The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 7th that it will launch a new "productization all-in-one pack" program to resolve the structural difficulties that manufacturing startups face in the product-making process.
Manufacturing startups often entrust each stage—design, engineering, prototyping, and initial mass production—to multiple corporations before final mass production, leading to breaks in information between processes and difficulties such as specification changes, schedule delays, and expense increases. This process disconnection has been cited as a structural problem that causes production errors and expense accumulation and blocks manufacturing startups from reaching final mass production.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) will introduce a program starting this year in which a single specialized institution manages and supports all pre-productization stages for manufacturing startups to address these issues. By having one specialized institution carry out the complex end-to-end productization process, it is expected to minimize information omissions, rework, and unnecessary expense, reducing the risk of productization failure for manufacturing startups.
The manufacturing lead institution will play a key role by directly assisting startups with productization processes or by matching suitable partners and managing and coordinating the entire process. Any private company capable of supporting everything from product design to prototypes, pilot molds, and initial mass production can apply to serve as a lead institution. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to select about six institutions after evaluating manufacturing capabilities, dedicated personnel, partner networks, and past performance.
After selecting the lead institutions, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) will choose more than 80 startups with innovative ideas and provide up to 50 million won in productization expense per startup. Depending on the stage of product development and the needed services, startups can choose the necessary segments—such as design, engineering, prototyping, and initial mass production—and receive tailored support.
Cho Kyung-won, director-general for startup policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "The biggest challenge manufacturing startups faced on the path to mass production was the process-disconnection issue that arose as each stage moved separately," adding, "Through the productization all-in-one pack program, we will complete a framework that links engineering through initial mass production, and we will actively support startups so they can overcome early product-making failures and complete their products stably."