Intensive Smart Factory Advancement
Total of 3,700 Companies to Receive Support

The government has designated smart factory dissemination as a state policy to strengthen the competitiveness of manufacturing SMEs, and plans to promote the distribution of 30,000 smart factories by the end of this year according to targets.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the 'ICT Convergence Smart Factory Dissemination and Expansion Support Project' with a total budget of 247.5 billion won in 2002, and announced that it will recruit demand enterprises.

Smart factory construction companies were evaluated to have high manufacturing competitiveness with an average △28.5% increase in productivity △42.5% improvement in quality △15.5% reduction in costs.

Additionally, it showed improvements of 7.4% in sales per company, an increase of 2.6 employees, and a 6.2% reduction in industrial accidents, leading to corporate growth and job creation.

Building on these results, 25,000 smart factories were distributed by the end of last year, and this year the government and private sector plan to additionally distribute over 5,000 more through collaborative efforts.

The main contents of this project are △smart factory construction and advancement △industry-specific specialized support △smart factory level verification.

■ Smart Factory Construction Budget of 223 Billion Won

The smart factory construction budget is 223 billion won.

Based on individual demand enterprises' work sites and smart factory operational capabilities, construction levels are divided into △basic (50 million won) △advancement level 1 (200 million won) △advancement level 2 (400 million won), providing customized support to a total of 2,200 companies.

In particular, the amount of support is increased for companies constructing advanced factories with AI and big data applied to promote qualitative advancement.

The first recruitment for basic and advancement level 1 stages is from January 17 to February 22, and the second recruitment is from June 1 to June 30.

Recruitment for advancement level 2 stage is from January 17 to March 8.

■ Similar Process and Industry-Specific Specialized Support of 23 Billion Won

The budget for similar process and industry-specific specialized support is 23 billion won.

Common solutions are provided to companies with similar manufacturing processes and industries such as food and biotechnology.

Industry-specific cooperative organizations with expertise will strengthen linkages between companies and support efficient smart factory dissemination through integrated management of △demand discovery △strategy establishment △construction.

Qualified operating organizations are first selected, and these organizations recruit demand enterprises in the relevant industry field.

In this announcement, operating organizations are being recruited, and demand enterprise application reception will be conducted at the end of March.

The recruitment period for operating organizations is from January 17 to February 22.

■ Smart Factory Level Verification Budget of 1.5 Billion Won

The budget for the smart factory level verification project is 1.5 billion won.

Support is provided for smart factory level verification costs (maximum 1 million won) for a total of 1,500 companies that either independently constructed smart factories or advanced without government support.

Applicant companies can receive smart factory level verification and advancement guidelines.

In particular, SMEs that have adopted smart factories can receive preferential benefits when supplying to public institutions or applying for policy funds.

Verification organization recruitment is from January 17 to February 7, and participating company recruitment is conducted on a rolling basis starting March 2.

Announcements and detailed contents for each support project can be found on the SME Ministry website (www.mss.go.kr) or Smart Factory 1st Street (1st.smart-factory.kr).

Project applications can be made online through Smart Factory 1st Street.