A Global Open Innovation Hub
Hyundai Motor Co. announced on March 31 that it will establish a Hyundai Mobility Global Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICs) with support from the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).
The new innovative lab will be located in Singapore’s Jurong Innovation District, a one-stop advanced manufacturing hub developed by JTC Corp. housing a vibrant ecosystem of researchers, technology and training providers and factories of the future. HMGICs will occupy a footprint of 44,000 square meters with the building area of 28,000 square meters. Construction will begin in May with completion expected in second half of 2022.
As an open innovation lab, HMGICs will help ensure the company’s transformation into a smart mobility solution provider and secure its sustainable growth. The lab will explore business ideas and technologies to revolutionize a value chain encompassing R&D, business and production for future mobility solutions. It also will help define the future business direction for the company.
HMGICs will become Hyundai’s global open innovation hub. The lab, through open innovation on multiple fronts, will explore and prove new future mobility business concepts for eventual expansion into global markets. Combining Hyundai’s open innovations efforts with Singapore’s fertile atmosphere, HMGICs will validate concepts including multi-modal mobility service.
The lab will also spearhead efforts to reach new markets and customers with cutting-edge technologies that will transform automotive R&D, production and sales. Combining AI, Internet of Things (IoT) and other advanced technologies, the lab will create a human-centered smart manufacturing platform that will be validated through a small pilot EV production facility. In conjunction with the platform, an innovative product development process and on-demand production system will be tested and proven.
“The Hyundai Mobility Global Innovation Center is an exciting addition to Singapore’s growing Mobility ecosystem. Its focus on innovative business concepts and the development of a smart manufacturing platform, leverages the research and innovation capabilities, and the value that Singapore provides to companies that want to develop, testbed and create new solutions for the world,” said Tan Kong Hwee, Assistant Managing Director, EDB.
“HMGICs will be a testbed to explore and validate the future Hyundai is envisioning. Combining Hyundai’s innovative spirit and Singapore’s fertile atmosphere, we will develop ground-breaking businesses and future technologies,” said Seo Bo-shin, president at Hyundai Motor Co.
Hyundai, through HMGICs, will work closely with Singapore’s forward-thinking firms and educational institutions to pursue open innovation.
The company plans to collaborate with competitive local partners to test and validate innovative solutions for advanced mobility services.
Hyundai also will pursue open innovation with world-class educational institutions such as the Nanyang Technological University by conducting joint projects as well as co-founding separate research centers.
HMGICs will facilitate collaboration opportunities by deploying key engineers and relevant organizations from Hyundai’s R&D centers. The lab also will be home to members of the Hyundai CRADLE innovation hub and AI Research (AIR) Lab to maximize synergies.
With Hyundai CRADLE’s presence in Singapore, the company will expand its global innovation network to Southeast Asia, with hubs already established in Korea, U.S., Israel, Germany and China.
The lab also will test a service using multiple modes of transport, as well as on-demand shuttle and last-mile mobility via e-scooter. In addition, Hyundai will review a potential collaboration on a pilot study for Singapore’s Smart City project.
HMGICs will expand new business opportunities proven in Singapore to global markets.
With HMGICs in place, Hyundai Motor will seek ways to implement smart technologies that will transform the automotive value chain including development, production and sales. Hyundai expects to secure new markets and customers through the effort.
HMGICs aims to establish a human-centered smart manufacturing platform and present a vision of next-generation manufacturing for future vehicles. The new platform will not only be highly automated but also integrate AI, Internet of Things (IOT), digitalization and robotics. When realized, Hyundai’s new manufacturing platform will help make automotive plants safer and greatly diminish the physical burden for workers, using manpower only where necessary.
As part of the project, HMGICs will establish a small-scale pilot EV production facility as a testbed for human-centered manufacturing platform. EV production is especially suitable for a smart manufacturing platform, because EVs have fewer parts compared to vehicles with internal combustion engines.
In addition, HMGICs will test an on-demand production system, allowing customers to build their vehicles with a wider range of customization options.
At HMGICs, Hyundai also aims to study new methods of vehicle development conducive to smart manufacturing while further increasing use of virtual reality (VR) technology in the vehicle development process.