More than 40% of major manufacturing companies in South Korea are supporting the artificial intelligence transition (AX) of their partners. This reflects a broader effort to enhance competitiveness in the manufacturing sector by expanding AI utilization across the entire supply chain.
The Korea Economic Association announced on August 13 that a survey conducted by Monoresearch among the top 800 manufacturing companies revealed that 45% of the 200 responding companies are providing support for their partners' AX.
Specifically, 39.5% are implementing pilot projects for partner AX, while 5.5% reported that AX has been successfully established in the field. Additionally, 24% of companies indicated they have plans but have not yet started.
Companies believe that a comprehensive AI transition across the supply chain is essential for securing competitiveness in the manufacturing sector. A significant 91.5% of respondents emphasized the importance of AX that includes their partners.
The anticipated benefits of supply chain AX include 'productivity improvement' at 48.8%, followed by risk management (22.9%) and cost reduction (19.6%). This indicates a recognition that AI is necessary not only for enhancing production efficiency but also for ensuring supply chain stability and cost competitiveness.
Support for partners has focused on building a foundation for connecting and utilizing data from production, quality, equipment, and logistics. The most common support areas included data integration and standardization at 34.4%, followed by joint pilot and verification projects at 23.8%. Other key support measures included AX level assessment and roadmap consulting (16.4%) and training and dispatch of specialists (14.3%).
However, a lack of infrastructure and expertise among partners has been identified as a barrier to the widespread adoption of AX. The most significant challenge cited by companies was the 'insufficient digital infrastructure and AI utilization capabilities of partners' (43.4%). Other major constraints included difficulties in data integration, standardization, and security management (22.7%), as well as the financial burden of AI implementation (17.5%).
Moreover, 86.5% of responding companies believe that government support would be beneficial for expanding partner AX. The most needed policies include financial assistance for AI implementation costs (43.7%) and support for developing AI solutions and standard models tailored to specific industries and processes (25.5%).
The Korea Economic Association suggests that the government should support the initial AI implementation costs for partners and the development of industry-specific models, while companies should expand data integration and joint verification with their partners.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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