Singapore HMGICS Chairman Euisun Chung Townhall Meeting
Innovative Platform HMGICS Development Manufacturing Technology
Applied to Global Hyundai Motor Group Factories
"Continuous Mobility Innovation... Confident in Next Year's Challenges"
"I was deeply impressed by the innovation we achieved together and the way we overcame impossible challenges. Our journey has been excellent so far, but the best moments are yet to come."
Jung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, emphasized this during a town hall meeting held on the 12th at the Singapore Global Innovation Center (HMGICS), where he met with employees. On this day, Chairman Jung expressed gratitude for the challenges and achievements of HMGICS, which marked its first anniversary since completion, and urged its role as a representative innovation hub within the group.
Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun (right in the photo) visited the group's representative innovation hub, the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS), on the 12th (local time) and held a town hall meeting to explain the group's vision. Photo by Hyundai Motor Company
About 300 employees attended this town hall meeting, which was proposed directly by Chairman Jung. During the two-hour meeting, a variety of questions poured in, ranging from the role of HMGICS within the group, the background of establishing this plant, advice on work attitudes, to everyday stories.
Regarding the background of establishing HMGICS, Chairman Jung said, "The concrete concept started in 2018. There was a strong concern about creating an innovation platform to prepare for the future." He added, "We felt the need for a testbed where we could conduct research and production tailored to diverse mobility needs, actively communicate within the group, and agilely take on challenges."
Regarding HMGICS's role within the group's mid- to long-term strategy, President Jang Jae-hoon responded. President Jang said, "HMGICS is a hub where mobility, Software-Defined Factory (SDF), and energy sectors can be demonstrated in one space," adding, "We must develop core technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and automation in advance and verify their effectiveness through concrete projects. The know-how we accumulate will be a key asset for building smart factories and will be applied to all Hyundai Motor global manufacturing sites."
Chung Euisun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group (center in the photo), visited the group's representative innovation hub, the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS), on the 12th (local time) and held a town hall meeting, followed by a commemorative photo with employees. Photo by Hyundai Motor Company
At the event, Chairman Jung engaged in conversations with employees on free topics such as personal interests and his usual thoughts on leadership. When asked about the virtues of a leader, Chairman Jung answered that the most fundamental qualities are curiosity and listening. He advised, "It is necessary to have curiosity and a deep desire to explore and understand. The most important thing at that time is listening. If you listen to others' opinions and work together to solve their problems, you will be a good colleague, family member, and friend."
Finally, Chairman Jung presented the group's vision while cheering on HMGICS's future challenges. He emphasized, "Through HMGICS, we will continuously explore new business ideas and technologies that will innovate future mobility. Although more challenges await next year, we can exceed expectations because we have talented people like you and the group's vision of 'Progress for Humanity.'"
Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun (left in the photo) visited the group's representative innovation hub, the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS), on the 12th (local time), held a town hall meeting, and took a commemorative photo with employees. Photo by Hyundai Motor Company
Located in the Jurong Innovation District in western Singapore, HMGICS was established last November as a testbed for Hyundai Motor Group's future mobility innovation manufacturing technologies. The biggest feature of this production facility is the elimination of conveyor belts and the introduction of a cell-based production method to build a 'multi-model small-volume production system.' Since robots carrying bodies and parts efficiently move between cells through optimized algorithms to assemble vehicles, production plans can be flexibly and quickly changed by reflecting various variables.
Additionally, 'digital twin' technology, which synchronizes reality and virtuality, has been applied to enable real-time control of the factory. By using digital twins to build an identical twin factory in virtual space and issuing instructions there, robots deployed in each process calculate optimal timing and routes to perform tasks in the real space.
HMGICS aims to continuously evolve into a system where the real factory and the virtual factory are synchronized in real-time and humans and robots harmonize. It plans to build a system capable of producing various mobility types, including electric vehicles, Purpose-Built Vehicles (PBV), Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), and robots. Hyundai Motor Group plans to gradually apply the manufacturing innovation technologies developed and demonstrated at HMGICS to global manufacturing sites such as Hyundai Meta Plant America (HMGMA) in the U.S. and Hyundai Motor's Ulsan electric vehicle-only plant.
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