Hansung-suk Minister of SMEs "Institutionalize Smart Manufacturing Supply Companies"

[Financial News] Hansung-suk, Minister of SMEs and Startups, announced on the 14th, "We will establish an institutional and legal support system to foster smart manufacturing supply companies and create an industrial ecosystem."
On the 14th, Minister Han visited ID Mode, located in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, as the third destination of the policy field tour in the SME sector, and said, "We will accelerate the digital and AI transformation of small and medium-sized manufacturing."
This policy field tour was conducted to confirm excellent cases of digital transformation and to listen to field opinions regarding the designation system for smart manufacturing specialized companies.
ID Mode is proving productivity and quality improvement through digital technology by building an IoT-based equipment monitoring, process analysis, and production history management system to increase equipment utilization and reduce defect rates by more than half. In addition, they plan to further enhance productivity by introducing AI technology for new product planning, defect detection, and production planning.
In particular, it is noteworthy that the clothing and fabric manufacturing industries, which have weakened competitiveness due to low-cost offensives from countries like China, are succeeding in improving productivity and enhancing quality through digital transformation, thereby regaining competitiveness. This case, which shows the future potential of traditional manufacturing through digital-based process innovation, is evaluated as an important indicator suggesting the direction of future smart manufacturing expansion policies.
At the field meeting, experts, smart manufacturing supply companies, and companies that have introduced smart factories shared opinions regarding the designation system for smart manufacturing specialized companies.
The smart manufacturing specialized company designation system is a newly planned system to discover and designate supply companies with the capability to technically support the digital transformation of SMEs, such as smart factories, and to systematically support them to grow into globally competitive specialized companies.
Designated specialized companies will be linked with customized support at each stage, such as R&D, policy funds, finance, and market channels, and the institutional foundation will be further strengthened through the enactment of the 'Smart Manufacturing Industry Promotion Act' in the future.
Companies attending the meeting suggested △ securing global competitiveness of manufacturing AI technology supply companies △ expanding data collection and AI technology application in small and medium-sized manufacturing △ nurturing AI professionals with manufacturing field experience △ continuous operation and utilization support for digital transformation equipment and systems introduced in small and medium manufacturing sites △ AI-based industrial accident prevention measures for SMEs.
In response, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it would actively reflect these suggestions in future policies and concretize support plans for digital and AI transformation and fostering supply companies.
Minister Hansung-suk emphasized, "The visit to ID Mode confirmed that digital transformation results are practically occurring in small and medium manufacturing companies regardless of industry or company size, and that productivity can be further enhanced through the introduction of AI technology," adding, "For this transformation to spread throughout the SME manufacturing sector, the role of smart manufacturing supply companies, which best understand the field and can execute technology, is very important."

stand@fnnews.com Seo Ji-yoon Reporter