Direction of Smart Factory Samhyun Co., Ltd

In Gyeongsangnam-do, more than 500 manufacturing SMEs are currently working on converting smart factories. The Gyeongnam Provincial Daily aims to examine how small and medium-sized enterprises suffered in the process of smartization, what specific effects they are getting after smartization, and what needs to be improved based on such experiences.

Samhyun Co., Ltd. (Chairman Hwang Sung-ho, Uichang-gu, Changwon) is considered a leading smart factory in Gyeongnam. Samhyun has been considering building a smart system for more than a decade according to its management strategy. Currently, it is reaching the 'early stage of advancement'. On the morning of the 18th, I visited Samhyun and looked inside and listened to Samhyun Co., Ltd.

◇ Strategic Choice for Large Enterprise Transactions = Samhyun is a company that develops and produces motors, controllers, and actuators for precision control in automobiles, robots, and defense. Since 2014, it has been supplying its own DCT (Double Clutch Transmission) motor for power transmission devices to Hyundai and Kia Motors. The foothold was none other than a smart factory.

Samhyun sought a deal with Hyundai-Kia in 2010. However, it was almost impossible to dig into the gaps of prominent companies in the industry such as LG Innotek, Hyosung, and Gyeyang Electro-Mechanics. However, he thought about strategies to overcome these companies without giving up, and turned to building a smart system. It focused on smart factory research from 2011 to 2012. It built facilities in 2013 and began production in 2014. And I came up with a competitive sample. Hyundai-Kia finally succeeded in signing a motor supply contract with the answer, "This quality is reliable."

Samhyun placed strong faith in their smart system and actively used it in their sales strategy. Prior to the contract with Hyundai-Kia, Samhyun proposed that "we will even provide information on our production measurement system." In this case, even information that you want to hide, such as the defect rate, is exposed. For this reason, suppliers are usually reluctant, but Samhyun has made a counterproposal.

The trust relationship with Hyundai and Kia Motors is strong now. Hyundai and Kia have even introduced foreign companies.
 

Samhyun Co., Ltd. recalled this process and said this. "Our company is not handsome when it comes to human faces. I had to put on good makeup. So I chose Smart Factory as my strategic makeup. It was a choice to live, otherwise modern times and hunger wouldn't have chosen."

◇Final smartization goal within 5 years = Samhyun used 50 million won in 'Smart Factory Supply Business Support Fund' when establishing ERP (Corporate Resource Management). All other construction costs were their own expenses. Of course, there has been a period of instability since the introduction of the system. However, it settled down to the level expected after about a year.

In the case of Samhyun, it is difficult to compare quantitatively before and after the establishment of the smart factory. This is because the product is being produced in earnest after the system is built. However, even if you see responses to defective products, you can track them quickly and accurately. All production parts of Samhyeon have QR codes attached. You can check all the contents of the parts and which partner's product. If a problem occurs, you can immediately find the cause. Due to the decrease in inventory, it is saving hundreds of millions of won compared to the initial introduction.
 

The level of smart factories is generally divided into basic-intermediate 1-intermediate 2-advanced, and Samhyeon is currently in the early stages of upgrading. The basic system is in place, so even if you produce a new product, you only need to add one related process.

The final stage of the smart factory is the system's own "failure diagnosis" and "self-maintenance," which Samhyun may push for right away, but it is taking a breather in terms of profitability. We plan to complete the 'Smart Factory Final Stage' within the next five years.

What is particularly worrisome is whether employment will change. The number of employees at the Samhyeon site increased to 49 in 2016 and decreased to 35 the following year. On the other hand, the number of researchers increased from 38 in 2016 to 47 the following year.

Samhyun Co., Ltd. said that. "In the past, there were less than 100 people in total. But in 2017, people were 123 and now there are 137. Is this increased because of the smart factory? No, I think the number of people has increased as the company has grown in the process of reaching it so far. Recently, the number of researchers and engineers is increasing, mainly researchers and engineers."

Samhyun Co., Ltd. expressed that long-term view on 'smart factories and jobs'.

"Low-grade jobs will be reduced and high-end jobs will be increased. But eventually, the total will decrease. But there are other aspects. The development, distribution, and installation of smart factory machines are increasing. On the infrastructure side, production is becoming necessary. Therefore, if our country actively enters smart factory infrastructure, (employment) will still be slightly reduced, otherwise it will be greatly reduced."

◇ "Support selection and concentration required" = Changwon City has started to discover policies to transform Changwon National Industrial Complex into a smart industrial complex. Changwon Mayor Huh Sung-moo visited several smart factories last month to do this, and Sam-hyun did not miss it. Mayor Huh ordered, "I hope that the know-how of smart factory excellent companies can be expanded to other companies." In fact, Samhyun continues to worry about its role as a leader in smart factories. We are discussing a program that opens it as a pilot factory to other companies and even conducts education with Changwon City.

Samhyun Co., Ltd. stressed that the approach to "smart factory" should be changed.

"In fact, enterprise-wide resource management is nothing. It's not even hard. but 
 People think of it as a smart factory. It would look cool if it changed from what people do, but it's not like that at all. It's hard to find much meaning simply by collecting data. How to use it is the most important thing. In other words, a smart factory is not only automated, but also a system that generates, processes, analyzes, and utilizes data."

Samhyun Co., Ltd. also stressed the need for "selection and concentration" of government and local government support. So far, support measures may be pushed back to downward leveling.

"When small businesses get some support, they have to use it to increase customer value. But bosses usually think of it as an operating expense. That's what I said when senior officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance visited, but now it's dispersed as if support for smart factories has been distributed. I would like to ask if it is desirable considering the effectiveness compared to support. Even if you try to give 50 million won to 100 or 200 factories, it doesn't have much effect. Wouldn't it be better to focus on a few companies that can do really well with subsidies and spread them through such cases?"