"Supporting Smart Factory Adoption for Small and Medium Manufacturers" SKT Signs Business Agreement with Korea Management Certification Institute

Supporting Predictive Maintenance of Equipment through Free Grandview Solution Provision and Data Utilization Training
Step-by-Step Support for Customized Training to Implement Smart Factory in Small and Medium Manufacturing Enterprises

SKT announced on the 13th that it signed an MOU with the Korea Management Certification Institute on the 12th for a smart factory data education and training project. Choi Nak-hoon, Head of SKT Smart Factory CO (left), and Hwang Eun-joo, Director of the Korea Management Certification Institute.

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] SK Telecom announced on the 13th that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Korea Management Certification Institute to jointly carry out an educational training project (K-Digital Training) related to data collection and utilization for the introduction of smart factories in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises. The two companies plan to jointly design and develop a training education model based on data utilization for the introduction of smart factories, targeting selected small and medium-sized manufacturing companies with fewer than 300 employees.

The Korea Management Certification Institute is a certification body providing knowledge services such as ISO certification and management evaluation, and is a government-recognized ‘Smart Factory Level Confirmation System’ verification agency. In March last year, it was designated by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea under the Ministry of Employment and Labor as a specialized training support center for smart factories for SMEs and is conducting smart factory support projects.

In this support project, SK Telecom will provide the Grandview solution free of charge for trial use in small and medium-sized factories and conduct smart factory data utilization training. Through this, small and medium-sized manufacturing companies will be able to acquire the ability to perform predictive maintenance on key equipment that can affect production and quality, based on data generated from major equipment in actual field sites.

The Korea Management Certification Institute is responsible for deploying smart factory consultants on-site to design customized training covering the entire process of data collection, preprocessing, analysis, and utilization for each major process in the factory.

This training project will proceed through a training process lasting up to 8 days. The detailed course consists of ▲ installation of the SKT Grandview program and development of the Korea Management Certification Institute training program (2 days) ▲ process data collection and Grandview-based equipment predictive maintenance training (2 to 4 days) ▲ consulting for on-site digitalization (2 days).

The most important aspect of implementing a smart factory is for operational personnel to directly acquire data utilization capabilities to contribute to production efficiency and cost reduction. The two companies expect this training to be an opportunity to cultivate data utilization capabilities among internal employees and to realize improved production efficiency and cost savings.

Additionally, collecting and analyzing operational data from each piece of equipment to enable data-driven process activities is a significant advantage. For example, it allows for preemptive maintenance of equipment components to minimize repair costs and losses due to production disruptions caused by equipment aging and deterioration. Remote monitoring also enhances operational convenience, enabling automation of equipment management tasks.

The two companies plan to actively cooperate in various smart factory solution education projects and on-site commercialization based on ‘Metatron Grandview.’ SK Telecom intends to commercialize by analyzing data collected from smart factories on a cloud basis, advancing AI models based on equipment, and pre-installing them on equipment in small and medium-sized manufacturing companies.

Choi Nak-hoon, Head of SK Telecom’s Smart Factory CO, said, “Through this project, we expect small and medium-sized factories in rapidly changing manufacturing sites to autonomously develop work capabilities using data.” He added, “SK Telecom will continue to strive to grow together with small and medium-sized manufacturing companies by experimenting with and applying technologies applicable to smart factories through advanced ICT such as AI, cloud, and 5G.”