Smart Factory as a Tool for Reshoring
Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun said on Feb. 17 that the concept of smart factory introduced for the purpose of innovating small and medium manufacturers will lie at the center of effrots towards reshoring, which is becoming increasingly important in the wake of the spread of Covid-19 in China.
The concept has been highlighted mainly on the manufacturing innovation side so far. Companies adopting the concept have improved their productivity by approximately 30 percent and increased their employment by three persons on average. This is why the ministry is focusing on smart factory in its policy plan for this year. The ministry is aiming to increase the number of smart factories by 30,000 by 2022.
The other plans for this year include smart support for non-large companies, startups and small business owners, support for growing innovative enterprises, and efforts for joint prosperity. Specifically, it is going to help more non-large companies adopt smart factories and establish a system so that more startups can make use of big data-based solution systems. Digital workshops and smart stores based on the IoT and augmented reality will be expanded, too.
In addition, the ministry is going to find more unicorn companies and expand the startup infrastructure led by the private sector in order to accelerate innovation. The Brand K, which was launched last year for small and medium companies, will be expanded in connection with Hallyu and deregulation will be accelerated in various zones across the country.