Government to support 71.8 billion won for Smart Factories in the second half of this year

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the Smart Factory Supply and Expansion Support Project will be run in the second half of this year and it will receive applications from small and medium-sized companies wishing to participate from June 29.

This announcement is for regular recruitment in the second half of the year following the first half so that demand companies can apply for business in consideration of management conditions.

The recruitment targets are under two categories: ▲building and upgrading smart factories, and ▲fostering K-smart lighthouse factories.

A total of 70.2 billion won will be provided to 850 companies for the building and upgrading of smart factories.

In order to provide customized support for each company, 50 million won will be given to the basic level companies and 200 million won will be supported for advanced level companies, depending on the level of smartization target.

The ‘K-Smart Lighthouse Factory’, which supports the introduction of the best-quality smart factories with AI, big data, and digital twins, will also select four companies to support a total of KRW 1.6 billion, worth KRW 400 million per company.

The 'K-Smart Lighthouse Factory' means a leading smart factory centered on small and medium-sized enterprises that benchmarks the Global Lighthouse Factory, which is selected by the World Economic Forum as a factory that innovatively leads the future of global manufacturing.

The global lighthouse factories include 103 companies of BMW, Bosch, Siemens, and P&G. In Korea, POSCO, LS Electric, and LG Electronics are selected.

In particular, it is characterized by supporting up to 1.2 billion won per company over the next three years beyond one year of support so that it can grow into a future smart factory.

The K-Smart Lighthouse Factory will be divided into two categories, food, beverage, pharmaceuticals, apparel, rubber, and plastics, among eight major industries, including automobiles, electronic products, machinery, electrical equipment, and chemical products, so that milestones can be presented for upgrading by various industries.

“The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will focus its policy capabilities on the spread of intelligent factories (smart factories), as the digital transition of small and medium-sized manufacturing companies is a national task,” said Lee Hyun-jo, head of the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Planning Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

Details of the project can be confirmed through the business announcement in the smart factory business management system of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the website of the Biz Info, and the Korea Technology and Information Promotion Agency for SMEs (Smart Manufacturing Innovation Promotion Team), the business dedicated organization.

Reported by Smart City Today