Government Begins Distribution of Robot Process Models Across All Manufacturing Sectors

Ministry of Industry Launches Demonstration Project for Standard Process Model Utilizing Robots

The government actively supports robots to perform tasks instead of doing them manually one by one. (Photo by Asia Economy DB)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government announced that it has begun distributing standard process models utilizing robots across all manufacturing sectors.

On the 24th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held the "Robot Utilization Standard Process Model Demonstration Project Launch Ceremony" at the Intercity Hotel in Daejeon and made this announcement.

About 30 officials attended, including Choi Namho, Director of Manufacturing Industry Policy, representatives from the Robot Industry Promotion Agency, Korea Automotive Technology Institute, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Korea Food Research Institute, Korea Textile Machinery Convergence Research Institute, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Robot Users Association, and companies participating in the demonstration project.

At the event, the government announced the start of the demonstration project to deploy the 14 robot-utilized standard process models developed for the first time last year into manufacturing sites.

Participating companies, research institutes, and support organizations reviewed their preparation status for the successful execution of the demonstration project.

South Korea ranks second in the world with a robot density of 774 industrial robots installed per 10,000 employees, but the concentration in the automotive and electrical/electronics sectors is problematic. Therefore, there have been strong calls to expand robot use into foundational industries as well.

Source: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy selected 108 robot processes applicable to industries such as foundational manufacturing, textiles, and food and beverages. Last year, 14 were developed. This year, 23 are under development, and all 108 will be completed by 2023.

Robots will be deployed in processes that are simple and repetitive, exposed to safety accident risks, or cause musculoskeletal disorders?tasks that are generally avoided.

The ministry expects that this will reduce process time, increase productivity, alleviate labor intensity, and improve working conditions.

Sixty companies in the foundational manufacturing, textile, food and beverage, and automotive industries will deploy an average of five robots per company over six months to demonstrate the 14 processes.

This year, to reduce the burden on companies hit hard by COVID-19, support for robot introduction costs was increased from 50% to 70%.

Director Choi said, "Utilizing robots in manufacturing sites is not only about improving productivity but also a timely demand for contactless manufacturing environments. Robots will work alongside people and bring renewed vitality to our manufacturing sites."

He added, "Considering recent environmental changes, we will accelerate and diversify the development of standard models. Based on this, we will support the expansion of robot distribution across all manufacturing sectors."

Meanwhile, at the event, six research institutes including the Robot Industry Promotion Agency and Korea Automotive Technology Institute signed a memorandum of understanding and launched the "Manufacturing Innovation Support Group."

Through the project, they will support not only the development of standard process models but also process improvement consulting, demonstration and dissemination, training for current workers, and safety certification for collaborative robots.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.