20,000 Smart Factories Foundation, Focus on Data and AI-Based Advancement Projects

2nd Anniversary of Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team Launch, "Leading Digital Transformation in Manufacturing"

Smart Factory Distribution Trends. [Graphic=KOSMO]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] "Based on the smart factory dissemination and expansion project involving more than 20,000 domestic manufacturing companies, we will successfully promote the smart factory advancement project utilizing data and artificial intelligence (AI) to lead the digital transformation of manufacturing companies."

Park Han-gu, head of the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Group (KOSMO), stated this on the occasion of the 2nd anniversary of its launch on the 2nd, adding, "We will discover and support advanced companies with various characteristics to spread leading cases."

KOSMO, which officially launched in 2019 as an affiliate of the Korea Technology and Information Promotion Agency for SMEs to support manufacturing innovation for small and medium enterprises, is evaluated to have greatly expanded the base of smart factories in Korea.

Through the smart factory dissemination and expansion project targeting domestic small and medium-sized manufacturing companies, a total of 19,799 smart factories were disseminated by last year. This number far exceeded the cumulative target of 17,880 units for last year. It is interpreted that companies actively participated as they directly witnessed changes in surrounding companies.

Looking at the changes in 7,903 companies that introduced smart factories over the past five years (2014?2018) in numbers, they showed an average productivity increase of 28.5%, quality improvement of 42.5%, cost reduction of 15.5%, and on-time delivery rate improvement of 16.4%.

Moreover, it is noteworthy that the industrial accident rate decreased (6.2%↓) and employment increased (2.6 persons↑) in smart factories. This appears to have formed a positive work culture as existing simple and repetitive tasks, which were one of the reasons for reluctance to work in small manufacturing companies, were digitally transformed.

Beyond expanding the base, the smart factory advancement rate is also increasing. The cumulative advancement rate rose to 22.1% last year, indicating that the adoption and activation of smart factories are actively progressing across the industry. Looking at this year’s average competition rate for the project, the average competition rate for the Advancement 2 project is 4.88:1 (including K-Smart Lighthouse Factories), showing that the higher the level of establishment, the higher the competition rate.

Based on these achievements, KOSMO plans to discover and support advanced companies with various characteristics to spread leading cases.

In particular, in cooperation with TIPA, the ▲ A) Small and Medium Venture Manufacturing Platform (KAMP), ▲ Digital Cluster, and ▲ K-Smart Lighthouse Factories have been designated as key projects to actively support digital transformation so that manufacturing can gain global competitiveness by utilizing the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, AI, big data, and more.

Park said, "Looking back over the past two years, there are measurable achievements, but above all, I am most pleased that the manufacturing industry's perception of smart factories has changed," adding, "We will respond with a practical mid- to long-term plan that reflects the voices from the manufacturing field."

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