[K Manufacturing, On Site] Factory Roof Covered with Solar Modules... ESG Boosts Healthcare Export Wings

Dreamtech Asan Plant 'Energy Integrated Management System'
Implementing Eco-friendly, Productivity Improvement, and Quality Control
Transforming from Electronic Components to Healthcare

A view of the Dreamtec factory, an electronic components manufacturing company located on the outskirts of Asan, Chungnam. Photo by Dreamtec

[Asan (Chungnam) = Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Dreamtech established a global production base 10 years ago by relocating its core business lines, including mobile printed circuit board assemblies (PBA) and fingerprint sensor modules for smartphones, to Vietnam. Last year, it built its third factory with a total floor area of 22,420㎡ in the VSIP Industrial Park, the largest state-owned industrial complex in Bac Ninh Province near Hanoi, Vietnam. Combined with the first factory (18,910㎡) and the second factory (46,260㎡) established in 2011, the total area approaches 90,000㎡, more than 12 times the size of a soccer field.

As sales stagnation was expected in the smartphone parts supply sector, the company has recently expanded its business into 5G communication equipment modules and healthcare fields such as wireless electrocardiogram patches.

The domestic base is located in Asan City, Chungnam Province, close to major partners such as Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor factories. The Asan plant is one of the leading examples of a smart factory in Korea. The factory roof, covering 13,000㎡, is densely equipped with solar modules with a capacity of 1.5MW/h. All energy generated and used in this factory is remotely controlled through an internal control room.

From the amount of electricity produced by the solar modules to the power used in the factory, as well as real-time data on various facilities such as heating, cooling, lighting, and air conditioning, are collected through an integrated energy management platform and utilized as real-time analysis data. Dreamtech, which consolidated four dispersed domestic production lines into this Asan smart factory in 2018, designed the factory from the planning stage with the goal of improving productivity and maximizing energy efficiency.

The 4,000-pyeong roof of the Dreamtec factory located in Asan, Chungnam, is densely covered with solar modules with a capacity of 1.5 MW/h. Photo by Dreamtec

Leading ESG Management through Proactive Smart Factory Adoption

As a partner of global companies, Dreamtech is also committed to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management. This factory is a representative case that simultaneously implements eco-friendly energy efficiency, productivity improvement, and quality control solutions while meeting the stringent and sophisticated demands of its partners. Lee Changho, Dreamtech’s Manufacturing Director overseeing factory operations, explained, "From the factory design stage, we aimed to create an environment that allows manufacturing process changes for diverse product production and stable production, while reducing energy and facility management costs." He added, "Through scalability, openness, and compatibility of the manufacturing lines, we coordinate closely with our clients."

The Asan plant is equipped with pilot production and production lines to respond to urgent customer demands for mass production process system verification. Upon entering the SMT (Surface Mount Technology) part of the production line, employees were inspecting printed circuit boards (PCBs) coming out of automatic soldering robots. The production line is currently busy manufacturing smart medical device modules, Dreamtech’s new business.

The challenge of entering the medical device industry was tough. To overcome the limitations of a startup, Dreamtech identified fields with large demand and sought core technologies to address these needs, integrating its own information and communication technology (ICT) into production, which began to yield results.

Entering the Global Healthcare Market with Electrocardiogram Patches and Sensors for Artificial Joint Surgery

The products currently being manufactured at the factory are wireless electrocardiogram patches ‘1A’ and ‘1Ax’ that attach to the chest. When these patches are attached to patients, they collect physical data such as electrocardiograms, heart rate, body temperature, and respiration rate, enabling medical staff to monitor patients in real time. The patch ‘Kadea Solo,’ produced alongside, gained attention for its arrhythmia diagnosis rate of 96.6% upon attachment. In January this year, Dreamtech signed a supply contract with the global medical company Stryker. The Asan plant also produces sensors for artificial joint surgery. These sensors check joint position and muscle balance during artificial knee replacement surgery, enhancing surgical success rates. The patches and sensors produced at the Asan plant are mainly exported overseas to countries such as the United States and India.

Based on biosensor products, Dreamtech plans to enter the remote medical market, including central monitoring systems introduced in hospitals for patient management and remote care for patients in other regions. The company has also actively invested in securing technology by investing in four global startups with core healthcare technologies: Cardiac Insight (USA), Sensifree and Pulse & More (Israel), and Epsilon (France).

Dreamtech, which is transforming its business from electronic component manufacturing to healthcare centered on the Asan plant, is steadily expanding the business scope of its BHC (Biometrics, Healthcare & Convergence) division. The BHC division recorded sales of 65.1 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year, accounting for 18.5% of total sales. Director Lee emphasized, "This year, we will expand the healthcare production line within the Asan plant and focus on securing technological competitiveness through developments such as the COVID-19 diagnostic ‘Electronic Nose Solution’ and wearable devices for post-surgery."