The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Ryu Seok-hyun) has set sail to expand its independently developed 'Virtual Engineering Platform' to promote digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises in the blind spot of virtual engineering technology.

The research team led by Jong-Won Park, head of the DX Strategy Research Group at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, and Dong-Cheon Baek, head of the Reliability Research Lab at the Virtual Engineering Platform Research Headquarters, developed six types of 'KIMM Cyber Lab', an engineering software program that is easy for users to use.

This program consists of six types: 'KIMM-CAD' for 3D design, 'KIMM-Structure' for structural analysis, 'KIMM-Flow' for fluid analysis, 'KIMM-CAM' for generating CNC paths, 'KIMM-Motion' for multi-body dynamics simulation, and 'KIMM-SYS' for system analysis.

Domestic machinery parts manufacturers are making key use of engineering software, but they depend on imports for about 90% of it.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are reluctant to introduce expensive foreign engineering software that costs more than 50 million won per year.There is no choice but to respond, which ultimately leads to the problem of companies delaying their digital transformation.

The open source solver applied with the 6 types of 'KIMM Cyber Lab' developed by the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials is expected to be of great help to the digital transformation of domestic small and medium-sized enterprises as it can be freely used and distributed according to the license terms. The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials has reduced the average development cost of 16 million won per company and shortened the development period by 3 months through the support of 214 companies so far.

The 'KIMM Cyber Lab' program maintains similar performance with 95% accuracy compared to expensive foreign software, and will be distributed free of charge to small and medium-sized businesses. For companies requesting regular technical support in the future, we plan to charge an annual subscription fee.

This study was conducted with the support of the Virtual Engineering Platform Construction Project of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, under the project titled ‘Establishment of a Theme for Prediction and Verification of Reliability of Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle Mechatronics Modules Using Stage 3 Digital Twin Technology.’

Meanwhile, on May 30, the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials signed a business agreement for the utilization and expansion of a virtual engineering platform with LG Electronics (CEO Joo-wan Cho) and LG Electronics H&A Research Center (Director Se-gi Oh) at LG Smart Park in Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, with the attendance of Lee Seung-ryeol, Director of the Industrial Policy Office of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Lee Chan-young, Vice President of the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology.

Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials and LG Electronics Co., Ltd. have decided to introduce the 'KIMM Cyber Lab' and cooperate with each other to strengthen the competitiveness of the domestic machinery industry and accelerate digital transformation technology innovation.

The main contents of the agreement are: △Joint verification and technological advancement of 'KIMM Cyber Lab' to improve virtual engineering technology, △Development of best practices to provide customized solutions for industrial sites, △Mutual sharing of related information and confidentiality required for application of 'KIMM Cyber Lab', etc.

Ryu Seok-hyun, president of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, said, “This is a good opportunity to proactively introduce domestic software programs to large corporations and spread them, and to distribute them to small and medium-sized enterprises through the trickle-down effect from large corporations.” He added, “We will continue to work with LG Electronics to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises can coexist.”