"SMEs Increase Sales, Employment, and Innovation Activities After Adopting Smart Factories"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Companies that have adopted smart factories showed more than a 20% increase in sales, employment, and research and development (R&D) investment compared to companies that have not adopted them.

The Korea Federation of SMEs disclosed the results of an analysis on the policy effects of the 'Large and Small Business Win-Win Smart Factory Construction Support Project' on the 7th. This study was conducted through a survey and analysis of 302 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that participated in the project from 2018 to 2019 and 304 SMEs in the same industry and sales bracket that had not adopted smart factories.

According to the research results, the smart factory policy was found to have effects not only on improving business performance but also on enhancing manufacturing processes and production sites.

In 2018, the sales of companies that adopted smart factories grew by 19.1% one year after adoption and by 23.9% two years after adoption, showing that the adoption effect improved over time.

Employment and R&D investment also showed consistently higher growth compared to non-adopting companies. The number of insured employees increased by 30.9% one year after adoption and by 27.1% two years after adoption. R&D investment increased by 78.1% and 57.9%, respectively.

Companies that adopted smart factories demonstrated higher performance in innovation activities such as △increased daily production volume △reduced process time △shortened delivery times leading to productivity gains △data-driven decision making △system improvements through the introduction of new production and logistics methods.

Yoon Wi-sang, director of the KBIZ SME Research Institute, said, "Smart factories also contribute to business performance through innovation activities," adding, "To strengthen national industrial competitiveness, expanded participation of large companies by industry must be supported."

The Large and Small Business Win-Win Smart Factory Construction Support Project is a program led by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to support private-led smart factory construction in collaboration with large companies. Thirty-two leading organizations including Samsung Electronics and POSCO, along with five collaborating organizations including the Korea Federation of SMEs, are participating.

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