The importance of the manufacturing data ecosystem in the introduction of smart factories by small and medium-sized enterprises was emphasized as a means of implementing the 'autonomous production system', the ultimate evolution of smart factories.

'Autonomous production' refers to the concept of increasing productivity and securing flexibility by implementing digital engineering through the integration of various technologies in production facilities at manufacturing sites.

“We are in an era where digital transformation (DX) has become fundamental in manufacturing,” said Ahn Gwang-hyun, head of the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team. “It is no exaggeration to emphasize the importance of data in building smart factories for small and medium-sized enterprises.”

He also emphasized that data is key to the event's theme of autonomous production systems, and said, "The Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team will support specific projects to create an environment that allows small and medium-sized enterprises to properly organize their manufacturing data."

The '2023 Autonomous Manufacturing World Congress (AMWC)', hosted by the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team and Busan-Daejeon-Gyeongnam Technopark and sponsored by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, will be held at COEX for two days from the 20th to the 21st.It was held in the Grand Ballroom.

This event, which was previously called the 'Seoul International Smart Factory Conference & Expo,' features booth exhibitions and six conference sessions centered on the latest technologies such as AI, big data, AR/XR, digital twins, and robots.

The Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team supports manufacturing innovation in domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and oversees the construction of smart factories. Key achievements include the deployment of over 30,000 smart factories between 2014 and 2022.

The Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team's 2023 goals are to: 1) build smart factories led by the private sector and supported by the government; and 2) prevent poorly constructed factories through systematic post-management. To this end, the team is prioritizing advanced manufacturing-focused projects and digital transformation projects.

More than 70% of smart factories in Korea remain at a basic level. Therefore, the primary goal of advancement is to expand beyond smart manufacturing at the production and process level to include AI-based analysis and control.

Digital transformation projects are continuously being promoted as major initiatives. CEO Ahn said, "This year, we will pursue a project to build an AI-centric data ecosystem, and beyond that, we will pursue a metaverse virtual manufacturing technology project represented by digital twins."

The Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team has five major themes for its digital transformation project: △Transaction △Education △Consulting △Software as a Service (SaaS, as-a-Service) △Metaverse.

Unlike other data sources like education, healthcare, and transportation, manufacturing data faces challenges such as difficulty in being easily traded. Therefore, the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team has stated that it will serve as a catalyst for establishing a foundation for demonstration projects that will enable manufacturing data to perform its own commercialization functions.

The Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team operates a manufacturing data exchange and provides consulting support by linking its transaction system to the "AI Small and Medium Venture Manufacturing Platform (KAMP)." Data owners and demanders are connected, and data owners—in other words, each small and medium-sized enterprise—can upload shareable data to the platform and conduct transactions.

The KAMP platform provides data processing support to owners and assists data purchasers. The Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team plans to select eligible companies within the next month to assist with the "processing process"—organizing SMEs' data for cloud upload. Furthermore, data demanders will be provided vouchers to share and utilize data free of charge.

The core focus of the education initiative is fostering AI-based smart manufacturing talent. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face challenges in applying AI to real-world industries. The Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team will assemble consultants and dispatch them to each company to provide practical assistance in manufacturing. For example, we will provide a six-month training course for manufacturing data facilitators and AI experts to help them acquire practical knowledge in the field.

The government continues to emphasize the development of cloud-based smart factories. Cloud-based smart factories offer the advantage of upgrading on-premises programs to the cloud as SaaS, enabling flexible responses to changes and relocations in factory facilities.

The Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team claimed that it would increase the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in each industry through a demonstration project that provides purpose-based SaaS, including AI solutions, in cloud and package form. The details are expected to be released in July of this year.

Director Ahn said, “This year, the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team will complete a demonstration project to build a single ecosystem that connects data and technology through digital transformation,” and added, “We are establishing a domestic mid- to long-term smart manufacturing innovation strategy for the four years from next year to 2027, and we will introduce it within this year.”
Meanwhile, at the event, participating companies such as MakinaRocks, Mitsubishi Electric Automation, Techsquare, Ineasy, Neurocle, and Younglimwon Softlab set up exhibition booths showcasing solutions such as AI, XR, and digital twins.

Lee Cheong-il, head of the Manufacturing Innovation Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “This is a valuable event where we can directly observe the changes leading to autonomous production and observe manufacturing trends,” and added, “The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will do its best to build on its achievements to become a new stepping stone for growth in order to innovate the manufacturing industry, which has served as a mainstay of our country’s competitiveness.”
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▲A view of the 2023 Autonomous Production World Congress booth.