South Korea should transform its 4,000 manufacturing facilities into artificial intelligence factories within five years to take the lead in the intensifying competition in the global manufacturing economy, according to a proposal that was made at the 33rd Vision Korea National Conference in Seoul.

Maeil Business Newspaper and Boston Consulting Group on Wednesday presented five action plans to boost Korea’s manufacturing sector, including the suggestion that involves AI factories. The plans are part of the efforts for the Korean manufacturing sector to respond to the three changing paradigms of de-globalization, digitization and de-carbonization.

An AI factory refers to an advanced facility that carries out operations such as product planning, production, virtual screening and automatic ordering through vast data. The large-scale data includes information collected from the production line, customers’ product use patterns secured through Internet of Things and sales and distribution records.

An AI factory goes beyond a smart factory that boosts processing efficiency based on data. It is considered a key strategy that can allow Korea to boost its manufacturing competitiveness.

Global companies like Siemens AG of Germany and ABB Group of Switzerland are moving fast to dominate the AI factory market.

An AI factory is gaining focus also as a means to respond to de-carbonization regulations in Europe and other regions. It allows easier management of carbon footprint.

Applying AI features to the existing manufacturing facilities requires the carrying out of large-scale projects.

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday vowed to provide active government support.

“The government will offer powerful incentives on investments to speed up the transition and allow key industries such as automobile, shipbuilding and petrochemical to successfully make shifts toward green and digital,” Yoon said, in a congratulatory message read out by Lee Kwan-sup, senior presidential secretary for policy planning.

Koo Ja-yeol, chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, also noted that the key to bringing innovation in the Korean manufacturing industry is to spread the AI and digitization at small and large companies.

Other strategies discussed at the Vision Korea conference included enhancing the capacity of mother factory, a domestic manufacturing facility responsible for key functions such as product planning, research and development, and design, and nurturing five advanced manufacturing sectors.

By Kim Dae-young, Oh Soo-hyun, Jin Young-tae, and Lee Eun-joo

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