, but exactly what Robi noticed and reported to us.” – emphasized Árpád Rácz Security Manager.

SK On Hungary has a long-standing relationship with the Hungarian Red Cross Komárom-Esztergom County Organization, since in recent years we have worked together in the organization of donations, children’s camps and blood donation events. The latter has become a tradition: as it is happening at least twice a year in spring and in autumn.

As always, the recruitment drive proved that many people want to do good, as the pre-registration places for the blood donation day in early November were filled in two days. Between 12:00 noon and 15:00 p.m., 40 employees from Komárom were able to donate blood, showing a clear sign of solidarity and community responsibility.

Of course, the noble deed was not without gratitude, as the blood donors were rewarded with soft drinks and chocolates, while the donors with small children received a children’s canteen and a food box courtesy of the Hungarian Red Cross Komárom-Esztergom County Organisation.

It’s also important to remember that donating blood can benefit not only others, but also your own life, by reducing your risk of heart attack, getting a free health check-up and also burning calories.

Reducing the risk of heart attack

Donating blood at least once a year has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attack by 88%. This is because blood donation keeps the iron content of the blood under control, which is one of the essential components for the body to function properly. In the event of iron deficiency, anaemia can develop, leading to fatigue, dizziness, and weakness. However, excessive accumulation of iron can cause oxidative damage, which can lead to a heart attack. People who give blood regularly have faster blood regeneration. Blood can also flow better after donation, which prevents the accumulation of fat and cholesterol in-oxidation in the coronary artery walls. This can reduce the risk of heart attack, coronary heart disease and stroke.

Free health check

Before donating blood, anyone who wants to give blood is screened for health reasons, completely free of charge. In other words, they determine whether your blood and your body are suitable for donation. After the donation, the blood is also tested.

Burning calories

A single blood donation can help you burn up to 650 kcal. To summarise: an average casual workout burns 300 kcal per hour, an intense workout 500 kcal. So donating blood can also help with weight management, although it is important to drink plenty of fluids and eat something afterwards, especially if you are prone to fainting after donating.

We would like to thank everyone for their participation and selfless help, and we encourage colleagues to (also) participate in the next blood donation!

The South Korean battery manufacturer, which is also present in our country, will supply the battery modules for Polestar 5 from 2025. SK On’s ultra-long, high-nickel battery has a high energy density and is extremely safe, making it ideal for powering high-performance vehicles such as the Polestar 5.

SK On, the world’s leading battery company, has announced that it has signed an agreement to supply battery cells to Swedish electric car manufacturer Polestar, ensuring continued long-term growth in the global battery market.

Founded in 1996, Polestar was acquired by Volvo Cars in 2015. The sporty sub-brand of the Swedish car giant specialises in high-performance electric cars and launched its first own model, the Polestar 1, in autumn 2017. Under the agreement, SK On will supply the battery cells for Polestar’s luxury four-door coupe, the Polestar 5, from 2025, with production scheduled to start in 2025. The Swedish brand’s all-electric four-door GT model is planned to be launched with 650 kW (884 hp) and 900 Nm of torque.

The Polestar 5 will be powered by SK On’s ultra-long, 56 cm cell, high nickel batteries. These high-energy density batteries have excellent safety properties, as demonstrated by the fact that they have passed the most stringent thermal propagation tests. “We are delighted to be working with Polestar on this high-end electric car model,” said Jee Dong-seob, CEO of SK On. “With this agreement, we strengthen our partnership and look forward to further joint collaborations.”

Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath added: “Our relationship with SK On has been fruitful following our initial letter of intent and their investment in our brand. The Polestar 5 will feature this high-capacity battery to deliver the performance expected of a GT car.”

In 2021, SK Group invested in Polestar through a New Mobility Fund. The two companies have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen their cooperation in the field of electric vehicles.

FROM THE SK BATTERY ANGELS TEAM

At the beginning of last summer, we first heard about the Celerus First Aid competition, where teams of workplace first aiders compete against each other. Fortunately, we were not excluded and were supported to participate in this event representing the factory. As it turned out, this was the 10th edition and teams have been coming back to compete for several years, so we were just hoping and of course giving it our best to show what we could do.

Our team represented our factory as SK Battery Angels. Its members were Mrs Mónika Farkas, Viktória Kovács, György Rackó and Mónika Demeter

The tournament took place from the 6th until the 7th of October 2023 at the Kisoroszi Golf Club. We arrived at the tournament venue with a lot of excitement, as we didn’t know what we were going to do. After the compulsory registration, everyone was welcomed with a buffet breakfast.

Our first day continued with preparatory presentations, followed by team building sessions to relieve tension, then more preparation, dinner and wine tasting.

The lectures were given by qualified trainers. During the team-building programme we had the chance to try golfing with the help of an instructor, although the next day we had a little muscle ache from the unusual posture.

During the wine tasting we chatted and got to know the other teams, the atmosphere was very good, which is why everyone went to bed very late.

On Saturday morning, the day of the race, we were quite excited about the start, as we felt that we were competing against teams that were sticked together, while we had only minimal time to prepare. The race courses were super well designed, somewhere we found ourselves in car accidents, but there were also electrocuted, maiming, soldering, falling down accidents) where the participants were very realistic – the injuries and the locations felt real.

At each station, they scored your performance and told you correctly if you made a mistake, but they were not stingy with the praise either. In the excitement of the competition, we made mistakes, but on many occasions we received praise, which made us as happy as children. In all the excitement, you couldn’t help but notice that we had completed all 13 competition venues. After the competition, we were treated with a delicious lunch and then the results were announced. We were very excited because, as I said, we were playing against teams who had been in the competitions almost from the beginning. We were beginners, but we gave it our all. We kept saying, sitting next to each other, as a mantra, just let us not be the last ones… And they started the announcement of the results, we weren’t last, we weren’t ahead, we weren’t ahead… and suddenly the sentence was uttered: 9th place went to the SK Battery Angels team, who were participating in this competition for the first time!

It was great to hear the other teams shouting, clapping and congratulating, but I just felt so happy I could hardly walk out to collect the prize and say thank you. It was an incredible feeling!

However, even with the little preparation we did together, we still gave the best of ourselves and our partners. I hope that the next time there will be such an opportunity, we will be able to participate in such a competition with a little experience and a lot of enthusiasm.

AT THE SK ON FACTORY IN KOMÁROM

On 14th of October 2023, SK On organised a special event for its best employees and their families. At the “Recharge” Open Day, guests were not only able to learn about the production process, but also to get a taste of Korean culture.

Komárom hosted an extraordinary event on 14th of October 2023, when the country’s largest battery factory, SK On in South Korea, opened its doors to the families of its workers. The main aim of the event was to give the relatives of the workers the opportunity to learn more about the company’s production processes and activities, but there was also a wide range of entertainment activities for the participants. Moon Hang-ki, Managing Director of SK On Europe, welcomed the nearly 100 guests.

In his speech, he said that this is the first time that the factory is being opened to the public, so that the wives, husbands and children of the workers can get to know SK On and the work that goes on there.

“A lot of people have asked a lot of questions about what kind of factory we are and how we operate,” he said.-, “that’s why we are planning more of these events with the city administration, where the people of Komárom will have the opportunity to get to know us.”

The event was attended by Attila Molnár, the Mayor of Komárom, who thanked SK On for choosing Komárom as the site of the factory and welcomed the fact that the company opened its doors to the families of the workers, albeit for one day only.

After the official opening, the guests were taken on a tour of the factory, where they were able to see the processes involved in battery production at SK On and how safe the working conditions really are. They were then treated to a short but interesting presentation by SK On engineers.

“It was really exciting to see the production process, I learned a lot from today’s visit,” said a guest, “There was a lot of uncertainty in our family as to what was going on behind the walls, so it was reassuring to see that SK On is so focused on the safety of the workers and making sure everything is done in the most orderly way.”

After the official programme, there were a variety of activities for everyone, from the youngest to the adults, with a variety of exciting and fun games for everyone to try. At lunch, the guests were treated to another unique experience: tasting Korean food and drink specialities and sampling Korean desserts.

“All the dishes were delicious, I didn’t think the family would like it so much,” said another guest, who promised to try some South Korean recipes at home in the future. “The SK On team organised a great programme for us, we had a great time. There were activities for the whole family, and we liked the fact that they didn’t keep secrets and showed us how the batteries are made. We would be happy to come again if there is another event like this,” he added.

SK On’s Open Day was a great opportunity for employees’ families to get to know the company’s activities better and celebrate together the company’s successes so far. The event helped to strengthen the company’s workplace community, and family members felt honoured to see how the country’s largest battery factory operates.

INTERVIEW- LEVENTE SZABÓ

Last year a small delegation from our company visited a battery factory based in China, but mostly owned by Koreans. The Hungarian group included Levente Szabó, an engineer from SKBM Assembly, who had a memorable nine days in the Far Eastern battery factory. Below, Levente tells us about his interesting and valuable experience of his visit to China.

Could you please summarise in a few words how long you have been working at SK and what exactly is your responsibility?

I’ve been working at SKBM Assembly since February 2021, so it’s been almost three years now. I started as a junior engineer, but now “junior” has been dropped from my title. Initially, I was only responsible for one production line, which then expanded to several lines, giving me a comprehensive view and experience of everything from notching to packaging. Of course, you also get to do a lot of other things, as it’s a very complex job.

You were recently part of a Hungarian SK team that paid a several-day visit to a battery factory in China.

Yes, I’m very happy to have been given the opportunity, not only because of what I said before, that I’ve been working here for a while, but also because my superiors saw that I had enough experience. I understand that this was one of the decisive factors in the selection of the team, as the expatriate guard was also filled with experienced colleagues from other areas.

Where exactly did you go?

For nine days, we travelled to EVE Power in China and SK Innovation, a joint battery manufacturing company called EUE. The factory where we stayed had four lines in operation, while the newer one had five. Their first partner was Daimler, followed by Hyundai, and soon they will be producing for Xpeng in China. Their total production capacity is up to 20GWh. 

What exactly did your stay consist of?

The day we arrived was basically about acclimatisation, so the second day was all about introductions, company presentations and a visit to their test centre. The following days were dedicated to the production technology and the different phases of the production process itself, such as electrode, assembly, moulding and quality. They had no module. All questions were answered very willingly and accurately. In the meantime, as I mentioned before, they showed me the production process and how it is done.

What was the main purpose of the visit?

Gaining experience and comparing our factory with theirs to see how we could improve. I would say that it is mainly us, since their factory started almost at the same time as SK On Hungary’s first factory. It was obvious that they were ahead of the game, so we wanted to learn some good practices, and of course networking was not a minor factor. It’s worth noting that they had been here before, when they were the only ones running a line for a while. Of course, it was not only about professional things, but also about getting to know each other’s culture a little, as they are planning to build a factory in Debrecen.

For you, what were the biggest differences from a technical point of view compared to the conditions here?

The improvements because they are very open to these things. Also, the processes are much simpler and streamlined. In PPT, for example, they use photos to illustrate a much smaller number of pages, which are of course supported by figures. On the other hand, the Chinese have practically grown into work, so what they do is also a matter of honour for them. They are also terribly concerned about cleanliness.

So, in their case, the work-life balance is clearly tilted towards work?

Yes. This is also illustrated by the fact that they don’t really have company buses or cars, but ten-storey apartment blocks lined up next to the factory, on the other street. It was also interesting to note that they have a multi-rate tax system, and that an operator, for example, earns the same as in Hungary, but the difference is that in China you can buy cheaper in the shops, which does not, contrary to popular belief, come at the expense of quality.

Beyond technology, what other company-related experience have you gained?

Their dining room was simply amazing, in size, cleanliness and modernity. Everyone from operators, technicians and decision makers ate there. It probably goes without saying that the food on offer, which was part of the allowance, was very varied. What was also interesting for us was that the company had a separate childcare section.

How much have security measures (e.g. access to/exit from the factory) been new to you?

The taping of the phones is done in the same way as in our country, but with the added bonus of fingerprinting and facial recognition cameras to approve the door opening. This system doesn’t even let you pass until you look into the camera.

Overall, what are your personal conclusions?

I was very positively disappointed. They were very nice, open and helpful to us. Not just the people working in the factory, but people we met outside the company in our everyday lives, shopping or walking around. Everyone was terribly open to us.

Decree 30/1996 (XII.6.) of the Ministry of the Interior on the Fire Safety Regulations states that the implementation of the Fire Alarm Plan shall be practiced with the parties concerned as necessary, at least annually, and the results shall be evaluated and recorded in writing. Any errors or shortcomings found during the exercise must be remedied in writing within 15 days. The fire authority shall be notified of the planned exercise at least 15 days before the date of the exercise and of any change to the announced date of the exercise.

The aim of the exercise is to make sure that workers are aware of the correct and accurate escape steps, as every second counts in the event of a fire. The drills are updated year by year and the escape routes, emergency exits and pictograms are better memorised by the workers.

The positioning and queuing at the assembly point is also very important, and a headcount check will be carried out. Managers make sure that workers in their area have successfully left the factory.

The SKOH Fire Drill was held on 20th of September 2023.

At 9.00 a.m., the evacuation of the factory began with the activation of the fire alarm sounders. On the positive side, workers left the factory area without panic via the transport routes, and the public address and fire alarm systems were working as intended.

The 599 participants, of which 571 were employees and 28 outsiders, left the factory in 8 minutes 39 seconds.

Workers lined up by area at the designated assembly point. The roll call also went relatively smoothly, with the last headcount being taken at 9:14 minutes and 52 seconds.

Once the data had been recorded, the workers returned to the factory site in an orderly manner and resumed work.

We thank all participants for their precise and successful cooperation.

János Szalczinger

SHE Engineer

In August 2023, SK’s new “colleague” started working for the company and can be found on the company’s website 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is “Nabi”, the chatbot.

The Nabi chatbot is available 24/7 to answer questions and receive applications on the website. Although Nabi is a robot, she has all the personality traits of a robot: polite, intelligent and still learning the language, so she may not be able to answer everything correctly, but she tries hard and learns quickly. She is patient and helpful. Her favourite colour is “SK red” and she is interested in everything related to SK recruitment (e.g. open pizzas, recruitment, etc.).

The butterfly also appears as a symbol of SK, which in Korea means “Nabi” butterfly, hence the name of the little chatbot.

The chatbot is actually a real-time chat application. It’s based on artificial intelligence that can be trained according to the needs of the customer, so that it can provide increasingly accurate answers over time. It is an advanced software that interacts with the user and can handle an unlimited number of conversations at a time. The bot therefore can be used for a chat interface, primarily text-based dialogue.

Discussions with the Hungarian Red Cross Komárom- Esztergom County Organization started already at the beginning of last summer to support a children’s camp organized by them and to visit it.

We managed to finalise the details before the event started on 31 July 2023, and SK On Hungary was delighted to contribute to the catering of nearly three dozen children for all five days of the camp. In addition, on the opening day of the camp, our PR & Communications team had the extra opportunity to give a short presentation to the very curious 30 bright-eyed children aged 9-12.

The highly interactive presentation also covered the environment, the importance of natural values and the differences between electric and conventional cars.

From the very first minutes, our colleagues were surprised to find that the children knew the answers to almost all the questions, so they practically led the whole presentation themselves.

We discussed the advantages of electric vehicles, their performance and, of course, the batteries we produce. We also told them about the brands we make battery cells for, and then we gave them a “knowledge test” to see if they knew which brands were associated with which countries.

Meanwhile, it turns out that today’s children know a lot about electromobility.

Of course, the presentation of our company, SK On Hungary, could not be left out, including why our company’s logo is a butterfly – which symbolizes happiness and soaring – and the so-called SK red and orange colors are meant to refer to energy and quality. It became clear to us that most of the young people – all of whom, of course, have ties to Komárom – had heard the name SK before, and that they also knew where we were located and what we do.

After the presentation, which ended as a friendly chat, each child was given the opportunity to ask questions, which we tried to answer to the best of our ability, and then, to reward their knowledge and patience, and to make their meeting with us even more memorable, each child received an “SK orange” baseball cap and a canteen in the same colours, of course with SK logos. Finally, the programme was crowned with a big group photo session, after which all the children returned to the original schedule of the camp.
The noble goal and the smiles on the children’s faces delighted us as much as they delighted each and every one of the children, some of whom came up to us again on our way out of the camp to thank us for the hat and canteen we had given them. As many of you know, this was not the first and certainly not the last time that SK On Hungary has cooperated with the Hungarian Red Cross Komárom-Esztergom County, as last year we have already managed to mobilise the Komárom employees of SK On Hungary for a voluntary blood donation, which was an undivided success.