The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) unveiled an AX (AI transition) strategy for small and midsize manufacturers, aiming to raise their AI adoption rate from the current 1% to 10% by June 2030, within Lee Jae-myung's administration.
Minister Han on the 24th announced the AI-centered "Smart manufacturing innovation 3.0 strategy" to roll out smart factories to "smart" small and midsize manufacturers nationwide at the 5th meeting of ministers on national agenda.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) will select 12,000 out of 70,000 "smart" small and midsize manufacturers nationwide that have a certain scale such as sales and can adopt smart factories and AI, and support the phased introduction of AI technologies tailored to shop-floor needs by 2030. Selected corporations will invest a total of 400 million won annually in manufacturing AX, including 200 million won in government support and 200 million won in their own investment. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) will help these corporations grow into "true strong manufacturing SMEs" in the AI era.
AX for small and midsize manufacturers is also a key policy emphasized by Minister Han Seong-sook, the first head of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) under the Lee Jae-myung administration. Minister Han, who took office in Jul., said about a month later at a field roundtable that "we are shifting policy direction to focus on creating a smart manufacturing industrial ecosystem for SMEs that goes a step beyond the previous smart factory distribution-centered policy to expand into AI technologies."
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to build a full-cycle support system for manufacturing AI by introducing vertical AI in stages on the digital transformation (DX) foundation established through smart factories according to the size and level of small and midsize manufacturers, and by strengthening pre- and post-consulting using experts.
It will also foster smart manufacturing technology companies that execute DX and AX on the shop floor and related industries to activate a virtuous-cycle ecosystem for smart manufacturing between manufacturers and technology companies. In particular, to nurture smart manufacturing and AI technology companies, it will introduce a designation system for specialized companies and support growth into global specialists by linking to deep-tech TIPS and more. The goal is to foster 500 specialized manufacturing AI companies within five years.
In addition, it will expand a co-prosperity-type AI factory that supports AI adoption by small partner firms using large corporations' large language models, thereby supporting AX for small and midsize manufacturers at the supply chain unit rather than individual corporations. It will also work to expand smart manufacturing innovation infrastructure for embedding manufacturing AI, such as standardizing and spreading shop-floor-tailored data for small and midsize manufacturing.
Through this strategy, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to raise the AI adoption rate of small and midsize manufacturers from the current 1% to 10% within five years while also working to improve job quality at small and midsize manufacturers with a target of a 20% reduction in industrial accidents.
Minister Han said, "Smart manufacturing innovation is an essential survival strategy in the era of AI transformation," adding, "we will actively support small and midsize manufacturers in using AI to boost manufacturing productivity and prevent industrial accidents so they can grow into 'true strong SMEs' that attract young people."