Ministry of SMEs and Startups to Support 146.2 Billion KRW for Smart Manufacturing Innovation This Year

2023 Integrated Announcement for SME Smart Manufacturing Innovation Support Project

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Lee Young) announced on the 8th that it will conduct a 'Smart Manufacturing Innovation Support Project Integrated Announcement' worth a total of 146.2 billion KRW this year. The policy for building and expanding smart factories for smart manufacturing innovation began in 2014, and by last year, more than 30,000 smart factories had been distributed. Small and medium enterprises achieved effects such as a 29.4% increase in productivity, a 42.8% improvement in quality, and a 15.9% reduction in costs through the establishment of smart factories. Management improvements were also observed, including a 6.4% increase in sales per company, an increase of 1.5 employees, and a 4.9% decrease in industrial accidents.

This year, the plan is to shift from the quantitative expansion-focused smart factory construction to a focus on advancement. Win-win smart factories between large and small businesses, which utilize private sector smart factory construction capabilities and private contributions, will continue to support the basic stage considering private autonomous cooperation. Also, to promote efficient project implementation, the selection of government-supported smart factory construction projects will be changed from the existing Smart Manufacturing Innovation Center (affiliated with Technopark) to the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Group. The application period will be extended to 45 days to provide companies aiming to build advanced smart factories with sufficient preparation time, enabling well-planned projects.

Some projects, such as industry-specific specializations, will be abolished, and investment-linked, inter-ministerial collaboration, and supply chain-linked smart factory construction projects will be newly established. The investment-linked project supports the growth of supply companies by the government when the private sector first invests in supply companies developing smart factory solutions. The inter-ministerial collaboration project jointly addresses issues such as strategic industry development and industrial accident prevention with relevant ministries through smart factory construction. Supply chain-linked smart factories connect multiple companies' smart factories, such as value chains or partner companies, based on data and networks.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will provide detailed guidance on support targets, contents, and conditions through detailed project announcements in the future.

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