Growing into a Global Company Specializing in Smart Factories

Ministry of SMEs and Startups Holds Meeting to Foster Smart Manufacturing Specialized Companies

Measures are being promoted to nurture smart manufacturing supply companies into global enterprises. The government is establishing the "Plan to Foster Smart Manufacturing Specialized Companies for the Advancement of the Manufacturing Innovation Ecosystem," and a joint announcement of the prepared measures by related ministries is scheduled for September.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 20th that it held a "Corporate Meeting for Establishing a Plan to Foster Smart Manufacturing Specialized Companies" at the Korea Technology Finance Corporation Seoul Headquarters meeting room in the 63 Building, Yeouido. The meeting was organized to hear the opinions of businesspeople and experts regarding the government's upcoming plan to foster smart manufacturing specialized companies.

About 30 participants attended the meeting, including smart factory construction companies and supply companies, research service participants for strengthening smart manufacturing supply companies such as the Korea Productivity Center and Nemo ICG, experts from academia and industry, and support organizations.

The Korea Productivity Center proposed definitions of the smart manufacturing industry as a policy target and classifications of major products and services, and introduced market forecasts and domestic and international status according to the classification system. Lee In-gap, head of the Smart Manufacturing Consulting Center, said, "According to the forecast by the overseas market research agency Market and Markets, amid the global digital transformation and intelligence trend, the global smart manufacturing industry size is expected to reach approximately 346.8 billion USD (438 trillion KRW) by 2028, with an average annual growth rate of 22.0%. It is a new growth industry with high growth potential that requires strategic nurturing."

Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, is delivering a greeting at the "Smart Manufacturing Specialized Companies Development Meeting" held on the 20th at the Seoul Regional Headquarters of the Korea Technology Finance Corporation in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.

Nemo ICG presented the results of the technology level survey by classification system for major countries and Korean SMEs, as well as the analysis of promising countries for overseas expansion of smart manufacturing specialized companies. Eom Tae-sik, director of Nemo ICG, said, "Comparing the technology levels between 2019 and 2024, Korea's overall average rose by 4.2% compared to the leading technology country, the United States, and Korean SMEs increased by about 8%, showing improved technological competitiveness in most fields. However, China rose by 12.3%, approaching or surpassing our technology level in some areas," adding, "To gain global competitiveness, it is urgent to strengthen the technological competitiveness of smart manufacturing specialized companies."

Participating companies stated, "Until now, in the smart factory dissemination and expansion projects, smart manufacturing supply companies have been subjects of management and supervision as well as targets of sanctions for fraudulent claims, and systematic government nurturing policies have been insufficient," and requested, "From now on, please establish tangible, step-by-step support measures to help grow into global specialized companies."

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said, "Building a virtuous cycle manufacturing innovation ecosystem through balanced promotion of smart factory dissemination policies supporting digital transformation and AI utilization in small and medium manufacturing and smart manufacturing industry fostering policies is very important for Korea to leap into a top-tier manufacturing powerhouse," and added, "We will faithfully incorporate field voices and expert opinions into the forthcoming policies and strengthen communication with the industry to establish detailed implementation plans for fostering smart manufacturing specialized companies."

Meanwhile, prior to the meeting, Minister Oh awarded the Minister of SMEs and Startups commendations for grand prize, excellence award, and merit award in order to consortia of introducing companies and supply companies who applied for the "2024 Smart Factory Best Practices Contest" after expert review. Minister Oh said, "The cooperation between introducing companies and supply companies is inseparable for the successful construction of smart factories in small and medium manufacturing," and added, "The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will discover excellent smart factory construction cases for many companies to refer to and will provide full government support so that excellent case companies can achieve continuous innovation and growth even after construction."