Hwashin Precision

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Smart factories drive Korea SMEs to reshore overseas plants

๐Ÿ“… Date:

โœ๏ธ Authors: Dae-Kyu Ahn, Gyeong-Jin Min

๐Ÿ”– Topics: Reshoring

๐Ÿข Organizations: Aju Steel, Hwashin Precision


The digitalized facility cut production costs by an average of 15.5%, raising productivity and quality by 28.5% and 42.5%, respectively, according to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Companies with the plants added 2.6 employees on average and reduced industrial accidents by 6.2%.

โ€œIt is urgent to increase productivity per capita by upgrading to smart factories since the falling working-age population is weakening the manufacturing sectorโ€™s competitiveness in the mid to long term,โ€ said Noh Min-sun, a research fellow at the Korea Small Business Institute. Local SMEs see the system as a solution to cope with risks from the global supply disruption, the COVID-19, surging commodity prices.

Read more at Korea Economic Daily