Ministry of SMEs and Startups Calls for SMEs to Participate in 'Carbon-Neutral Smart Factory' Program

70 Million KRW for Basic Sector, 200 Million KRW for Advanced Sector Support
Jungjinkong Policy Funds Linkable... Up to 10 Billion KRW Additional Support per Company

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 4th that it will establish a new support project for 'carbon-neutral smart factories' and recruit small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies wishing to participate. The recruitment period is from the 5th to the 4th of next month.

The background for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to prepare the carbon-neutral smart factory support project is that carbon neutrality has emerged as a global issue. While advanced countries have proposed 'smart manufacturing' applying information and communication technology (ICT) as a measure to reduce carbon emissions, domestic manufacturing SMEs are facing difficulties due to the cost burden related to process improvement and equipment introduction, according to the ministry.

The ministry will provide a total of 3 billion KRW in national funds, supporting 70 million KRW per company for the basic sector and 200 million KRW for the advanced sector, depending on the level of smartification of the carbon-neutral smart factory. For facility investments requiring large-scale funds such as high-efficiency equipment replacement, additional support of up to 10 billion KRW per company is possible through a loan method linked with policy funds from the Small and Medium Business Corporation.

The distinctive feature of the carbon-neutral smart factory support project lies in providing specialized one-stop support for three major packages: ▲energy diagnosis and design consulting ▲ICT-based carbon reduction process innovation ▲high-efficiency equipment replacement.

Regarding specific support details, in the case of diagnosis and design consulting, private energy management specialized institutions identify on-site energy usage status and loss factors and advise on improvement measures to enhance energy efficiency. For carbon reduction process innovation, the ministry supports controllers, measurement infrastructure, and other equipment linked to manufacturing data-based energy management and process innovation solutions. In the case of high-efficiency equipment replacement, support is provided for replacing old utility equipment with energy-efficient equipment effective in reducing energy consumption.

To strategically support carbon-neutral smart factories, the ministry has limited the support fields to six industries including root industries such as welding, casting, heat treatment, and sectors like textiles and automobiles. Within these industries, the ministry supports projects based on designated tasks that have been pre-identified as effective for carbon neutrality. The designated tasks were selected considering factors such as ▲carbon reduction effect ▲on-site process innovation demand ▲expandability to similar and related industries from an industrial ecosystem perspective.

Meanwhile, through the smart factory support project, the ministry has distributed 19,799 smart factories up to last year. According to the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, companies that introduced smart factories saw an average productivity increase of 28.5% and a cost reduction of 15.5%. Additionally, sales increased by 7.4%, and industrial accident cases decreased by 6.2%.

Kim Il-ho, head of the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Planning Group at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "We plan to actively foster carbon-neutral smart factories as a pillar for building a sustainable economic system," adding, "We will introduce specialized indicators for improving energy efficiency and expand support to various industries in the future."

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