Government Support Programs
Smart factory and manufacturing AI programs: what exists and what you need
Small and mid-sized manufacturers in Korea often use government support programs when adopting smart factory systems or manufacturing AI. With several programs and differing requirements, deciding which to apply for is not straightforward. This is organized around the questions we are asked most.
The following describes the general structure. Annual announcements, funding amounts and application periods change every year, so always check the current announcement from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Smart Manufacturing Office.
Tracks
Autonomous factory AI track — Aims at running processes autonomously with AI. Suits companies that already have some data collection foundation in place.
Manufacturing AI specialization — Applies AI to a specific process problem such as quality inspection, predictive maintenance or process optimization. The narrower scope makes it approachable for first-time adopters.
Large-SME partnership — A large company and its suppliers participate together, often including supply chain-level data integration.
What to prepare
Having the following settled before applying makes the process easier.
The problem you are solving — not “we want a smart factory” but “this is wrong in this process.” Evaluation looks closely at this.
Current data state — which equipment produces which values, and whether they are being stored. Without data, building the collection infrastructure has to be part of the project scope.
An internal owner — someone to coordinate between the floor and the supplier for the duration. When this role is vacant, projects drift.
Cost-share plan — most programs combine government funding with a company contribution.
Choosing a supplier
Programs are carried out by the manufacturer together with a supplier. Worth checking:
- Experience with processes in your industry
- Whether they stay on for operation and maintenance after delivery
- Whether they apply data standards — this matters a great deal when you later expand
- Whether models can still be retrained after the project ends
IMPIX’s track record
IMPIX has delivered government support programs as a supplier since beginning smart factory support projects in 2018. In 2023 we carried out a metaverse factory construction support project with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Smart Manufacturing Office, and in 2024 received the Minister Award for the Chong Kun Dang Health smart factory project.
We have also won R&D programs repeatedly: in energy (FEMS technology development and demonstration, quality optimization for solar module manufacturing, solar module lifecycle tracking), in AI autonomous manufacturing (edge brain framework, manufacturing-domain LMM insight worker, battery module pack lifecycle system) and in data (manufacturing data standardization, ICT-converged manufacturing operating system development and demonstration).
We can work with you from the planning stage. A reasonable starting point is to review the current state of your data and judge which track fits.