Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany, said it has invested more than a €7 million to open a design and testing center for organic LEDs (OLEDs) in Gyeo nggi Province.

The OLED Application Center will be operated by Merck Ltd. Korea and is intended to help the company's displays industry customers bring products to market more quickly.

The facility features cleanroom facilities and equipment that meet internatio nal standards; fire protection and safety were a top priority. Co nstruction was completed in February, and the first blue device was successfully produced April 2, 2015.

"This investment is ba sed on our co ntinued faith in Korea’s leadership of global display industry and co nfidence in the industry's long-term growth," said Johannes Baillou, chairman of the board of partners of E. Merck KG.

"[The] OLED Application Center has a range of equipment for OLED evaporation testing and reliability analysis and will introduce other advanced processes such as inkjet printing through co ntinuous further investment," said Walter Galinat, president and CEO of Merck's performance materials business sector.

The company established an OLED Chemical Application Center in 2011 at the same site.

Merck has six business sectors: biopharmaceuticals, co nsumer health, allergopharma, biosimilars, life science and performance materials. It generated sales of €11.3 billion in 2014 and employs 39,000 workers in 66 countries.