From Concept to Customer Care: How Samsung is Creating an Innovation Ecosystem in South Carolina

This year, Samsung began development of a new home appliance facility in Newberry County, South Carolina. Tony Fraley, the new plant manager, recently shared why investing in South Carolina was the right decision for our company, and how we’ve made tremendous strides — from hiring our team and retrofitting our building to working closely with the community to ensure we have the right training programs to make Newberry the world-class facility we envisioned.

But as we’ve said from day one, our ambitions for Samsung in South Carolina extend well beyond manufacturing alone. We’re committed to creating an ecosystem capable of supporting the full innovation lifecycle, from product concept and R&D to manufacturing, quality assurance, quality care, sales, distribution and customer care.

That’s why Samsung is partnering with the State of South Carolina, Clemson University and the University of South Carolina to create a five-year R&D partnership called the Palmetto Consortium for Home Appliance Innovation.

Beginning in 2018, the Consortium will enable research around advanced manufacturing techniques, sensor technologies, energy efficiency and other areas that are core to the innovation and production of premium home appliances. As we uncover new methods and ideas through this partnership, we will apply them to production taking place at our Newberry facility.

At Samsung, we know R&D is fundamental to bringing good ideas to life. It is the cornerstone of innovation and our ability to continuously develop new and better products. It’s the reason we’re so excited to get this new partnership underway and capitalize on South Carolina’s competitive talent at Clemson and USC-Columbia, both Tier One research universities.

Ultimately, our vision is to leverage the shared strengths of Samsung and South Carolina to fortify our U.S. leadership in home appliances, from concept to customer care. In addition to our facility in Newberry, South Carolina is home to Samsung’s first U.S.-based customer care center, located in Greenville County. Meanwhile, the state’s impressive highway transportation system and the Port of Charleston offer excellent supply chain infrastructure for shipping the appliances made in Newberry to customers across the country.

This new R&D partnership with Clemson and USC builds on that strong foundation. It will accelerate our ability to deliver premium appliances that surprise and delight, and reaffirms our commitment to researching, developing and manufacturing quality products in South Carolina.