Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team Supports SMEs with High-Cost Equipment Sharing

Establishment of Jeonnam Utility Resource Sharing Center, Providing Advanced Equipment Support to SME Shipyards

One of the shared equipment for small and medium-sized enterprises, the 'Laser Cutter'.
[Photo by TIPA]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] The Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team under the Small and Medium Business Technology Information Promotion Agency (TIPA) has started supporting small and medium shipbuilding companies in the Jeonnam region by establishing a system that allows sharing of expensive equipment that is difficult for individual SMEs to build.

The Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team recently established the Jeonnam Utility Resource Sharing Center to support small and medium shipbuilding companies in the Jeonnam region. This is part of the "Utility Resource Sharing Support Project," jointly promoted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and local governments in industrial crisis response areas, with a total project cost of 19.8 billion KRW (including national and local funds).

From 2019 to 2023, the project is being promoted with the goal of creating a smart innovation ecosystem for SMEs in the special employment and industrial crisis response areas of Mokpo, Jeonnam, and Ulsan.

The Promotion Team, together with the Jeonnam Information & Culture Industry Promotion Agency, invested 9.9 billion KRW since 2019 to establish the Jeonnam Sharing Center in Mokpo, Jeonnam. They introduced production facilities capable of everything from design to processing, including ship design software, 3D robotic shaping machines, laser cutters and welders, and CNC bending machines related to shipbuilding and marine industries, allowing local companies to freely share and utilize them.

Since January, 22 small and medium shipyards and ship parts companies have been using shared production equipment and software through the Jeonnam Sharing Center. In the future, various small and medium shipbuilding companies will be able to produce ship and ship parts prototypes and handle urgent production volumes, which is expected to contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of SMEs in the shipbuilding and marine sectors.

In particular, Park Jeong-hyun, CEO of Miju Industry Co., Ltd., a small and medium shipbuilding company using the 3D robotic shaping machine and cutting equipment at the Sharing Center since April, said, "Handling urgent production volumes has increased monthly sales by about 10 million KRW, and productivity has improved, allowing us to hire new staff for production and logistics management. It has been a great help in prototype production and urgent volume work management."

The Jeonnam Sharing Center also operates a ship design education program linked to employment (utilizing AM CAD, etc.), creating a linkage effect where three graduates were employed by nearby shipbuilding companies.

Park Han-gu, head of the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team, said, "Through the utility resource sharing project, SMEs have been able to utilize expensive systems and equipment that were difficult to own individually, which not only reduced costs but also created new employment. We will continue to support the sustainable growth of SMEs in crisis regions."

For more detailed information on using shared equipment, please visit the Jeonnam Sharing Center website.