Local manufacturers in Busan are accelerating their transition to AI-based process improvements and autonomous factories, leveraging tailored planning support from Busan Techno Park (Busan TP).
Busan TP announced that three local manufacturers—Korea Steel, Gomotech, and GNT Busan—have been selected for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' manufacturing innovation government project, with support from the Busan Smart Manufacturing Innovation Center.
Korea Steel is participating in the 'Rapid Commercialization Support Project for AI Applications in Manufacturing,' while Gomotech and GNT Busan are involved in the 'Autonomous Factory Construction Support Project.'
Korea Steel has begun developing an AI agent-based solution to address wire breakage issues in the critical fresh process of wire production. This technology analyzes data collected from equipment and production processes to identify factors and anomalies that lead to wire breakage, assisting workers in decision-making.
The goal is to shift from a process management approach that relies on workers' experience and reactive measures to a data-driven predictive and decision-making model. The project runs for one year, from June 29, 2026, to June 28, 2027.
Gomotech and GNT Busan will pursue the construction of autonomous factories based on the level of automation in their production processes and the utilization of manufacturing data. Busan TP has analyzed the production processes and data utilization conditions of both companies and provided project planning support for the introduction of AI-driven process intelligence and autonomous manufacturing.
Notably, GNT Busan has been selected for this autonomous factory construction project after previously participating in a smart factory support initiative, marking a step toward advanced development. The project duration for both companies is two years, from September 28, 2026, to September 27, 2028.
Busan TP is expanding its support from focusing solely on smart factory construction and management to include the introduction of manufacturing AI and the transition to autonomous manufacturing.
The organization diagnoses production sites to identify AI application projects and supports planning for government project applications. After project selection, it continues to provide comprehensive support, including project management (PMO), performance verification, and the establishment and expansion of results at the site level.
Since 2019, Busan TP has tracked and managed the status of companies transitioning from the basic to advanced stages of smart factories. Following the establishment of a specialized manufacturing AI project in the second half of last year, monitoring of supported companies related to AI has also been expanded.
Additionally, to systematically manage the support history and project progress of each company, Busan TP has developed its own customer relationship management (CRM) system based on company data. This marks a shift from a manual project management approach using Excel files to a data-driven corporate management system.
This data-driven corporate management approach received significant recognition in the qualitative evaluation category of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' '2025 Regional Smart Manufacturing Innovation Center Performance Evaluation.' As a result, the Busan Smart Manufacturing Innovation Center achieved the highest national rating of 'S grade' in this evaluation.
Won Kwang-hae, head of the Busan TP's Industry-Academia Digital Transformation Division, stated, "This achievement highlights the importance of concretizing local manufacturers' on-site issues into AI projects that connect to government initiatives. Based on our recognized on-site support capabilities, we will strengthen our role as a core institution supporting the step-by-step growth of companies from smart factories to manufacturing AI and autonomous manufacturing."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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