[Editor's Note] Industry 4.0 aims to build a fully automated manufacturing system that enables information exchange between production equipment and products through the Internet of Things. In order to go beyond factory automation and achieve data-centric smart manufacturing, interconnection between devices and efficient management of the data generated based on this are essential. It is important to appropriately manage exponentially increasing data, and the industry is adopting the cloud to store and analyze the rapidly increasing industrial data. This is expanding the market based on its advantages of processing speed, ease of management, and cost reduction. In the midst of this, we met with Park Han-gu, head of the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team, who is in charge of the domestic smart factory distribution and expansion project, and heard about the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team's future smart factory support project policies.




■ What is the current state of smart factories in Korea?

The smart factory we are talking about is a flexible production factory, that is, a factory that autonomously produces what the customer wants, and we see this as the ultimate form of a smart factory.

In Germany, the concept of creating a digital twin factory in cyberspace, different from the existing physical factory, has emerged to achieve this.

A digital twin factory performs the same functions as a physical factory, but is not subject to wear and tear, and can predict when defective products will be produced and when they may break down, compared to a physical factory.

Smart factories of this level are predicted to be built after 2035, and in my personal opinion, I think our country will also be able to build one after 2030.

We expect that the Korean government, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, introducing companies, supply companies, universities, and research institutes will collaborate to create synergy and build smart factories.

■ What is the government’s cloud computing support project (KAMP)?

In the past, companies built their own computer rooms and had high maintenance costs.

Currently mostly global Enterprises are turning to cloud computing as an environment to create data value.

The government is building a cloud-based platform, the Korea AI Manufacturing Platform (KAMP), to support small and medium-sized enterprises to operate manufacturing raw data in the cloud.

Since adopters pay only for what they use, they can reduce initial investment costs and the security environment is further strengthened.

The government provides financial support for five years to small and medium-sized enterprises with 50 or fewer employees, and for three years to enterprises with 50 or more employees.

On the other hand, there is an issue that the solution developed for small and medium-sized enterprises in Korea does not meet international standards, so a one-package solution is being developed so that the data of domestic supply companies can be interconnected.





■ Future plans of the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team

Since the 1970s, our country has grown centered on large corporations.
I believe that in the next 50 years, it will be important for our country to focus on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and build a digital economic system centered on small and medium-sized enterprises that can grow into global companies.

We identify the current core competencies and shortcomings of small and medium-sized enterprises, collaborate to fill these gaps, and create new products.I think we should focus on developing quality.

■ Lastly, please say a word to your readers.

The key words for smart manufacturing innovation are first carbon neutrality and second safety.

A solution to overcome this barrier can be seen as building a smart factory.

If a smart factory is built to produce 13,000 products using the same amount of electricity as 10,000, carbon emissions per product can be reduced by 30 percent.

In addition, automating 3D work on production sites so that employees can work remotely without having to go to the site in person can reduce safety accidents.

Ultimately, I hope you approach it with the idea that you can achieve carbon neutrality and safety as expected effects by building smart factories, rather than investing in costs for carbon emissions and safety.

thank you


※ Meanwhile, e4ds news will host the ' 2022 IIoT Innovation Day ' on the topic of ' Building an Industrial Communication Network for Digital Twins ' simultaneously online and offline at COEX D Hall and e4ds.com on Friday, April 8. This seminar will be attended by Lee Soon-yeol, CEO of I2, B&R, Codezoo, Rockwell Automation, Ericsson-LG, and others who will introduce the latest IIoT technologies. We look forward to your active participation. You can apply for participation at the e4ds news conference .