La Paz Awarded Ministry of SMEs and Startups Minister's Prize for Smart Factory

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Rapas, a specialized company in microneedle pharmaceuticals, has been externally recognized for innovating the manufacturing process of high-quality patches such as microneedle vaccine patches through the introduction of a smart factory. Rapas plans to apply this to the newly promoted factory and expand its application to mass production of various pharmaceutical patches including vaccine patches.

On the 25th, Rapas announced that it was selected for the smart factory construction project, which integrates AI-based manufacturing processes for the first time in Korea to mass-produce high-quality patches such as microneedle vaccine patches, and received the Minister of SMEs and Startups Award.

The smart factory dissemination project aims to promote manufacturing innovation and competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies. It is a government-supported project that covers costs related to the construction, advancement, and maintenance of smart factories suitable for companies' manufacturing sites. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has been promoting the project with a goal of disseminating 30,000 smart factories by 2022, and by the end of last year, about 18,000 smart factories had been disseminated.

Since 2019, Rapas has been selected three times as a target company for the smart factory dissemination project and introduced AI-based manufacturing processes for the first time in Korea. Not only did it establish a system to monitor production sites in real time by applying a Manufacturing Execution System (MES), but it also introduced an ERP system to build an integrated management information system covering sales, production, purchasing, quality, accounting, and other areas.

This year, Rapas applied a Record Management System (RMS) and AI system to microneedle molding equipment for the first time in Korea, and by establishing data-driven production process automation and process optimization, it significantly improved production yield and achieved innovation in manufacturing costs. Based on these achievements, Rapas was also selected as a ‘Chungnam-type Smart Pilot Factory’ by the Chungnam Provincial Government in July.

A Rapas official said, “Receiving the Minister of SMEs and Startups Award is meaningful as it externally recognizes Rapas’ innovation in the manufacturing process of high-quality patches such as microneedle vaccine patches,” and added, “We plan to apply this to the newly promoted vaccine patch factory and expand it to mass production of various pharmaceutical patches.”

He continued, “Through manufacturing process efficiency using smart factories and Rapas’ proprietary DEN microneedle technology protected by patents until 2033, we will become the global number one microneedle manufacturing company.”