- The details of the “Path to Korea’s Manufacturing Transformation: Manufacturing AI 2030 Strategy,” devised with NAIS and relevant ministries, were unveiled.
- The public and private sectors will make a joint investment worth 20 trillion won by 2030, with the aim of generating economic value of more than 100 trillion won.
- The government will implement three key tasks: establishing a national system for managing and utilizing key manufacturing data, developing AI models specialized in manufacturing, and expanding the adoption of Manufacturing AI across regions.
Amid growing concerns over South Korea’s manufacturing sector due to population decline and intensifying global competition, the government has launched its drive to revitalize manufacturing through AI. During the “Public Briefing on the Three Major Mega-Projects for Korea’s Great Leap Forward” held on June 29, the government unveiled the key details of the “Path to Korea’s Manufacturing Transformation: Manufacturing AI 2030 Strategy,” setting the stage for a grand transformation of manufacturing.
While South Korea is competing fiercely with the United States and China to gain a competitive edge in overall AI technologies, it possesses flagship industries with global competitiveness such as semiconductors, shipbuilding, and automobiles, a tightly integrated value chain encompassing large, medium, and small enterprises across all industries, and the know-how of skilled workers accumulated on factory floors over decades. The government plans to foster South Korea’s manufacturing once again as a core growth engine leading the global market through “Manufacturing AX” by integrating AI into these manufacturing capabilities.
This strategy is the result of about six months of discussions led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR, Minister: Kim Jung-kwan), the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister: Bae Kyung-hoon), the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS, Minister: Han Seong-sook), and 23 private-sector experts from the Manufacturing Task Force under the Presidential Council on National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (NAIS), in accordance with the “Korea’s AI Action Plan” announced last February.
In particular, private-sector TF members from various fields including manufacturing companies, AI firms, universities, and research institutions actively participated in developing the strategy. Rather than simply providing advice or conducting reviews, they identified tasks based on industry demands and technology trends and drafted the detailed tasks to enhance the feasibility of the strategy and its acceptance across manufacturing sites.
[Key Tasks]
The government plans to closely collaborate with ministries involved in Manufacturing AI to accelerate three key tasks: establishing a national system for managing and utilizing key manufacturing data, developing AI models specialized in manufacturing, and expanding the adoption of Manufacturing AI across regions.
As for manufacturing data that determines the quality of Manufacturing AI, the government will establish a “National Manufacturing Data Library” equipped with robust security and management systems to manage it at the national level. This library will integrate manufacturing data held and managed by each ministry, and will be managed under government leadership so as to prevent overseas data leakage and ensure that the value of specific companies’ assets (data) is not undermined when data is shared or transferred between companies.
Using the technological capabilities accumulated through the establishment of manufacturing data and sovereign AI foundation models, the government aims to develop a “Manufacturing AI Foundation Model” that can be applied across the entire manufacturing sector. The government also has plans to build on source and foundational technologies for manufacturing physical AI including physics-based AI models, integration between heterogeneous equipment and robots in manufacturing processes, and logistics and supply chain optimization, to develop the “Full Stack AI Factory,” an intelligent factory where AI and robots work together to enable autonomous operations, into an exportable product.
The government plans to rapidly expand the adoption of Manufacturing AI among SMEs and regional hub universities centered on industrial complexes where manufacturing companies are concentrated. This will enable dangerous manufacturing processes with frequent safety accidents to be replaced with AI, ultimately contributing to better working conditions. To this end, the government will expedite the establishment of the “M.AX Cluster” to transform industrial complexes which account for two-thirds of domestic manufacturing production and exports and half of all manufacturing employment into AI industrial complexes.
[Implementation Strategy]
Manufacturing AI is a challenging field that requires an understanding of both domain knowledge (the data and knowledge from the manufacturing sites) and AI algorithms. For this reason, the government plans to establish and implement a phased and systematic strategy: Foundation → Advancement → Adoption → Ecosystem Establishment.
▴During the foundation phase of Manufacturing AI, the government will lay the groundwork for expanding Manufacturing AX by collecting manufacturing data and developing AI models and agents. The government will collect high-quality manufacturing data that is essential for the development of outstanding AI models and agents, and will also launch a large-scale project to capture and convert “manufacturing know-how” held by South Korea’s manufacturing masters (skilled workers) nearing retirement into data for training AI.
This high-quality manufacturing data will be stored in the “Manufacturing AX Data Library,” which will be managed by the government. To keep the data in the library safe, the government will design and build standardization, encryption, and de-identification systems. Meanwhile, using the accumulated data, the government will also build various standard models in stages from lightweight AI models for specific processes to large-scale, general-purpose foundation models covering the entire manufacturing industry.
▴In the Manufacturing AI advancement phase, the government will develop the “Full Stack AI Factory” technology, which integrates Manufacturing AI capabilities, including large-scale Manufacturing AI agents, humanoids, and manufacturing physical AI, into a single system. The government plans to develop a “large-scale AI agent” that controls and manages the full range of production and business activities in manufacturing from factory and product design, to verification and pilot production, to factory operations (production), to distribution and logistics, and expand both the development of core components for “manufacturing-specialized humanoids” and related demonstration projects. In parallel, the government will develop source and foundational technologies for manufacturing physical AI including physics-based AI models, integration between equipment and robots, low-latency, high-reliability communication networks, and full-lifecycle convergence security technologies covering models, agents, and control systems.
▴In the Manufacturing AI expansion phase, the government will establish “M.AX Clusters” in each regional industrial complex to support the adoption of AI by local companies, and build shared infrastructure such as demonstration testbeds and edge computing centers for each complex. Furthermore, through measures such as the “Win-win AI Smart Factory Project” focusing on mutual prosperity, the government will draw on the cooperation of large companies to provide SMEs with Manufacturing AX methodologies. In order to foster AI Factories as an export industry, it will also develop support policies for deploying them overseas, taking into account the characteristics of target countries and companies.
▴In the Manufacturing AI ecosystem development phase, the government will expand private investment in Manufacturing AX, foster specialized companies in the field, and nurture talent. First, the government will make active use of funds and guarantees to foster private investment and will actively coordinate with investment from the 150 trillion-won National Growth Fund. It will also introduce a “Manufacturing AX Certification” system to foster companies specialized in Manufacturing AI, while establishing master’s and doctoral programs for developing core Manufacturing AI technologies and education programs for field workers who will play a leading role in the widespread adoption of AI at manufacturing sites. Lastly, to implement these plans in a systematic manner, the government plans to establish a legal basis* while strengthening cooperation with relevant agencies.
* Amendments to the “Act on the Promotion of Industrial Digital Transformation and the Utilization of AI” and the “Act on Facilitation of Smart Manufacturing Innovation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises”
“This Manufacturing AI 2030 Strategy is a meaningful achievement as the commitment made last October by MSIT, MOTIR, and MSS to work as one team for manufacturing and industrial AX has evolved into a full-fledged implementation strategy,” MSIT Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bae said. “Rather than simply integrating AI into factories, Manufacturing AI must evolve into a stage where AI understands the physical phenomena and process flows on the factory floor and autonomously decides and controls equipment and robots,” he continued, “To achieve this, it is essential to secure source and foundational technologies for manufacturing physical AI including not only manufacturing data but also physics-based AI models, world models, autonomous factory operation platforms based on collaboration between equipment and robots, on-device computing, and full-lifecycle security technologies.” He also said, “We will actively support efforts to ensure that core AI technological capabilities are integrated with manufacturing so that Manufacturing AI can evolve into a technology that operates in real manufacturing environments.”
“M.AX or AI transformation in manufacturing is an essential task that will determine the future competitiveness and survival of our manufacturing sector. Now is time for the public and private sectors to work together to make bold investments and take bold action,” MOTIR Minister Kim said. “Since this plan was devised after six months of intense discussions among relevant government agencies and private-sector experts, it is important for each ministry to implement tasks with a sense of responsibility, so that these tasks can go beyond being just a report and generate tangible value in the real world.” He continued, “For AI to be used on the manufacturing site, accurate inference results must be provided through verification based on on-site data,” adding, “Through the M.AX Alliance, MOTIR will support better decision-making by various stakeholders including manufacturing companies, AI firms, universities, and research institutions, thereby contributing to safer and more efficient manufacturing sites and a more prosperous future.”
“The AI transformation of SMEs, which account for 99.6% of all manufacturing companies, is a prerequisite for Korea’s Manufacturing AX,” MSS Vice Minister Roh Yong-seok said, “MSS will further enhance smart factory support policies through win-win cooperation between large companies and SMEs as well as cooperation among SMEs to expedite AX across SME manufacturing sites.” He also said, “While establishing a system to support Manufacturing AI companies in growing from the startup through investment to global expansion, we will also foster AI experts to continuously strengthen SMEs’ capabilities for AI use.”
For further information, please contact the Public Relations Division (Phone: +82-44-202-4034, E-mail: msitmedia@korea.kr) of the Ministry of Science and ICT.
Please refer to the attached PDF.