Goheung-gun, Recruiting Companies Interested in Building Smart Factories for Manufacturing Innovation

80% Project Cost Subsidy per Company, Up to 320 Million KRW Support

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Goheung County (Governor Song Gwi-geun) announced on the 23rd that it will actively promote this year’s ‘Smart Factory Distribution and Expansion Project’ to strengthen the competitiveness of small and medium-sized manufacturing sites.

A smart factory is a human-centered advanced intelligent factory that integrates the entire process from product planning to sales using IT technology to produce customized products at minimal cost and time, improving productivity through process automation.

Goheung County has allocated a project budget of 1.5 billion KRW, including 230 million KRW of county funds, aiming to establish 9 smart factories this year (8 basic, 1 advanced). To alleviate the burden on small manufacturing companies suffering from prolonged COVID-19-related business difficulties, 80% of the project cost per company will be subsidized.

Through this project, manufacturers can receive support for building smart factory solutions applying advanced technologies, as well as purchasing necessary automation equipment and sensors. The basic level project, aiming at digitalization of production information, will be conducted over 6 months, while the advanced level, targeting real-time collection and analysis of production information, will be conducted over 9 months.

Starting this year, alongside AI- and data-based SME manufacturing innovation policies, the smart factory distribution policy will also be promoted with qualitative advancement, providing differentiated support according to the level of establishment.

According to the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Group, the introduction of smart factories has shown management improvements such as an average 30% increase in productivity, 43.5% improvement in quality, and 15.9% reduction in costs, as well as positive effects on creating quality jobs, including an 18.3% reduction in industrial accidents and an average increase of 3 employees.

Companies wishing to participate can submit applications through the Smart Factory Integrated Management System website by June 30, and will be selected as final supported companies after a basic eligibility review.

A county official stated, “This project is expected to help establish a foundation for manufacturing innovation environments aligned with the Korean New Deal policy through automation of manufacturing sites,” and added, “We will do our best to ensure that local SMEs can lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution era through continuous administrative support.”

Meanwhile, last year Goheung County signed a business agreement with Jeonnam Technopark and selected 8 companies (5 basic, 3 advanced) to support a total project cost of 1.4 billion KRW, striving to strengthen smart capabilities and foster an atmosphere for smart factory construction.

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