A domestically developed virtual PLC-based software-centric manufacturing (SDM) testbed will be unveiled for the first time through an official presentation session at Hannover Messe 2026, the world's largest industrial exhibition. This is highly significant in that the Korean manufacturing testbed has moved beyond the stage of simple technology demonstration and entered the central arena of discussions on international industrial structure.


The Korea Industry 4.0 Association announced that it will present an SDM-based automated onboarding testbed at the Spotlight Stage and Roundtable Session in the Solution Lab – Research & Technology Transfer Hall at 'Hannover Messe 2026,' which will be held in Hanover, Germany from April 20 to 24.

This announcement marks the first official presentation on the international stage of a structure that reorganizes manufacturing processes around software.

This testbed was established as an international cooperation model in which Korean and European companies share roles across different technology levels.

LS Electric provided virtual PLC technology that separates control logic from physical PLCs and implements it in software, and L&F applied this to a cathode material production line and verified that process changes can be performed solely through software updates.

Finland's Prosys OPC supported the Forge platform for integrating heterogeneous equipment data, and HS Soft was responsible for the design and implementation of the SDM architecture.

The key to this structure is that it is not dependent on a specific vendor or hardware.

The testbed represents the functions, status, and data of the facility in a standardized form based on the AAS (Asset Management Shell) and OPC UA Companion Specification.

Furthermore, by applying a semantic self-description method in which machines describe their own functions, an environment was realized where equipment is automatically connected to the network and onboarded into the process.

This standardization goes beyond simple data collection, allowing AI to...It is considered a core value of SDM in that it establishes a foundation for automatically adjusting and optimizing operations.

The greatest significance of this announcement is that it goes beyond demonstrations at the level of a single factory or company to present a scale-up infrastructure that enables multiple manufacturing systems and companies to expand together.

This is interpreted as a signal that the overseas expansion of Korean manufacturing companies is moving beyond the supply of individual equipment to the stage of designing industrial structures.

In particular, it is assessed that while Korea has previously remained in the position of observing overseas manufacturing testbeds, it is now establishing itself as a leading player in discussions on global manufacturing digital transformation.

This is expected to serve as an opportunity to secure an international verification pathway for the AX (AI Transformation) and IDX (Industrial Digital Transformation) policies currently being pursued by the government.

Key organizations of the international manufacturing standards and industrial network participate extensively in the Hannover Messe presentations and roundtables.

The German Steinbeis Institute discusses the potential for expanding the SDM from the perspective of Korea-Germany cooperation, and Eric Barnstedt of the OPC Foundation examines the standard consistency of the SDM structure in terms of international interoperability.

In addition, major manufacturing innovation organizations such as VDMA (German Mechanical Engineering Association) and CESMII (US Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute) will participate to confirm that the Korean SDM structure is connecting with the global standards ecosystem.

The roundtable will also discuss the expansion strategy for the multi-AI agent-based testbed currently being pursued by the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials.

The Korea Industry 4.0 Association emphasized that this announcement is an example demonstrating that the digital transformation of Korean manufacturing can be verified at a global level.

An association official stated, “The SDM-based testbed is a manufacturing system“We have proven the potential to secure global scalability by reorganizing the system around software and combining it with AI,” they stated, adding, “We plan to expand its application to various industrial sectors in the future.”